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Group: NDhighlights Message: 4820 From: Mark Date: 2013-01-21
Subject: #4820 - Sunday, January 20, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4820, Sunday, January 20, 2013




The only condition for the realization of Truth is that the knowledge of it be desired with tremendous intensity. You cannot see IT, you cannot feel IT only because you do not really want IT - you are too preoccupied with enjoying and sorrowing over your finite existence.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels

The Self is the Satguru, you will get help from Within. Here your True Guide is, here all wisdom and knowledge is, but due to your preoccupations you do not see It.

The Satguru is Within. Meditate only on That.

The Satguru is greater than all else, even God. The Satguru is Truth-Awarenesss-Bliss, and is like that Sun; you no longer need a torch to see.

- Papaji from The Truth Is, posted to AlongTheWay

The sense of being alive, being present, is so intoxicating that one is enchanted by the manifestation it presents and gets so involved as to forget to find out if the spectacle really exists or is merely a hallucination, a dream, a mirage.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels

The sage has no mind of his own.
He is aware of the needs of others.

I am good to people who are good.
I am also good to people who are not good.
Because Virtue is goodness,
I have faith in people who are faithful.
I also have faith in people who are not faithful.
Because Virtue is faithfulness.

The sage is shy and humble - to the world he seems confusing.
Men look to him and listen.
He behaves like a little child.

- Lao-tzu from Tao Te Ching, translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English, posted to AlongTheWay

When you make the present moment, (instead of past and future), the focal point of your life, your ability to enjoy what you do, (and with it, the quality of your life), increases dramatically."

- Eckhart Tolle, posted to The_Now2

Here is another way of finding inner space: Become conscious of being conscious. Say or think `I Am' and add nothing to it. Be aware of the stillness that follows the I Am. Sense your presence, the naked, unveiled, unclothed beingnessÂ…

- Eckhart Tolle, posted to The_Now2

Love is the recognition of oneness in a world of duality. This is the birth of God into the world of form. Love makes the world less worldly, less dense, more transparent to the divine dimension, the light of consciousness itself.

- Eckhart Tolle, posted to The_Now2
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4821 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-01-22
Subject: #4821 - Monday, January 21, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4821 - Monday, January 21, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
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В 
Questioner: What is the nature of the Reality?
В 
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Existence without beginning or end - eternal.
Existence everywhere, endless, infinite. Existence underlying
all forms, all changes, all forces, all matter and all spirit.
В 
via Cathy Ginter on Facebook
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Love
В 
Love means to learn to look at yourself
The way one looks at distant things
For you are only one thing among many.
And whoever sees that way heals his heart,
Without knowing it, from various ills.
A bird and a tree say to him: Friend.
Then he wants to use himself and things
So that they stand in the glow of ripeness.
It doesn't matter whether he knows what he serves:
Who serves best doesn't always understand.
В 
by Czeslaw Milosz
English version by Robert Hass
В 
Poetry Chaikhana
В 
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В 
This small waterfall located in the Shale Creek Preserve along a section of the
Chestnut Ridge Park, near Buffalo New York has a rather interesting phenomena
associated with it. The aptly named “Eternal Flame Falls” sits on a pocket of
natural methane gas, which seeps out through a fracture in the rocks behind the
waterfall.
В 
i thank You God for most this amazing
by e. e. cummings
В 

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
В 
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
В 
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
В 
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
В 
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В 
The human is the being in whom the earth has become spiritually aware,
has awakened into consciousness,
has become self-aware and self-reflecting.
In the human, the earth begins to reflect on itself.
In our deepest definition and deepest subjectivity,
we humans are the earth. Conscious.
You and I are the beings in whom the earth
thinks... knows... comprehends... analyzes...
rationalizes... judges... remembers...
chooses...acts...decides.
В 
~ Miriam Therese MacGillis in "The Fate of the Earth"
В 
via Rashani Rea on Facebook
В 
I found this, written in t.k.'s hand, pinned to a tree in the woods behind the goat
field. It was faded and almost unreadable. I asked t.k. if I could put it up here
and he said "I have no idea what you are even talking about. Looks like the
writing of a trutle in a swamp." So, here it is.
В 

