Nonduality"
Nonduality.com Home Page

Click here to go to the next issue

Highlights Home Page | Receive the Nonduality Highlights each day

Digest
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4600 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-05-17
Subject: #4600 - Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В #4600 - Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ 
В 
В 
В 
В 
Vicky Woodyard appears in the Awakening Clarity blog:
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 

Recent Research on Recovery from Schizophrenia Suggests that Nonduality is the Key to Making Sense of These Disorders

Dr. Paris Williams, known for his groundbreaking research on people who have made full medication-free recoveries from schizophrenia (as mentioned in the New York Times), has just released a book, Rethinking Madness, that presents a serious challenge to the mainstream understanding and treatment of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

In Rethinking Madness, Williams documents how the recent domestic and international research (including studies conducted by the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Mental Health) suggests that full medication-free recovery from schizophrenia and other related psychotic disorders is not only possible, but may actually be the most likely outcome given the right conditions. Furthermore, the findings from WilliamsÂ’ own research suggest that many individuals who recover do not simply return to their pre-psychotic condition, but actually undergo a profound positive transformation resulting in a sense of wellbeing and life competence that far exceeds that which existed prior to their psychosis.

All of these findings fly directly in the face of the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia and psychosis, so itÂ’s not surprising that as these research findings continue to emerge, we see the first stirrings of a fiery controversy that may very well continue to escalate until we are forced to consider a radical restructuring of the mental health care system and indeed the very foundation of our understanding of madness. In Rethinking Madness, Williams takes the plunge directly into the heart of this controversial topic. He begins by disentangling the complex web of research on schizophrenia, attempting to make sense of how it is that the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia has become so profoundly mistaken. He then goes about crafting an altogether new vision of madness—one that brings in the latest recovery research and integrates both Eastern and Western understandings of the mind to make sense of the findings of the emerging research.

As this new vision unfolds, Williams suggests that we arrive at both some unsettling realizations and some very hopeful possibilities. On one hand, we are forced to recognize that our current mainstream paradigm of care may actually be causing more harm than benefit, both for those so diagnosed and also for their friends, family members, and society at large. On the other hand, we discover that those who find themselves struggling with these challenging disorders have a very high likelihood of moving on to meaningful and productive lives.

Finally, in a compelling twist, we discover that those we often consider to be “mad” may very well be caught in a profound wrestling match with the very same core existential dilemmas with which we all struggle. Williams suggests that the real key to understanding these vexing experiences comes not from the findings of the latest brain research, but rather from the findings of human consciousness that have arisen from many years of introspective inquiry into the deepest layers of human experience—findings that have arisen from the Western existential movement over the past couple hundred years as well as findings that have arisen from thousands of years of such inquiry within the nondual traditions of the East—particularly Buddhism, Taoism, and Advaita Vedanta.

Rethinking Madness (SkyÂ’s Edge Publishing) is available through Amazon.com and other channels. More information is available at www.RethinkingMadness.com

Dr. Paris Williams works as a psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He offers the rare perspective of someone who has experienced psychosis from both sides—as a researcher and psychologist, and as someone who has himself fully recovered after struggling with psychotic experiences. He can be reached at www.RethinkingMadness.com

В 

В 

The Netherlands: Tulips in the polder. Photo and poem by Anamika

Its not the words

Dullness after waking up, as the nightshift is in full swing.
Cars are passing by the canal in front of the house.
A neighbour next door is talking to someone,
slams her door and runs down the stairs.
There is still daylight and i get ready for my shift.

A interview was done a few days ago,В В  it was unprepared,
spontaneous.В  The first interview on this subject.
And the recognition that this aware space which is our
home,В  our being,В  our normal day to day awareness with all
that takes place becomes more alive,В  happy,В  flowing once
one talks about it.
As soon as you open your mouth and try to talk about the unspeakable
there is something of That which comes through.
It makes one happy to talk about it.В В  It makes people happy to see it.
Not because of the words,В  it is because of the energy coming
through.В В  The resonance.
That is why teachers talk,В  and people go to satsangs and workshops.
To get hit by the infinite

Here is a link,В  it's in Dutch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ERrG7FJk3C8
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4601 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-05-18
Subject: #4601 - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4601 - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
В 
В 
The most beautiful people are those who have known defeat, known suffering,
known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These
persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that
fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.В 
В 
~ Elisabeth KГѓВјbler-Ross

В 
В 
“I greet you from the other side
Of sorrow and despair
With a love so vast and shattered
It will reach you everywhere.”
В 
~ Leonard Cohen, A Heart With No Companion
В 
The Other Side
В 
by Vicki Woodyard on May 14, 2012
To read note:
В 
В 
В 
В 
What are you, who are you, where is your heart?
В 
В 
If you really look, you won’t find anything tangible and solid. Of course, you
might find something very solid if you have a grudge against someone or you
have fallen possessively in love.
В 
But that is not awakened heart. If you search for awakened heart, if you put
your hand through your rib cage and feel for it, there is nothing there except
for tenderness. You feel sore and soft, and if you open your eyes to the rest
of the world, you feel tremendous sadness. This kind of sadness doesn’t come
from being mistreated. You don’t feel sad because someone has insulted you or
because you feel impoverished. Rather, this experience of sadness is
unconditioned. It occurs because your heart is completely exposed. There is
no skin or tissue covering it; it is pure raw meat. Even if a tiny mosquito lands
on it, you feel so touched. Your experience is raw and tender and so personal.
В 
For the warrior, this experience of sad and tender heart is what gives birth
to fearlessness. Conventionally, being fearless means that you are not afraid
or that, if someone hits you, you will hit him back. However, we are not talking
about that street-fighter level of fearlessness.
В 
Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness.
В 
You are willing to open up, without resistance or shyness, and face the world.”
В 
~ Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
В 
В From the book, 'Sacred Path of the Warrior,' published by Shambhala Books.
В via Daily Dharma
В 
В 
В 
В 
Is That So?
В 
"...well if I'm awareness, then I wouldn't be [insert unacceptable experience
here]."
В 
Does this sound familiar? Yes. This is a veeerry common misconception
amongst spiritual seekers, based entirely on what beliefs are being held about
what awareness is supposed to look like.В 
В 
Here, though, the most critical error occurs right in the second word: "If." If
I am awareness.
В 
Hmm.
В 
*** Tell me what else you could possibly be, given that WHATEVER you say
is something that you have to be aware of?! ***
В 
Okay. Moving on.
В 
Now that you know your bottom-line, default, who-you-really-are, must be
what is *aware,* then who is it to say you shouldn't feel crabby, miserable,
pissed-off; in other words, that you should never experience any kind of
resistance to anything?
В 
Please. If there is anything that can make me crabby, it is seeing someone who
is totally pissed-off or miserable, but is denying it because they're
"awareness."
В 
The fact is, when you know without a doubt that an illusion is an illusion, then
you have no fear whatsoever about letting it have its moment of glory in the
sun.В 
В 
An illusion, seen for what it is, cannot hurt anyone. So who cares?
В 
When you STAND AS THE SUN, it matters not what kind of cloud passes by,
because you know all you have to do is look at it long enough and then it's
gone.
В 
The stronger your light, the shorter it lingers. Including the cloud that says,
"See? I wouldn't be having this experience if I was awareness."
В 
Now. Go ahead and zap that one!
В 
:)
Kheyala Rasa
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4602 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-05-19
Subject: #4602 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В #4602В  - Friday, May 18, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
В 
В 
В 
Robert V. Burke is featured.
В 
В 
В 
В 
Carl Burke wrote:
В 
SF is too much traffic.
Do they have a bakery with sour dough bread?
They have a French Bakery here and if you close your eyes and click your heels together two times you can almost taste the sour dough!
Turkey breast with Swiss cheese and alfalfa sprouts and avocado.....yum! Can't wait.
В 
Carl
В 
Robert V. Burke wrote:
В 
Dear Carl (and friends),
В 

Sour dough is as ubiquitous as water here, well maybe as ubiquitous as post office boxes in any urban area.
В 

Every store, every shop has some brand of sour dough.В  I don't think I can recall trying Boudin's sour dough, though my curiosity was piqued when I saw a documentary on Boudin's years ago, and found out the starter dough is actually an organic continuation of the first starter yeast brought to this continent, from France, I presume, but then again, maybe Italy?
В 