Love has conquered my hand and love has conquered my foot.
Love has conquered my desires and love has conquered my mind.
Love has conquered my fear and love has conquered my shame.
Love has conquered my hours and my minutes,
my plans and my traditions,
my ideas and my concepts.
В 
Love has left my life in shambles and love has tossed me in the air like a bird saying “Fly.”
Unknown wings sprouted from nowhere, the sky became my home.
В 
Love took my wings and I fell, like a stone, into the ocean.
Love said “Swim.” all gills and scales water became my home.
В 
Love raised me up and love threw me down.
Love gave me friends and love gave me utter aloneness.
Love gave me a paradise and love showed me a hell.
В 
And in the end love took everything, and every thing, from me.
Nothing was left and nothing became my abode.
My mind swooned with mysteries. Loved laughed at my folly.
В 
Love said “I am nameless and placeless.” Why donÂ’t you come live with me. I said “Yes!”
Love laughed and said “You missed the point.”
В 
Love conquered my wanting and my longing.
Love conquered my seeking and my search.
Love conquered my doing and my seeming.
В 
В 
Love said “In me there is not even room for that arrogance called “Being.”
This body said nothing. Love moved as the wind through the trees.
В 
t.k.,В  traktung yeshe dorje
В 
via Traktung Khepa on Facebook
Thanks to Amrita Nadi
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4822 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-23
Subject: #4822 - Tuesday, January 22, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4822 - Tuesday, January 22, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
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В 
A walk with Rochelle over a road paved with teachings and teachers and a current opportunity to allow anxiety, be-ing it, being aware of awareness. Rochelle is a head flight attendant on international wide body flights. Her job has allowed her to access many teachers and events. She's been to India about ten times in the last ten years.
В 
Watch/listen to the interview on YouTube:
В 
В 
Download/play link:
В 
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Contents with time cues:
В 
1:33 Introduction to Rochelle. She reviews her spiritual encounters from Catholicism and Christianity, to Advaita Vedanta, Ramakrishna Math, Bhagavad Gita, Eckhart Tolle, Candice O'Denver, Adyashanti. (3 minutes)
В 
4:30 Increasing recognition as awareness behind who she thought she was. Bentinho Massaro. Leonard Jacobson and addressing deeper emotional issues and intensities. Advantage of Leonard compared to other teachers. Experience of anger. The antidote for anger is laughter. (6 minutes)
В 
11:08 Allowing. Short moments of recognition of being and the building of continuity. (6 minutes)
В 
16:07 More about awareness, practice, changing. Bringing down teachings to the practical level. The role of teaching. Friends who share an interest in the teachings. Minneapolis nonduality scene. (6 minutes)
В 
23:58 Rochelle asks Jerry about a comment he made regarding Eckhart Tolle and Adyashanti begging him to put their writings in the Highlights. (1 minute)
В 
25:38 Impressions of Candice O'Denver. (1 minute)
В 
26:29 Regarding not preparing for this interview and just allowing. (1 minute)
В 
29:10 Rochelle's job as flight attendant purser and freedom to travel. (1 minute)
В 
30:04 Spiritual searching. Searching has given way to a deepening. (2 minutes)
В 
31:34 Spiritual life as a digging and what it is that digs. Anger as an example. No need to explain or talk about these things. (5 minutes)
В 
37:25 Silence. Living by allowing things to happen organically or by feeling how life moves. (2+ minutes)
В 
39:55 "The universe has given me a month off." Nature of her life right now as an opportunity to allow anxiety and be-ing it. (5 minutes)
В 
44:55 Fear of death. Allowing fear. (3 minutes)
В 
48:02 Gradual and sudden aspects of awakening. (3 minutes)
В 
50:55 Speaking truthfully. A little rambling about interviews, where she lives, the winter. (4 minutes)
В 
55:08 Rochelle asks about my journey. (6 minutes)
В 
1:01:31 Living life from life's callings. Awareness and being aware of awareness. Awareness itself. Attempting to make sense about awareness. Admittedly I'm not on the same page as Rochelle in these last few minutes. Maybe a discussion on this latter portion can be conducted. (8 minutes)
В 
Watch/listen to the interview on YouTube:
В 
В 
Download/play link:
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Group: NDhighlights Message: 4823 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-24
Subject: #4823 - Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4823 - Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
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В 
В 
В 
The Nondual Wisdom and Psychology Conference 2013
В 
A new trilogy of documentaries
В 
Something on organizational nonduality
В 
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В 
В 
В 

Spiritual Bypassing, True Intimacy and the Challenge of Being Fully Human
В 
About the Conference
Nonduality derives from the Sanskrit word Advaita, which means "not-two," referring to the fundamental consciousness that underlies the apparent distinction between perceiver and perceived. From the nondual perspective, the split between self and other is a purely mental construct. This understanding, rooted in the direct experience of countless sages through millennia, is at the heart of Hindu Vedanta, Judaism, Islam, and many schools of Buddhism, Taoism, and mystical Christianity. Nonduality points to "That" which is before and beyond the projections of a seperative, self-reflexive mind. As nondual awareness emerges in the West in both therapists and clients, the practical and theoretical implications for psychotherapy are far-reaching.
В 
This annual cutting edge conference hosts leading therapists and teachers who are exploring the confluence of nondual wisdom and psychotherapy. How does psychotherapy change when therapists and clients awaken to and embody their true nature as open, lucid awareness that is essentially not separate from the whole of life? This year's conference focuses on spiritual bypassing, true intimacy and the challenge of being fully human. We will explore together how to determine when the mind is using spirituality as a means of avoidance, and how to invite and embody true intimacy inclusive of our humanity.
В 

History of the Conference
The first Conference on Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy was held in 1998 at the Mt. Madonna Center in Watsonville, California, and was hosted by The Center For Timeless Wisdom, a non-profit organization established by Peter Fenner, Ph.D. Subsequent conferences have been held annually since 2000 in the San Francisco Bay Area including ones hosted by the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, John F. Kennedy University, and California Institute of Integral Studies.
В 

Who can Attend?
Anyone is welcome to attend. While the conference presentations are geared towards the theory and practice of psychotherapy and are available to be taken for continuing education units, they are accessible to the interested public. Many graduate students and psychology interns attend along with licensed psychotherapists. Clergy, bodyworkers, and students of nondual teachings will also find the presentations of special interest.
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More information:
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В 
Hi Jerry


I'm a film producer who's just finished a trilogy of documentaries that I think you'll enjoy.

You can find them all atВ www.beyondmefilm.com

I get emails daily from around the world from people telling me how life changing they are.

Enjoy!!!

Frank
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В 
В 
В 
Organizational Nonduality
В 
by Jeff Vander Clute

What is arising for me around conscious organizations relates to the theory of transformation I've been sensing into. A conscious organization knows itself as an expression of the whole, and does beneficial work on all apparent levels simultaneously. When we work authentically and compassionately with dissonance, disturbance, etc., arriving at and embodying joyful resolution, the effects are planetary as well as cosmic. And of course we can also work consciously with harmony, balance, etc. (as in thriving communities).

Seeing the organization, its constituents, and its environment as an indivisible whole - as a complete manifestation of all that is - and moving accordingly is what I'm calling "organizational nonduality." When a collective, in this case an organization, sees in an undivided way, the very act of seeing activates profound healing, from the individual to the planetary, and throughout the cosmos.

As Thich Nhat Hanh says, "One drop of this compassionate water is enough to bring back the refreshing spring to our mountains and rivers..." (See video: "The End of Suffering"). He is also widely quoted as saying that the next Buddha may well be a collective.