Speaking of trans-planting 'cultures'--pun intended, yes, here's an interesting piece I'm reading in Raimundo Panikkar's tome The Vedic experience: Mantramanjari -- An Anthology of the Vedas for Modern Man and Contemporary Celebration.В  Panikkar was a Roman Catholic Priest and had several PhDs: one in Philosophy, another in Chemistry, both from the Universidad de Madrid, and a Doctorate in Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.В  He also attended universities in Bonn, Germany and Barcelona, Spain.
В 

He died last year living 91 years shy of 92 by two months.
В 

Dr. Sharma and I are going for 100, but I'mВ  gonna need to shape up to live up to this prophecy.В  After all, my daughter Stephanie said in my arms, and quite confidently, emboldened and embodying a canny certainty, "Dad your gonna live to 100 years." To which I quipped spontaneously, "Is that so?" and she parried, her repartee lightning fast, "Yes, and I'm going to live to 114 years!"В  She was waking up in my arms, these words flowing out of the realm of unconscious dreams.В  Who is to say it was not the Self speaking thru this precocious 6 year old?В В  Or is it just an old man's dream?
В 

In the following selection Panikkar discusses some of the subtleties that address just one of the problems of translation, a notion we used spontaneously at the dinner table in France.В  I remember you complaining at our family dinner, mid-fifties in Bois-le-Roi, France, because you couldn't follow us in the English, so you let out a cry "Say it in French, say it in French, I don't understand!!!"В  Given the complexities of human relationships and dynamics, I am grateful for in stumbling upon these selections for disclosing unarticulated inspirations in my heart why I treasure ritual and mythology as expressions of our noble nature:
В 

The problem of translation, however, has another facet.В  Nearly all Western languages, including English, have been molded by the Jewish-Helleno-Christian tradition against a Gothic, Celtic, or other indigenous background.В  We may translate Agni as 'Lord' in order not to mislead the reader or we may write down 'Fire'; in both instances (in spite of the capital letter) the translation is perhaps legitimate, provided that the reader is informed of the original word.В  But if we translate gandharva by 'angel' or apsaras by 'spirit,' are we not utilizing equally religion-bound concepts?В  Are we not saying that the English language is indefectibly bound to one particular tradition? We could speak of 'the good fortune of having been invited to a certain inauguration,' but would it be proper to translate this statement as 'we have been summoned by the grace of Lakshmi to a certain function performed according to the shastric principles laid down by a pandit, after recognition of the mangalic moments disclosed by the flying birds'? (Panikkar, The Vedic Experience, pp. 22-23)
В 

This reminds me of George's story of two of his students from Japan, one translating to the other from the English into the Japanese, having been given it in English unbeknownst to the other, the colloquialism 'out of sight, out of mind'; and when requested of the other, he rendered the Japanese translation back into the English: 'to be invisible, is to be crazy.'В  Panikkar continues in this vein:
В 

Why should the augur, the Roman religious official, and the goddess Fortune be accepted as universalized terms and not the Indian terminology? To reply that nobody will understand the latter sentence deserves only the answer that outside the Western cultural milieu everybody will half understand the former, or else they will reduce it to banality. (Panikkar p. 23)
В 

I emphasize that Panikkar reminds us in his Vedic Epiphany the reason why I have been having great difficulty finding a contemporary translation and commentary on the Rig Veda.В  It is much needed in these times, where decadence and greed have supplanted virtues in almost all corners of the Earth, and Man is rapidly descending into sloppy troughs of his own pollution.В  Even India is losing grip of its rich heritage, while many in the West are thirsting for Its wisdom.В  The challenge is great, I hope to see the inauguration and dawning of Lakshmi's grace, the auger's inauguration.В  I am happy to say I have found 'meaning' I've only intuited in 20 years chanting the Vedic Fire ceremony, though sporadically.В  Yet, once a week replenishes the soul to surfeit.В  Panikkar makes and sets the epistemological positionality within the field of the ritual where words and meanings intersect.В 
В 
В 
В 
The process of translation is not only transcultural.В  It begins within a particular culture.В  The work of the great bhashyakaras or commentators consist precisely of such translations, including the translation of the proper names of the tradition itself.В  When those names cease to stand for a living symbol within a 'lived' myth, they are 'trans-lated,' that is, 'shifted,' so as to designate hence-forward the same 'reality' but beyond its proper or native horizon.В  Ushas, for example, may no longer be considered the daughter of Prajapati, the Goddess of the myth, but simply Dawn, or perhaps only dawn.В  Yet by this very shift Ushas has arrived where the dawn still dawns but where the daughter of Prajapati is no longer known or acknowledged and, having traveled to such distant shores, she herself will perhaps help see to it that our dullness of perception is removed and that dawn is reinstated in a more colorful and relevant form, not perhaps as the daughter of Prajapati but certainly as Dawn, as a symbol of hope, in our contemporary world.В  Furthermore, the connection between words and meanings is to be sought in the sphere of rite, and that is why Man cannot live without rituals, for he cannot live without words either.
В 

This reminds me of Nisargadatta's enlightened recapitulation of the four stages of speech--pashyanti, madhyama, vaikhari, and para--wherein he touches on these 'names' of prana by means of answering a questioner's notion on reincarnation.В В  Maharaj elaborates inВ  The Ultimate Medicine:
В 

Questioner:В  Does the physical death means [sic] the end of the life force? If yes, is there no truth in the theory of rebirth?
В 

Maharaj:В  The four kinds of speech, para, pashyanti, madhyama and vaikhari, are the names of the vital breath (prana).В  Ordinarily, an individual is not aware of para and pashyanti.В  These two are too subtle, too basic and too deep for him to understand.В  So he starts working on the third one, madhyama, which is also identified with the mind and comes out the words, and the fourth stage which is called vaikhari.В  Now on this level of two minds, two kinds of speech, every ignorant (not aware of one's true Self, but rather falsely identified with the body and mind) works. And he has his own image made out of that madhyama, which is mind.В  If he is ignorant and has not understood this secret of the Universe, he will certainly talk about rebirth, birth and other ideas, concepts with which he has identified himself. Therefore, all these ideas and concepts of rebirth are for the ignorant. Otherwise, there is nothing. (reminds me of guruji's oft said 'Otherwise, not!') p.49
В 

Well Carl, from Sour Dough, to the root of it all, the Mooladhara, to the playing field of the vital forces, the pranas of expression, from breathing life into ancient meanings, bringing meaning to life in contemporary times, perhaps a proviso or auguration, your correspondence as always inspires Ushas blessing of hope for us, gives meaning of language and ritual, keeping language fresh and meaningful, and hopefully someday soon dawns, inspiration to bring the vast treasures of vedic lore as an infusion of renaissance of the spirit and culture of humanity.
В 

Now about that sandwich, let's talk about it and utilize it soon!
В 

Robert
В 
В 
В 

В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4603 From: Mark Date: 2012-05-20
Subject: #4603 - Saturday, May 19, 2011

Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights: Issue #4603, Saturday, May 19, 2011




Ego says it matters, the Supreme says
that it does not. Even the power of decision
is not from ego. All is the Supreme Power,
do not attribute it to anything else because
this only reinforces the ghosts.

Face the One.

- Papaji from The Truth Is, posted to AlongTheWay



Great knowledge sees all in one.
Small knowledge breaks down into the many.

- Chuang Tzu, from Allspirit



You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you. Since you are Awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is to give up being aware of other things, that is of not-self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self.

- Ramana Maharshi, from Allspirit



You are Emptiness, the Ultimate substance: remove Emptiness out of Emptiness leaves only Emptiness because there is nothing beyond It. All rises from, dances about it, and returns to This. As Ocean rises as a wave to dance so you are this dancing Emptiness!

Nothing is out of this Emptiness and so it is the Fullness. Emptiness is between is and is not. To be Free, you need the firm conviction that you are this Substratum, this Peace, this Emptiness.

- Papaji, from Allspirit



I sat there and forgot and forgot, until what remained was the river
that went by and I who watched... Eventually the watcher joined
the river and then there was only one of us. I believe it was the river.

- Norman Maclean, quoted in Zen and the Brain, James H.Austin M.D., from Allspirit



A man is wandering the marketplace at noon with a candle
in his hand, totally ecstatic.

"Hey," calls a shopkeeper, "is this a joke? Who are you
looking for?" "Someone breathing

Huu, the divine breath." "Well, there are plenty to choose from." "But I want one who

can be in anger and desire and still be a true human being in the same moment." "A rare thing!