I offer that collectives such as the Compassionate Action Network International http://compassionateaction.org/В can become conscious, even enlightened, organizations that illuminate the refreshing wellspring that is the very source of peace and flourishing. Peace starts here...
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Group: NDhighlights Message: 4824 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-01-25
Subject: #4824 - Thursday, January 24, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
#4824 - Thursday, January 24, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights/
В 
В 
Our notions about happiness entrap us. We forget that they are just ideas. Our
idea of happiness can prevent us from actually being happy. We fail to see the
opportunity for joy that is right in front of us when we are caught in a belief
that happiness should take a particular form.
В 
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
В 
В 
"Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do
and thus into this world from deep within you."
В 
via "Oneness With All Life"
В 
В 
Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places
where other people see nothing.
В 
~ Camille Pissaro

В 
В 
via Quotes from the Mystics on Facebook
В 
В 
Listen to this:
There is nothing that can interfere in your freedom.
There is no thing that can avoid your awakening.
There is nothing that can stop you.
For you are already that, be aware of this!
You are already free.
You are already bright and shining and all is well.
В 
~ Robert Adams (Totally Free - October 27, 1991)
В 
В 
You are always Free, but your attention is somewhere else. Just return your
attention to your Self and away from impermanent objects. What you are is
always HERE.
В 
~ Sri H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji)
В 
В 
A traveller should just be on the way, why count the number of steps to get there !
В 
В 
via Facebook

В 
"Once at Tassajara, Shunryu Suzuki-roshi said, 'Life is basically impossible.'
Then he got up and left the zendo.
В 
The next day a student raised his hand and asked, 'Suzuki Roshi, yesterday you
said that life is basically impossible. What are we going to do?'
В 
'You do it....everyday.'"
В 
~ From a Facebook posting of Belle Haywood
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В 
THE SKY'S THE LIMIT -
Mahamudra/Dzogchen Reminders of our True Nature
В 
"A single lamp dispels the darkness of a thousand aeons;
Likewise, a single flash of the mind's clear light
Erases aeons of karmic conditioning and spiritual blindness."
В 
~ Tilopa's Mahamudra Instructions to Naropa, translated by Keith Dowman
В 
В 
(Photo of witch's broom nebula and trillions and trillions of stars with trillions
of planets near them just like our sun and earth where we think we are so unique)
В 
via Amrita Nadi on Facebook
В 
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В 
100 Butterflies (excerpt)
В 
В 
Where you are going
and the place you stay
come to the same thing.
What you long for
and what you've left behind
are as useless as your name.
Just one time, walk out
into the field and look
at that towering oak --
an acorn still beating at its heart.
В 
~ Peter Levitt
В 
В 
(100 Butterflies)
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Group: NDhighlights Message: 4825 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-25
Subject: #4825 - Friday, January 25, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
#4825 - Friday, January 25, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
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В 
Interview with Rafael Stoneman
Rafael Stoneman is part of "Advaita Heart, a small group of friends and family that live in the Ojai Valley who consistently offer support to one another in practical ways." He writes, "We enjoy each others company and meet regularly to share the highs and lows of our relative situations with the continual focus on remaining fixed in the Absolute awareness. We enjoy making films, offering a hand to those in greater need than us, or just laughing about the paradoxes of our non-dual lives." Find out more here: http://ah-nonprofit.com/advaita-heart/
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В 
Interview contents with time cues:
В 
0:00 Background (1 minute)
В 
1:00 The nonduality scene. Neo-advaita, traditional advaita, and general nonduality compared. (3 1/2 minutes)
В 
4:30 Rafael's activities in the world of nonduality. Nondualists as artists. (3 minutes)
В 
7:44 Self-realization. Limitations of nonduality as it is. Awakening. Spiritual searching. (3 minutes)
В 
11:01 Rafael's group that meets in Ojai. Talking about nonduality with different people and the "awareness of being present." Having difficulty being with people who aren't interested in awareness or who aren't self-realized and Rafael's experience with that perception. (4 minutes)
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14:47 Life after awakening regarding the expression of qualities of his temperament. Anger issues. Lif change at age 34. Personal life. (4 minutes)
В 
19:11 Going to India. Personal life. Self-inquiry as a practice compared to self-inquiry as living. (3 minutes)
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22:31 Silence. More about self-inquiry practice and living. Self-inquiry as presence, as being who you are. (4 minutes)
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26:39 The nature of mind. (2 minutes)
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28:14 Bodywork, being non-verbal, being more mentally active.
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30:10 The teachers Rafael likes and follows out of joy and passion. (2 minutes)
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31:43 Rafael asks about Jerry's interviews and background. "I like talking to people who have nothing to say." Jerry's background with nonduality and some spiritual biography. (4 minutes)
В 
36:07 "While I see that everyone is the Self, I don't see everyone as self-realized," Rafael says. Not all good teachers are self-realized but are good at teaching. The nature of people talking about this stuff. (4 minutes)
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40:08 Rafael's relationship and experience with Robert Wolfe. (7 minutes)
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47:27 "This human experience is painfully beautiful." Sadness and joy in the world and in Ojai specifically. The global sense of interconnectedness. Alleviating suffering as one's work. (3 minutes)
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50:30 The vision for non-institutionalized meeting places around North America where people experiencing an awakening may go for support. Role of meetup.com to find such groups and nature of such groups. (5 minutes)
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non-dual fool poems by rafael

letÂ’s get drunk together
on the wine of life and death
for living is dying
laughing is crying
and since we know
by now
there is no time
we might as well
celebrate
what is
В 
~
we are the only one
in this universe
and even
we
do not exist
how can it be
that every being
is that same one
moving about
singing and dancing
and making love to
ourself
В 
~
В 
weÂ’ve read every nondual book
visited every teacher
asked every question
awakened, realized, enlightened
and here we go again
forgetting that
nothing has ever happened
making a big to do
about what we know
and who we are
so many nondual fools
expressed by the
ultimate foolish one
В 
~
donÂ’t steal a name
from the nameless
or a hat
from the headless
come naked
arrive thirsty
leave your shoes on
but take your concepts off
and leave them at the door
listen to this mumbo jumbo
blither babble
about what it takes to
be free
В 
~
В 
weÂ’re not the only one
that ever felt lonely
all alone
with no home
searching for something new
for anything
that has never happened before
a fresh taste
a rejuvenating place
a beautiful face
searching for anything
that will erase
the imaginary
lines
of separation
В 
~
hurry up
act quick
the market is cornered
lickety split
В 
suddenly the whole
of humanity
is wide awake
В 
its no longer
a big deal to
know you are God
every kid on the block
has discovered this
В 
one out of three
people today
are waking up
in the most usual way
В 
just look at the blogs
every part of the world
the wheel in the cog
the illusion is now hurled
В 
the beloved is working
in every gas station
laundromat, liquor store
and bank
В 
everywhere we go
we see only
this wicked foolish one
the mischievous maker
of this
hide and seek life
В 
~
В 
burn baby burn
gotta love that
fire in our belly
В 
our ego is scorched
our hearts now a torch
В 
lighting the way
for night into day
В 
shining nondual fools
transcending all thought-schools
В 
and no longer trying
to offer stories of lying
В 
no longer a title
not woman not man
not god not devil
no l. ron hubbard
upper level
В 
nothing to do
no christian no jew
no muslim no buddhist
no gucchi no nudist
В 
just this
this unremarkable presence
so what
we woke up from the dream
В 
~
В 
the nondual fool doesnÂ’t
choose to drink alone
for starters
the nondual fool
doesnÂ’t choose at all
В 
the simple fact is
that no one wants to be around
the nondual fool
who acts as if more
Г‚вЂ˜the oneÂ’
than anyone
В 
the stench of arrogance
is too much to bear
when the nondual fool
starts lecturing
about how we are all one
as if everybody
doesnÂ’t already
get the joke
В 
some shadow sprouts
and the nondual fool
goes deeper into
paranoid misery
which only
perpetuates
that self-involvement
which no one
wants to be around
В 
we get it
youÂ’re the one
but hey
guess what friend
so is
everyone else
В 
~
В 
donÂ’t feel that pain
by all means
cover it up
with some
silly entertainment
some conceptual dismissal
we donÂ’t want to
start feeling dismal
and really paying attention
to our own suffering forms
no, no, no
come letÂ’s go
and write another book
on compassion
В 
~
В 
r a f a e l
В 
Interview with Rafael
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4826 From: Mark Date: 2013-01-26
Subject: #4826 - Saturday, January 26, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4826, Saturday, January 26, 2013