But maybe you're searching among branches for what appears only in the roots."

There's a river that turns these millstones. Human will is an
illusion. Those who are proud

of deciding and carrying out decisions are the rawest of
the raw! Watch

the thought-kettles boiling, then look down at the fire.
God said to Job, "You

value your patience well. Consider now that I gave you that
patience." Don't be absorbed

with the waterwheel's motion. Turn your head and gaze
at the river. You say, "But

I'm looking there already." There are several signs in eyes
that see all the way to

the ocean. Bewilderment is one. Those who study foam and
flotsam near the edge

have purposes, and they'll explain them at length! Those who
look out to sea become the sea,

and they can't speak about that. On the beach there's desire-singing and rage-ranting,

the elaborate language-dance of personality, but in the waves
and underneath there's no

volition, no hypocrisy,В  just love forming and unfolding.

- Rumi, In the Waves and Underneath, from The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems by Coleman Barks
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4604 From: Mark Date: 2012-05-21
Subject: #4597 - Sunday, May 13, 2011

Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights: Issue #4597, Sunday, May 13, 2011




To divide and particularize is the mind's very nature. There is no harm in dividing. But separation goes against fact. Things and people are different, but they are not separate. Nature is one, reality is one. There are opposites, but no opposition.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels



...everbody thinks that compassion is important, and everyone has compassion. True enough, but the Buddha gave uncommon quintessential instructions when he taught the methods for cultivating compassion, and the differences are extraordinarily important.

- Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche:from Lectures on Kamalashila's 'Stages of Meditation in the Middle Way School, posted to DailyDharma



What are you, who are you, where is your heart?

If you really look, you won't find anything tangible and solid. Of course, you might find something very solid if you have a grudge against someone or you have fallen possessively in love.

But that is not awakened heart. If you search for awakened heart, if you put your hand through your rib cage and feel for it, there is nothing there except for tenderness. You feel sore and soft, and if you open your eyes to the rest of the world, you feel tremendous sadness. This kind of sadness doesn't come from being mistreated. You don't feel sad because someone has insulted you or because you feel impoverished. Rather, this experience of sadness is unconditioned. It occurs because your heart is completely exposed. There is no skin or tissue covering it; it is pure raw meat. Even if a tiny mosquito lands on it, you feel so touched. Your experience is raw and tender and so personal.

For the warrior, this experience of sad and tender heart is what gives birth to fearlessness. Conventionally, being fearless means that you are not afraid or that, if someone hits you, you will hit him back. However, we are not talking about that street-fighter level of fearlessness. Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness.

You are willing to open up, without resistance or shyness, and face the world.

- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from Sacred Path of the Warrior, posted to DailyDharma.



The law of the universe is cooperation and not competition. It is not warfare. That is the law of the universe, the total solidarity for which the prayers of the ancient sages were directed in such scriptures as the Vedas. The Rigveda concludes with a prayer for universal cooperation, collaboration not merely in a social manner, but even in the field of thinking, in collective aspiration and all activity.

- Swami Krishnananda from Facets of Spirituality compiled by S. Bhagyalakshmi



For the liberated mind, death is realized as the unknown potential from which has arisen the birth and life itself. The event of death is seen as just another moment in life, complete and unknown until it arrives.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels



But at other times when you say I exist, you are heading towards the perception of a non-state, which is neither of the body nor of the mind. This non-state is being, it is indeterminable, cannot be located mentally or physically. It is neither a thought nor a feeling. This non-state is identical to that of your surroundings. You are of the very same essence. In this non-state there are no surroundings. If there is another, that is, if there are surroundings, there is an I, and vice-versa.

Our surroundings are not contained by name and form. You are neither the body nor the mind, these are limits you identify with through a lack of clear-sightedness. When you are attentive to a tree or flower, the perception, shape, name and concept are not the only things present. There is also the All-presence that you share with them and that you are both part of. The very name and form spring forth from this eternal background, the All-presence. This is instantaneous awareness that cannot be reached by thought.

- Jean Klein



Life is not a task. There is absolutely nothing to attain except the realization that there is absolutely nothing to attain.

- Tony Parsons, from As It Is - The Open Secret of Spiritual Awakening, posted to AlongTheWay



So be tender and be present and know that you ARE. That's enough!!!! - Mark
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4605 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-05-22
Subject: #4605 - Monday, May 21, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4605 - Monday, May 21, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
В 
"Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look."
В 
~Jodi Picoult
В 
В 
В 
Awake awhile.
В 
It does not have to be
Forever,
Right now.
В 
One step upon the Sky's soft skirt
Would be enough.
В 
Hafiz,
Awake awhile.
Just one True moment of Love
Will last for days.
В 
Rest all your elaborate plans and tactics
For Knowing Him,
For they are all just frozen spring buds
Far,
So far from Summer's Divine Gold.
В 
Awake, my dear.
Be kind to your sleeping heart.
Take it out into the vast fields of Light
And let it breathe.
В 
Say,
"Love,
Give me back my wings.
Lift me,
Lift me nearer."
В 
Say to the sun and moon,
Say to our dear Friend,
В 
"I will take You up now, Beloved,
On that wonderful Dance You promised."
В 
~ Hafiz
В 
(I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz -- Daniel Ladinsky)
Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Awake_Awhile.html
В 
В 
Hikers watch an annular eclipse from Papago Park in Phoenix on Sunday, May 20, 2012.
В by Michael Chow of the Associated Press
В 
В 
В 
Only in the absence of the doer will you know what is to be done"

~Jean Klein
В 
В 
В 
When your mind is still, you have no name, you have no past, you have no
relationships, you have no country, you have no spiritual attainment, you have
no lack of spiritual attainment. There is just the presence of beingness with
itself.В 
В 
~Gangaji
В 
В 
"You have so many different methods to stop your thoughts. All of these
methods are good to an extent. They make you sort of one pointed, but they
will not stop your thoughts. This is why people who have been practicing
pranayamas, breathing exercises, Vipassana meditation, even Zen meditation,
and other forms of yoga meditation, have been practicing for years, and
years, and years and years. Perhaps they have achieved a semblance of peace,
but they have not become liberated, due to the fact that they are using
methods, whether it is a koan, or it's watching your breath or your feelings, or
whether it's changing your thoughts to something positive, whatever you've
been doing, you're using your mind to do it.
В 
And your mind will always fool you. It will make you believe you're getting
somewhere, you're becoming something great. But it's really the ego. It is the
ego that is controlling the mind, and you are the ego, the ego trying to control
the mind.
В 
By not attaching yourself to the thoughts, by not reacting to the thoughts, by
not responding to the thoughts, they lose their power and begin to fade away.
Yet do not give any energy. Do not give any power. Do not say to yourself, "I
have to stop my thoughts." Do nothing like this. Just slow down. Slow down.
Let the thoughts do what they may. Allow the thoughts to go their own way. Do
nothing with your thoughts. Do not think about them. Do not fight them. And
above all, do not try to stop them.
В 
As you begin to let your thoughts alone, not to pay any attention to them, not
to be attached to them, you'll notice something very interesting happening to
you. You’ll begin to notice that you're becoming very peaceful, very calm. You
become happy for no reason whatsoever. All of these dastardly things are still
going on in this world, man's inhumanity to man, you have your own so called
problems. Yet you become happy, you become peaceful, you become blissful.
This comes all by itself, because your thoughts have slowed down.
В 
You have not slowed your thoughts down. This is an important point to
remember. You have not slowed your thoughts down. Not you, whatsoever. For
you are the mind, and you have not used your mind to slow down your thoughts.
You have done absolutely nothing, except to ignore your thoughts. Ignore the
thoughts completely, totally, absolutely. Again, do not fight your thoughts.
Ignoring your thoughts is not fighting your thoughts. Do not try to change
your thoughts. Above all do not try to stop your thoughts. Just do not be
attached to them, and ignore them.
В 
The example here is, what happens to your friends whom you ignore? If you
have a friend and your friend is talking to you, telling you things, and you
ignore your friend, what happens? The friend will walk away. The friend will
go away and that will be the end of the friend. He or she will no longer be
your friend, for you have ignored them totally, completely. You have not
scolded them. You have not lectured your friend. You have not been evil to
your friend. You have just ignored your friend. Your friend will back away
and go away, because your friend gets no response from you whatsoever.
В 
It makes no difference if the thoughts are good or bad, they're both
impostors. In reality there are no good thoughts, there are no bad thoughts.
We're not trying to replace bad thoughts for good thoughts or good thought
for bad thoughts. We're trying to leave the thoughts alone. Not to do a thing
about them. I want to make this perfectly clear. This is the highest way to
handle your thoughts. When the thoughts slow down, so does the ego. The
thoughts and the ego are synonymous. As the thoughts slow down, the ego slows
down, and begins to also disappear with the thoughts. When there are no
thoughts, there’s no ego. When there’s no ego, there’s nobody left to think.
В 
Many of you still believe you have to have thoughts to function. You think
you'll become a vegetable, but you will be spontaneous without thoughts.
You'll be motivated by the self. You will know what to do, where to go, whom
to speak to, whom not to speak to, much better than you do now. Much, much
better. Things will happen to you spontaneously.
В 
Why do you want to do all this? For life passes. Pretty soon you become old,
and you appear to die. Do you want to believe this lie, that you die, that you
get old, that there are problems in this world? This is all a lie. It's the mortal
dream..."
В 
~Robert Adams
В 
via Cullen Anderson
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4606 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-05-22
Subject: #4606 - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz

В #4606В  - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
В 
В 
В 

Resting in the Happening of this Moment: Being What You Cannot Not Be

by Joan Tollifson

http://www.joantollifson.com/writing12.html


Spiritual practice (the pathless path from here to here) boils down to something very simple. Being present, awake, open. Resting in the simplicity of what is. Being what we cannot not be: the happening of this moment, just as it is.

Even after all these years of meditation and awakening and writing books and holding meetings about nonduality, I still find myself sometimes seemingly not resting and opening, but instead resisting the happening of this moment and trying to run away from that primal sense of yukiness, unease, restlessness, discontent, anxiety, loneliness, depression, uncertainty, emptiness – however you want to characterize it. Suddenly IÂ’m swept up in some version of the story that IÂ’m all alone in a meaningless void, that IÂ’ve ruined my life. There is the vague and disturbing sense that IÂ’m drowning in some horrible ickiness. I rush to the bookcases looking for the right spiritual book, or I turn on the TV and begin mindlessly surfing through the channels, or I get on the internet and begin reading articles about things I donÂ’t even care about. Or IÂ’m compulsively biting my fingers and I feel more and more tightly knotted up inside in a conflict between the intense desire to stop biting and the overwhelming urge to continue. I feel frozen and stuck in a painful groove that I canÂ’t escape, desperately seeking a way out.

Eventually, it occurs to me to stop trying to do (or not do) anything, to give up the search for a solution or a distraction, to simply be present, to allow everything to be just exactly as it is. Suddenly it becomes possible to completely surrender to the actuality of Here / Now, to resist nothing, not even the compulsive biting of my fingers if that is what is happening. Instantly, I feel the heart open. This is the end of grasping and seeking, the end of resisting and avoiding, the end of trying to fix myself and be somebody else, the end of trying to figure it all out or get the right conceptual map nailed down. This is not knowing anything and not needing to know. Suddenly there is no problem anymore. There is no me. There is only this undivided, spacious presence that includes everything, just as it is. Everything is okay, even fingerbiting or feelings of uneasiness or anxiety. Nothing needs to be other than how it is, and when there is complete openness to how it is, I find it is no particular way at all. Everything is moving and changing and dissolving. There is a huge sense of relief. The problem was imaginary.

And really, this is all there is to it. It all boils down to the simplicity of what is. Being here now, being present, being awake, simply being.

Read the entire article here:

http://www.joantollifson.com/writing12.html

В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4607 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-05-25
Subject: #4607 - Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 

#4607 - Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we play music the
playing itself is the point. And exactly the same thing is true in meditation.
Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the
immediate moment.
В 
~Alan Watts
В 
photo by Peter Shefler
В 
В 
To be a saint is to be fueled by gratitude, nothing more and nothing less.
В 
~Ronald Rolheiser
В 
В 
In A Dark Time
In a dark time, the eye begins to see,
I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;
I hear my echo in the echoing wood—
A lord of nature weeping to a tree.
I live between the heron and the wren,
Beasts of the hill and serpents of the den.
What's madness but nobility of soul
At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire!
I know the purity of pure despair,
My shadow pinned against a sweating wall.
That place among the rocks—is it a cave,
Or a winding path? The edge is what I have.
В 
A steady storm of correspondences!
A night flowing with birds, a ragged moon,
And in broad day the midnight come again!
A man goes far to find out what he is—
Death of the self in a long, tearless night,
All natural shapes blazing unnatural light.
В 
Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire.
My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly,
Keeps buzzing at the sill. Which I is I?
A fallen man, I climb out of my fear.
The mind enters itself, and God the mind,
And one is One, free in the tearing wind.
В 
В 
"In A Dark Time" by Theodore Roethke,
from Collected Poems, © Knopf Doubleday, 1961.
В 
В 
В 
Soul of all souls, life of all life
you are That.
Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving
you are That.
The road that leads to the City is endless;
Go without head or feet
and you'll already be there.
What else could you be?В  --
you are that.
В 
~ Rumi
In the Arms of the Beloved
Translations by Jonathan Star
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1997
via Along The Way
В 
В 

Time is the eternal now seen through the narrow slit of the mind.
~Rupert Spira

The Support and Substance of Experience


If our attention were now to be drawn to the screen on which these words are written, we would experience the uncanny sensation of suddenly becoming aware of something that we simultaneously realise is so obvious as to require no mention. And yet at the moment when the screen is indicated, we seem to experience something new.

We have the strangely familiar experience of becoming aware of something which we were, in fact, already aware of. We become aware of being aware of the screen.

The screen is not a new experience that is created by this suggestion. However, our awareness of the screen seems to be a new experience.

Now what about the Awareness itself, which is aware of the screen? Is it not always present behind and within every experience, just as the screen is present behind and within the words on this page?

read more:

http://non-duality.rupertspira.com/read/the_support_and_substance_of_experience
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4608 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-05-25
Subject: #4608 - Friday, May 25, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В #4608В  - Friday, May 25, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
В 
В 
В 
В 
This is an excerpt from Suzanne Foxton's original article on Awakening Clarity.В  Please join us to read the entire column.В 
В 
THE SEARCHING ENDS NOW.В  there is nothing to find but what is. There is nothing that needs to happen but what is happening. There is nothing new to know that will bring further revelation. There are so many fascinating, moving, absorbing stories which cannot yet be enjoyed, for they have too much of the burden of redemption upon them. Redemption is here, now, for there is only here and now, and infinite immediate possibility. You are not that small thing, the constructed identity named Felicity or Gerald, charged with the impossible tasks of perfect life or perfect love. You are what perfect life and perfect love emerges from; simple knowing, pure being, absolute awareness, bare sentience. That which looks, looks for itself, and it is everywhere; it is everything.
В 
В 
В 
В 
Scott Kiloby's Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment can now be found on Fred Davis' Awakening Clarity blog.В  These 365 beautifully clear pointers will be published seven at a time, one for each day of the week, and will be refreshed every Sunday.В  Please join us in welcoming Scott's generous gift to our community.В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
Tommy
В 
Tommy wasn't bright
He knew the lay of the land
Which spot showed the cape at its best
Changed political parties frequently
They never understood him said he
В 
Best of all I loved his shack
One room
Short stumps for chairs
Letters posted from summer tourists
He had trapped
В 
The lady down the road bakes for him
I don't know how he passes the hours
Yet there are always socks on the line
And a pole holding open his door
В 
-Marilyn J. Dickinson
В 
(This poem is from the 1993 book Into The Mist. It is currently unavailable online. In my next issue I'll be posting more about this unknown Nova Scotia author and more poems from her. Her writing reminds me of folk art. She has some very nice nondual feeling as well as you might suspect.)
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4609 From: Mark Date: 2012-05-27
Subject: #4609 - Saturday, May 26, 2011
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights: Issue #4609, Saturday, May 26, 2011




If we talk of knowing the Self, there must be two selves, one a knowing self, another the self which is known, and the process of knowing. The state we call realisation is simply being oneself, not knowing anything or becoming anything. If one has realised, one is that which alone is and which alone has always been. One cannot describe that state. One can only be that. Of course, we loosely talk of Self-realisation, for want of a better term. How to 'real-ise' or make real that which alone is real?

- Sri Ramana Maharshi from Be As You Are - The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi,, edited by David Godman, posted to AlongTheWay



You as the knower of the body and the mind are apart from both. You as BEINGNESS are that which always is, irrespective of body and mind.

We consider ourselves to be the presence only of what we appear to be, but what we appear to be is only the costume, the persona put on by what lies underneath. We are the presence of an absence we are unable to perceive and of which we know nothing. So we call it a "void", and we avoid it.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels



There is a silence between breaths

There is a silence between breaths
when the heart becomes a sacred flame
and the belly uncoils which reminds me
how remarkable it is to wake
beside you another day.

Between deaths we dreamed together
between breaths, in that stillness,
which has joined us ever since.

In that first breath
we step onto the dance floor,
and waltz unnoticed through the void.
The sacred everywhere we turn
and turn again, as form so generously dissolves
and only the Beloved remains.

In this moment which lasts a lifetime
there is nowhere to stand
where you are not beside me
where you do not accompany me within.

~ Stephen Levine, posted to allspirit



You are that vast thing
that you see far, far off
with great telescopes.

But we try to pretend, you
see, that the external
world exists altogether
independently of us.

You and I are all as much
continuous with the physical
universe as a wave is continuous
with the ocean.

You don't look out there for God,
something in the sky,
you look in you.

So then, the relationship of self to
other is the complete realisation
that loving yourself is impossible
without loving everything defined
as other than yourself.

- Alan Watts, posted to The_Now2



If you dare to give your heart, your soul, your mind, your body, and your life, unconditionally, to what you discover to be true, you will know an infinitely deep and abiding peace that has never been even a breath away.

This bliss, this tranquility depends on nothing, and It is not capable of ending. Furthermore, it doesn't make a bit of difference what you've ever done... or not done. You can put an end to the battle. Yes, that's correct, just walk right out of the war, right now. All you have to do is surrender, absolutely and completely, not to me, not to some authority figure, or some organization or institution, but surrender only to your own deepest Purity.

God and your own Unbounded Love are not different. If you truly give yourself up completely, it will shock your whole system. It will suddenly dawn on you,

"Oh my God, what a fool I've been! What was I thinking?"

Then the absolute insanity of giving yourself to anything else will become apparent. Why wait? Why put off your own complete and total liberation? In your innermost and outermost places, in every single moment, Love waits for you everywhere. Is there really something else you would rather do? Is it possible that the thing that you fear the most, the thing that you avoid the most, is what you truly desire the most? It cannot abandon you. Even if you choose to ignore It, betray It and walk away, It is always closer than your next breath. Suspend all opinion and debate, and find out for yourself.

- Scott Morrison from There Is Only Now, posted to The_Now2



Soul of all souls, life of all life
you are That.
Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving
you are That.
The road that leads to the City is endless;
Go without head or feet
and you'll already be there.
What else could you be? -
you are that.

- Rumi, translation by Jonathan Star, from In the Arms of the Beloved, posted to AlongTheWay
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4610 From: Mark Date: 2012-05-28
Subject: #4510, Sunday, May 20, 2011

Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights: Issue #4610, Sunday, May 20, 2011




What you need will come to you if you do not ask for what you do not need. Yet only few people reach this state of complete dispassion and detachment. It is a very high state, the very threshold of liberation.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels



.
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4611 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-05-29
Subject: #4611 - Monday, May 28, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
#4611 - Monday, May 28, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
В 
В 
There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.
~Celia Leighton Thaxter
В 
В 
It is a great relief to realize that in this undivided happening, there is no
perfection apart from the imperfection, that the light and the dark arise
together like the crest and trough of the wave, that they cannot be pulled
apart, and to appreciate the holiness of everything, exactly as it is, warts and
all. The firm conviction that I know what’s best for the universe seems
thankfully to be evaporating. And when it does show up, it has more of an
endearing quality – oh look, there goes Joan doing her little dance of concern
again.
В 
From Joan Toliffson's forthcoming book 'Nothing to Grasp'.
For publication this summer by Non-Duality Press.
В 
Let your actions be like clouds going by; the clouds going by are mindless.
Let your stillness be as the valley spirit; the valley spirit is undying.
When action accompanies stillness and stillness combines with action,
then the duality of action and stillness no longer arises.
~Pei-chien
В 
via Tony Cartledge
В 
В 
photo by Alan Larus
В 
В 
A Place of Refuge
В 
"Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in
us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard
withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of
acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence.
It is hard to find. In its presence we can remember something beyond the
moment, a strength on which to build a life. Silence is a place of great power
and healing."
~Rachel Naomi Remen
from
via Daily Dharma
В 
В 
photo by Alan Larus
В 
В 
Really there is nothing to understand. Being what you really are is happening;
that can not be stopped or started. What you are is beyond all of this.
Nothing to work out any more perhaps; let the fragrance of what you are
arise and dissolve any tendency to imagine you are other than the essence of
all that IS.
~Jac O'Keeffe
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4612 From: Jerry K Date: 2012-05-30
Subject: #4612 - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4612 - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
В 
В 
В 
В 
I am writing from the Coffee Company at Berenstraat 6 on a beautiful sunny day in Amsterdam. Tomorrow I leave for the Science and Nonduality Conference in Doorn.В BeforeВ departing Nova Scotia, I discovered the poetry of a local author whom I wish to introduce.
В 
Here are some poems from Into the Mist, by Marilyn J. Dickinson. Thanks to my friend Baxter Crocker for bringing this local author to my attention.
В 
Marilyn J.Dickinson writes:В  A native of Halifax Nova Scotia, I have В been writing since childhood. Initially the books were print only but as years passedВ I addedВ my photography . The booksВ  all self published in limited numbers. JourneyВ , Into The Mist ,A Hunger Within, Garden Thoughts, Simple Prayers, Bits & Pieces, The Journey, plus several privately commissioned personalized books. My writing has been influenced by a search for spiritual awakening beyond childhood teachings. Seeing how being in tune with all that surrounds one and listening to the journeys taken by others has given me teachings I am then able to share in words. In the past several years I have combined my photography and writings into yearly calendars. The journey continues and no doubt will forever.
В 
~ ~ ~!
В 
Pause
В 
Become a windless tree
The Master spoke
In calm hours
Seek spaces within
Fill them as you would
A teacup for a Guest
Leaving always room
For a fresh pot
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
Spring
В 
The sky bled night's arrival
Standing on the mountain
I reached out to catch the wind
Yet when I looked
Pressed carefully next to my soul
Was an empty palm...
I tried to imprison you Lord
Your answer was subtle
And it made me smile
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
Grief
В 
Levi was dying
Nancy stopped drinking
The day the call came
She stopped talking
В 
All her friends offered
Was a bottle of beer
While men laid a new rug
So the room would look nice
For the wake
В 
Last week
Nancy was drunk again
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
Tommy
В 
Tommy wasn't bright
He knew the lay of the land
Which spot showed the cape at its best
Changed political parties frequently
They never understood him said he
Best of all I loved his shack
One room
Short stumps for chairs
Letters posted from summer tourists
He had trapped
В 
The lady down the road bakes for him
I don't know how he passes the hours
Yet there are always socks on the line
And a pole holding open his door
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
Hermit
В 
Years have kindly blessed you
Hair grown white on head
I see a few new wrinkles
No, I cannot stay
You speak your life learned wisdom
To pupil by your feet
Yet never do you give advice
Nor try to change the plans
Of the questioning traveler
Still wandering this land
Wise lady your eyes speak stories
Your calmness does address
A message to this visitor
Who came boldly in your door
This cheese and bread ... eucharist
The tea has quenched my thirst
I accept unspoken blessing
No...
I will not close the gate
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
Boards across a stream
Cannot hide the truth
Of reflections staring back
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
Artist
В 
I make no apologies
For who I am
Painter...writer...poet
There is forgiveness
In the expressions...
Drawing of a world
Gone mad
Whilst the pen
Still in love with thought
Creates a dream
Thus the benediction
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4613 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-01
Subject: #4613 - Thursday, May 31, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4613 - Thursday, May 31, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
В 
В 
Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.
~Meister Eckhart
В 
В 
В 
There is no need to struggle to be free; the absence of struggle is in itself freedom."
~Chogyam Trungpa
В 
В 
В 
В 
There is no good and no evil. In every concrete situation there is only the
necessary and the unnecessary. The needful is right, the needless is wrong.
The situation decides.В 
В 
Every situation is a challenge whichВ  demands the right response. When theВ 
response is right, the challenge is metВ  and the problem ceases. If the
response is wrong, the challenge is not met and the problem remains unsolved.
Your unsolved problems - that is whatВ  constitutes your karma. Solve them
rightly and be free.
В 
~Nisargadatta Maharaj
В 
В 
"I Am That" Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, The Acorn Press, 1973
В 
В 
В 
В 
Many people know that in 1971 Daniel Ellsberg, an American military analyst
who Henry Kissinger dubbed “the most dangerous man in America,” leaked the
Pentagon Papers, an act that became one of the most decisive catalysts in
ending the Vietnam War. But what many people don’t know is that Ellsberg’s
decision to release the papers was, in part, a consequence of his conversations
with the Zen Buddhist poet Gary Snyder in Japan more than a decade earlier.
Read the story:
В 
В 
В 
В 
Surprise
Posted on May 14, 2012
В 
By Darryl Bailey
В 
В 
People often have the impression that a non-dual teaching is telling them to
stop participating in life.
В 
They hear someone describe the fact that if you rest, and make no attempt to
do anything, you may discover that everything is happening spontaneously.
From this, they get the impression it’s saying you should always attempt to do
nothing.
В 
Actually, it’s just the opposite. The act of resting may reveal that everything,
including you, is the automatic functioning of something you’re not creating. To
realize this does not leave us with any option of dropping out; it reveals that
everything we are is compelled.
В 
It’s not possible to stop participating in life because everything we are is the
expression of life. We don’t exist as anything standing outside of existence.
Our desires are the expression of nature. As Schopenhauer so succinctly put
it, long ago, “You can do what you want, but you can’t create your wants.”
В 
Right now, if you love art and are not fond of science, you can’t snap your
fingers and have the opposite be true. You don’t create your needs, interests,
or concerns and they are the foundation of your participation.
В 
Your wants aren’t your wants at all; they’re nature’s urge to express itself in
constantly unique ways. No two apparent expressions of existence are ever
identical. Ultimately a non-dual teaching can’t recommend any particular way
of behaving, because it’s the realization that each of us is unique.
В 
It’s not offering the possibility of choosing to participate in life. It’s pointing
out the fact that there is only the flow of life. And your expression will be a
surprise.
В 
В 
FYI
Sounds True is having a huge sale. 70% off on 70 overstock items.
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4614 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-03
Subject: #4614 - Friday, June 1, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
#4614 - Friday, June 1, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
В 
В 
Light will someday split you open;
even if your life is now a cage...
Love will surely burst you wide open
into an unfettered, blooming new galaxy.
В 
~ Hafiz Shirazi
В 
photo by Alan Larus
В 
В 
photo by Alan Larus
В 
В 
A certain bird sits in this tree. The delight of life is where
it dances.
Nobody knows where the bird is, nor what all this music means.
В 
.......
В 
Kabir says: You brother, you seeker, this whole thing is a great mystery.
Tell all the wise men it would be a good thing to
know where this bird spends the night.
В 
~Kabir
В 
В 

The tree has entered my hands,
The sap has ascended my arms,
The tree has grown in my breast -
Downward,
The branches grow out of me, like arms.
В 
Tree you are,
Moss you are,
You are violets with wind above them.
A child - so high - you are,
And all this is folly to the world.
В 
~ Ezra Pound
В 
Can You Imagine?
В 
For example, what the trees do
not only in lightening storms
or the watery dark of a summer's night
or under the white nets of winter
but now, and now, and now - whenever
we're not looking.В  Surely you can't imagine
they don't dance, from the root up, wishing
to travel a little, not cramped so much as wanting
a better view, or more sun, or just as avidly
more shade - surely you can't imagine they just
stand there loving every
minute of it, the birds or the emptiness, the dark rings
of the years slowly and without a sound
thickening, and nothing different unless the wind,
and then only in its own mood, comes
to visit, surely you can't imagine
patience, and happiness, like that.
В 
~ Mary Oliver
В 
В 
(Long Life)
Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Can_You_Imagine.html
В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4615 From: Mark Date: 2012-06-03
Subject: #4615 - Saturday, June 2, 2011
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights: Issue #4615, Saturday, June 2, 2011




Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us. Not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence. It is hard to find. In its presence we can remember something beyond the moment, a strength on which to build a life. Silence is a place of great power and healing. Silence is God's lap.

Many things grow the silence in us, among them simply growing older.

We may then become more a refuge than a rescuer, a witness to the process of life and the wisdom of acceptance.

A highly skilled AIDS doctor once told me that she keeps a picture of her grandmother in her home and sits before it for a few minutes every day before she leaves for work. Her grandmother was an Italian-born woman who held her family close. Her wisdom was of the earth. Once when Louisa was very small, her kitten was killed in an accident. It was her first experience of death and she had been devastated. Her parents had encouraged her not to be sad, telling her that the kitten was in heaven now with God. Despite these assurances, she had not been comforted. She had prayed to God, asking Him to give her kitten back. But God did not respond.

In her anguish she had turned to her grandmother and asked, "Why?" Her grandmother had not told her that her kitten was in heaven as so many of the other adults had. Instead, she had simply held her and reminded her of the time when her grandfather had died. She, too, had prayed to God, but God had not brought Grandpa back. She did not know why. Louisa had turned into the soft warmth of her grandmother's shoulder then and sobbed. When finally she was able to look up, she saw that her grandmother was crying, too.

Although her grandmother could not answer her question, a great loneliness had gone and she felt able to go on. All the assurances that Peaches was in heaven had not given her this strength or peace. "My grandmother was a lap, Rachel," she told me, "a place of refuge. I know a great deal about AIDS, but what I really want to be for my patients is a lap. A place from which they can face what they have to face and not be alone."

Taking refuge does not mean hiding from life. It means finding a place of strength, the capacity to live the life we have been given with greater courage and sometimes even with gratitude.

- Rachel Naomi Remen from My Grandfather's Blessings, posted to DailyDharma



Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

- Pema ChГѓВΆdrГѓВΆn, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times



If you approach others with the thought of compassion, then that will automatically reduce fear and allow openness with other people. It creates a positive, friendly atmosphere. With that attitude, you can approach a relationship in which you, yourself, initially create the possibility of receiving affection or a positive response from the other person. And with that attitude, even of the other person is unfriendly or doesn't respond to you in a positive way, then at least you've approached the person with a feeling of openness that gives you a certain flexibility and the freedom to change your approach as needed.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama



The intelligent way of working with emotions is to try to relate to their basic substance, the abstract quality of the emotion, so to speak. The basic `isness' quality of the emotions, the fundamental nature of the emotions is just energy. And if one is able to relate with energy, then the energies have no conflict with you. They become a natural process... When there is no panic involved in dealing with the emotions, then you can deal with them completely, properly. Then you are like someone who is completely skilled in his profession, who does not panic, but just does his work completely, thoroughly.

- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche



Generally, when the idea of ego is presented, the immediate reaction is to regard it as a villain, an enemy. You feel you must destroy this ego, this me, which is a masochistic and suicidal approach. But true spirituality is not a battle; it is the ultimate practice of non-violence. We are not regarding any part of us as being a villain, an enemy, but we are trying to use everything as part of the natural process of life.

- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche



Don't worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn't matter.

We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.

The strumming and the flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world's harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing.

So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.

This singing-art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.

Poems reach up like the edge of driftwood
along the beach, wanting and wanting!

They derive
from a slow and powerful root
that we can't see.

Stop the words now.
Open the window in the center of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.

- Rumi, Ghazal 110,, version by Coleman Barks, from Diwan-e Shams, posted to Sunlight
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4616 From: Mark Date: 2012-06-04
Subject: #4616 - Sunday, June 3, 2011

Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights: Issue #4616, Sunday, June 3, 2011




Submerged City

That city will be no more, no halos
of spring mornings when green hills
tremble in the mist and rise
like barrage balloons -

and May won't cross its streets
with shrieking birds and summer's promises.
No breathless spells,
no chilly ecstasies of springwater.

Church towers rest on the ocean's floor,
and flawless views of leafy avenues
fix no one's eyes.

And still we live on calmly,
humbly - from suitcases,
in waiting rooms, on airplanes, trains,

and still, stubbornly, blindly, we seek an image,
the final form of things
between inexplicable fits
of mute despair -

as if vaguely remembering
something that cannot be recalled,
as if that submerged city were travelling with us,
always asking questions,

and always unhappy with our answers -
exacting and perfect in its way.

- Adam Zagajewski from Eternal Enemies, posted to The_Now2



Four Questions:

Who is awake and who asleep?

What is this lake that is continually
oozing back into the earth?

What can a human being offer to God?

What do we most deeply want?

The Answers:

The mind is what sleeps.
What recognizes itself
as God is awake.

This always-disappearing lake
is made of our appetites,
these movings-about,
this talking and listening.

The only offering you can make to God
is your increasing awareness.

And the last desire is
to be God in human form.

- Lalla, posted to AlongTheWay



Before entering the Holy of Holies you must take off your shoes, and not only your shoes but everything, your travelling-clothes and your baggage, and beneath that your nakedness, and everything hidden beneath that, and then the core and the core of the core, then what is left and then the rest and then the light from the imperishable fire.

- Franz Kafka, posted to allspirit



-22 - Time's drivers, that we are.
Its repetitious pace
is all but effaced
in what endures forever.

All which is hurrying
soon will reach conclusion.
Only the everlasting
gives consecration.

Youth, do not waste your clout
on the rigors of flight,
leave trials of speed forsook.

All these things at last play out:
darkness and brilliant light,
flower and book.

- Rainer Maria Rilke, from The Sonnets to Orpheus, translation by Robert Hunter



XXVII I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there 's a pair of us - don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

- Emily Dickinson from The Poems of Emily Dickinson



Of Kingdoms

'I like to dream of those dead kingdoms' -Su Tung-P'o

I like to dream of those kingdoms
where brass glitters and sings,
and fires flame upward on the hilltops.
and someone's love dwells in them.
Later afternoon, in Novemeber,
I travel by commuter train
after a long walk;
around me are tired office workers
and a mournful old lady
clutching a dachshund.
The conductor, alas,
makes an awkward shaman.
Life strides over us like Gulliver,
loudly laughing and crying.

- Adam Zagajewski from Eternal Enemies, posted to The_Now2



As soon as you clear your hearing

the voice of a saviour
will shortly be heard
as soon as you
clear your hearing

don't drink now
this polluted water
the elixir of life
will soon arrive

if you desire grace
lose your selfish self
till you can taste
the sweet essence

in the blackest
of your moments
wait with no fear

since the water of life
was found by the prophet
in the darkest caverns

- Rumi, Ghazal 550, translated by Nader Khalili from Rumi, Fountain of Fire, posted to Sunlight



More Range

We're friends with one who kills us,
who gives us to the ocean waves. We

love this death. Only ignorance says,
Put it off a while, day after tomorrow.

Don't avoid the knife. This friend
only seems fierce, bringing your soul

more range, perching your falcon on a
cliff of the wind. Jesus on his cross,

Hallaj on his - those absurd killings
hold a secret. Cautious cynics know

what they're doing with every moment and why.
Submit to love without thinking, as

the sun this morning rose recklessly
extinguishing our star-candle minds.

- Rumi,Ghazal 728, version by Coleman Barks from The Soul of Rumi, posted to Sunlight
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4617 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-05
Subject: #4617 - Monday/Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4617 -В Monday/Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
В 
On June 3, 2012 The Nonduality Highlights turned 13 years old. We hope youВ 
will put up with our adolescence. We are already known to skip days and turnВ 
in our homework late. (mea culpa) Even now, Jerry is away in Europe attending
some conference about Science and something or other and hanging out with
allВ  those cool kids whose names you have read here. However, we hear rumors
thisВ  is like some days long party behind the scenes. Jerry is "too busy" to
writeВ  much. I took a peek, and you should see the fancy place where they areВ 
meeting. http://www.landgoedzonheuvel.nl/en
В 
Things sure have come a longВ  way from the early days, when people would
drop by the Nonduality SalonВ  and ask what the heck is nonduality because
they never heard of it. Much hasВ  changed, and there are now so many people
talking about this stuff, we canВ  hardly keep up with the all the new kids on
the block. But we try. Jerry willВ send a letter homeВ from camp any day now.В 
В 
With love, Gloria
PS. Thanks to each andВ every one who has contributed over the years.
Thank you all for opening your hearts and minds to share the journey.
В 
В 
В 
The flute of interior time plays,
whether we hear it or not.
What we mean by love is its sound coming in.
В 
~ Robert Bly, Book of Kabir
В 
В 
В 
В 
photo by Alan Larus
В 

"With even a little intuitive wisdom, we will then be able to see clearly
through the ways of the world. We will come to understand that everything in
the world is a teacher. Trees and vines, for example, can all reveal the true
nature of reality. With wisdom there is no need to question anyone, no need to
study. We can learn from nature enough to be enlightened"
В 
~ Ajan Chah, Dhamma Nature
a new page by Christopher Chase
В 

What is the Self? - SAND latest video
В 
В 
http://youtu.be/zGv1Nay2z-U?hd=1В  a link for plain text readers
В 
В 
В 
В 
Tonight the Tiger's out to hunt,
the truth so rare to face as blunt
But sharpened on a grinding stone
by this alone, by self alone
To such a task let me be tied,
the finding uncleft by divide
.
~ Alan Larus
В 
В 
В 
Shodoka (Song of Freedom)
В 
Here comes Mr. Natural, at ease as you please, walking the Talk by keeping
quiet and letting his feet do the speaking, not running toward or away, just
walking on.
В 
The essence of confusion and wisdom is identical, this dusty skin bag is Light’s
own body!
В 
When we finally see how things really are, what words can we muster to
describe nothing?
В 
We all share the same original innocence, that’s why the truth is so true.
В 
Thoughts and sensations change like the weather -- the night sky doesn’t
complain when the stars come out.
В 
When we eventually sober up a little, concepts like me and mine, self and
other, past and future no longer have the juice to intoxicate us.
В 
Even that’s a tale – really, nothing happens.
В 
See for yourself! Once we open our eyes, everything is obvious.
В 
In the dream, there’s plenty of drama. When we awaken, where does it all go?
В 
Ups and downs, profit and loss – none of it can touch our immaculate peace.
В 
We’ve all heard about polishing the mirror, but wait, look directly – there is
no mirror. That’s what I call clean!
В 
Who am I? If I’m truly neither this nor that, I’m this and that too.
В 
Ask a corpse to explain itself! How can we find ourselves by searching outside
ourselves?
В 
Give up the struggle – relax.
В 
Everything changes. When we resist, we suffer. What more do you need to
know?
В 
Recognizing and understanding the intimate relationship between what changes
and what doesn’t is wisdom; actualizing it is love.
В 
If you don’t agree, it doesn’t matter. Life clarifies itself.
В 
Even being in opposition is not being in opposition. It’s all one thing! No, not
even that! It’s easy, don’t worry!
В 
We’re lived by mystery, empty and marvelous – don’t try to figure out
perfection with mind, just rest in it, in harmony, surrendered, released of any
complication.
В 
Beyond fear and desire, just be.
В 
Just BE.
В 
The wise don’t linger in concepts, regrets, plans, or frowns.
В 
In this way, they’re like children – clinging to nothing, rejecting nothing.
В 
Since there is no other, they go on their way, unnoticed. Since everyone is
inherently free, they’re inconspicuous in their absence.
В 
Truth is simple and open to all. Those who understand may not be rich, but
they’re happy.
В 
What better gift to share than one’s own original beauty?
В 
To earnest seekers, all self-images are like tattered old costumes that never
quite fit. They appreciate the naked freedom of their own unself-conscious
nature – they’ve got nothing to prove.
В 
People say all sorts of things, but what’s prior to the first word? Let them say
what they will – the extent of any reactivity is a good test of true equanimity.
В 
To become a natural human being, don’t linger in any provisional state or get
bogged down in beliefs.
В 
This is actually the way of things – fluid, dynamic, non-dwelling.
В 
Most get frightened when they contemplate their own impermanence, but a
rare one now and then wakes up laughing in the midst of the dream.
В 
Walking, sitting, speaking, silent – it’s all the same. Let the Wheel spin. When
raining, rain, when shining, shine.
В 
I don’t mind.
В 
When the arrow hit home, there was nobody there – not even a forwarding
address.
В 
What care I for fame or disgrace – the arrow does the work.
В 
In the grace of supreme beauty, radiance, I discovered my own.
В 
It is not mine, this love is for everyone. All revolve in perfection within me.
There is no coming or going, all are already home.
В 
No need for a pat on the back, who’s patting whom?
В 
“Who knew it would be like this?”
В 
What more can one say?
В 
The moon still shines, the wind still blows – this light belongs to no one.
В 
I am flowing water, following a course carved out by the Great One. I do not
seek the truth – the truth moves me.
В 
Neither empty nor full, my form is the form of the Real.
В 
When I drop this form, nothing has changed. What has no beginning has no end.
В 
Clarity – all is limitless light, mirrored in spotless mind.
В 
Listen closely, Holy Friends – clinging to anything is taking false refuge.
Running away amounts to the same.
В 
Non-dwelling is living without limits, without borders, without chains. Grasping
at any experience, concept, strategy, or identity is nothing but an amnesiac’s
fantasy games.
В 
Some long for the marriage of heaven and earth, yet who has the peace of
mind to contemplate the mutual penetration of the known and the unknown
within the sphere of ordinary activity?
В 
Natural and spontaneous, it proceeds without delay or impediment, granting
the universe the power to exist. Past, present, and future are included in one
glance, all emerges from one mysterious gesture, thrives, dissolves – ecstasy!
В 
What says, "I am"? It's not mind, a teaching, or a word – right here, before
the tongue moves!
В 
No praise, no blame, eternally serene. No way to it, no way out of it. The only
stubborn obstacle -- our pretense of self.
В 
The only recourse: understanding and discarding that fiction.
В 
See through that one, and all is understood. The one and the all are not
different – only appearances blind us to what’s what.
В 
Just keep walking – if anyone asks directions, point to the heart. Yours and
theirs are not two. Looking elsewhere, it’s completely missed.
В 
I hail from a long line of jugglers who toss batons of existence and
non-existence in a teeming carnival of ineffable light.
В 
Don't ask me what I know – I just work here. When I jettison everything I
think I know, I just might become honest and genuine.
В 
The Real is direct and immediate – that's why it's so easily missed. Still, why
complain? That only compounds the befuddlement. Just be grateful -- without
reason. Gratitude itself is reason enough!
В 
Nothing is as it appears. Whatever appears, I am not. Nor am I any different.
В 
If this is not comprehended, the dream goes on. If this is comprehended, the
dream still goes on. Let's be clear – the dream never ends, only the dreamer
disappears.
В 
For years I tried to figure it out, with efforts mounted against the wind.
Finally, I gave up the struggle. Now the breeze blows through me.
В 
I relaxed and just let go.
В 
A closed fist opened.
В 
Spirit breathed out.
В 
This breath is for all.
В 
All are Bodhisattvas.
В 
В 
~ Bob O'Hearn
March 12, 2012
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4618 From: Jerry K Date: 2012-06-06
Subject: #4618 - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - Editor: Anamika and Jerry Katz
#4618 - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - Editor: Anamika and Jerry Katz
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights

В -----------------------------------

A report of the Science and Nonduality Conference 2012, Europe

Anamika and I attended the Science and Nonduality Conference 2012 in Doorn, Holland this past weekend along with about 250 other nondual types of people from all backgrounds and interests, from Thijs, a charming young seeker who wore broken glasses to a man from India who happened to be the inventer of the super computer. There were teachers such as Jeff Foster, Unmani, and Rupert Spira who reminded us to stand as awareness and others who brought people to tears by means of their openness alone.

There were many young people, those under 40. They are simply curious, or studying for advanced degrees, or working in a field whose expansion requires a knowledge of nonduality.

The movie Kumare was a heartfelt experience for everyone. It is about an Indian man who impersonates a guru and attracts a loyal following. His attachment to them is genuine but his persona is false. In the end he must expose his true identity. The story is full of reality and warmth. I think anyone at the conference would recommend it highly. After the movie and during the following day many were talking about the movie.

But that wasn't the end of the fake guru drama. On Saturday morning the guru Madhukar was scheduled to talk. Afterward, Zaya Benazzo, one of the organizers of the conference, said that she understood Madhukar abused a number of women. Madhukar handled the situation as coolly as possible. What actually transpired may one day be available on video. The interaction was powerful and direct and shows that the SAND conference, and nonduality such as we know it, has a built-in way of weeding out those are are not making a genuine attempt to come from a state of presence.

As with any other conference, so much valuable interaction happens in the lobbies, the bar in the basement, outside on the winding paths through the countrside. The feeling of community here in Holland was very strong, maybe ever more so than the California conferences, and that's saying a lot.

I also want to mention the entertainment. David Ellzey is a brilliantly funny and poignant mime who touched us and made us laugh with stories he wove using skills that stunned the audience. Watch David here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3_rP74VLUoВ 

Jarrah was unbelievable. Here she is peforming at a Gangaji retreat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfA76XFneXk В 
She's the only singer songwriter I know who can write nondual lyrics and not sound contrived, corny, or overly spiritual.

There was a duo who played the cello and a harp and they received a standing ovation from the large audience. I don't have their name handy, however.

Maya Gheiman also did a Hang (drum) performance that was hugely enjoyed.

DJ Shanto took us into party mode with great dance sounds.

There was so much more, more movies, Puppetji, singing and art classes, Yoga with Ellen Emmet. Dozens of speakers of fine quality and many of them younger than we typically see.

An important event was the World Cafe led by the Dutch writer, educator, entertainer, Paul Smit. World Cafe is a method for facilitating conversation. The event was so well received that Maurizio Benazzo, the primary organizer and charismatic leader of SAND, thought that the California SAND could begin and end each day with a World Cafe, which would allow attendees to intimately discuss and explore burning questions of the day.

Finally I want to mention a few of the awesome and beautiful people with whom I spent some one-on-one time: Annamarie de Haan, Odd Ness, Kelly Kilrae, Jeff Foster, Thijs, Kees, Vera de Chalambert, Danny, Rupert, Unmani, Peter Fenner, Paul Smit, Gino Yu who crashed on our couch one night, Pamela Wilson (who I wish crashed on our couch one night), Sophia, James Murray, Tim Freke, David Ellzey, Liesbeth, Nick Day, Julian Noyce from Non-Duality Press, Susan Blackmore, Jeannie MacGillvary, Florian, Madhukar, Isaac Shapiro, Menno, everyone at my World Cafe tables, Hans Tibbe the photographer who was more than a photographer; he kept an unnoticed presence, but I noticed, And there were so many others but I didn't get everyone's name so I'm sorry.

Mostly I have to thank Anamika who did everything to make my trip exciting and worthwhile. She picked me up at the airport, allowed me to stay in her flat, showed me around Amsterdam and part of Holland, and shared meals with me at the conference. You can get to know Anamika through her blog at http://noname-allthereis.blogspot.nl/

But the event could not have happened without the leadership and organizational power of Maurizio and Zaya and especially Menno who organized the volunteer team which was tight and flawless. Finally, what a great hotel! And the food was excellent. The food in Holland is impressive. Wherever you eat you will say how good it is.В  I can't wait until next year. I urge everyone to attend and to visit Amsterdam and Holland.

Stay tuned for details on registering for SAND Europe 2013.

Register for SAND California here:
http://www.scienceandnonduality.com/register.shtml

See you at SAND.


Group: NDhighlights Message: 4619 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-08
Subject: #4619 - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4619 - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
All photos are by Alan Larus, our officialВ freelanceВ photographer at large.
(Plain text readers have no idea what they are missing.)
В 
В 
Silence is understanding there is no mind to quiet.
В 
~ Robert Adams
В 

Silence of the Heart
Dialogues with Robert Adams
via Along The Way
В 
В 
В 
В 
Silence is the eternal flow of language, obstructed by words.
В 
~ Ramana Maharshi
В 
В 
В 
В 
We are so engrossed with the objects or appearances revealed by the light
that we pay no attention to the light.
В 
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
В 
В 
В 
В 
В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В No!В  My soul is not asleep!В  My soul is not asleep!
В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В  It neither sleeps nor dreams, but watches, its clear eyes open,
В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В  far off things, and listens, and listens
В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В  at the shores of the great silence.
В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В  It listens at the shores of the great silence.
В 
В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В  ~ Antonio MachadoВ В В В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
Why are you so afraid of silence,
silence is the root of everything.
If you spiral into its void
a hundred voices will thunder messages
you long to hear.
В 
~В RumiВ 
В 
'Hidden Music'; Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin

top of page