Rather than
becoming involved
with the scene,
look for the seer.

- Mooji from Writing on Water, posted to AlongTheWay

The Core

Whoever planted this apple orchard hid it in a mist of
language, though some

fragrance comes through. Keep your nose subtle and clear
for that. Coarse companions

can clog you with mucus, so that you forget what's
concealed in word-fog.

Husamuddin's sunlight helps, that which burns in this
book. There is a being

named Quzuh, familiar of cloud and rainbow, snow-moon
and frozen grave mounds.

Leave Quzuh those coverings. Pierce to the core that the
seven blue spheres revolve

around. Venus touches her lute strings to lure out
essence from this poem.

Jupiter lays down money. Saturn, even he, bends to kiss
the hand, "I'm not worthy."

Mars cuts himself sharpening his sword. Astrologers
study the stars as they

die out. Philosophers talk about "thought," but what
does that mean? Mystical

poets make metaphors. Sensualists order dessert. Bread
dissolves in the

belly. Every face lifts toward light. As minerals move
in plants, as animals drink

from the wet grass, Khidr leans to the wisdom spring;
another being sets down his

load lightheartedly with the Friend; life never ends.

- Rumi Mathnawi VI: 84-128, version by Coleman Barks from The Soul of Rumi, posted to Sunlight

A step toward your own heart
is a step toward the Beloved.

In this house of mirrors
you see a lot of things –
Rub your eyes.
Only you exist.

- Rumi Quatrain 161: version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva from A Garden Beyond Paradise, posted to Sunlight

THE SKY'S THE LIMIT - Dzogchen/Mahamudra Reminders of our True Nature

The sky of Clear Light, ultimate reality, pervades everywhere.
See everything in this indescribable light of reality;
Not holding intellectual fabrications, look to this immaculate emptiness...

See the drama, the illusion, the magical creation;
Not thinking it to be real, look to the face of emptiness;
Not letting negative thoughts arise,
Turn to the face of the Great Expanse.

~The Seventh Dalai Lama quoted in The Dalai Lama's Secret Temple

~And whose face is that, dear?
The one in the mirror!
Yes! You are the face of the Great Expanse!
Next time you shave your face, or wash it, or
put fancy creams on it... stop for just a second...
and know... hey! this is the face of Great Emptiness.
And see how Perfect you are.

~ dharma grandmother, posted to DailyDharma
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4827 From: Mark Date: 2013-01-27
Subject: #4827 - Sunday, January 27, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4827, Sunday, January 27, 2013




Give it all up and you get it all back. I believe that this is an immensely potent formula for finding freedom and joy in living. Every time I have put this principle in action, it has worked. Whenever I have let go of something, God has either given it back to me, or given me something better, or shown me that I'm better off without it. More and more, I have come to see that God is always giving us exactly what we need for our highest good, and at no cost to anyone.

- Alan Cohen, posted to The_Now2

When a man dives within, he finds that his real self is above the perpetual motion of the universe.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

There is in man a false self and a real self. The real self contains the eternal; the false self contains the mortal. The real self has wisdom; the false self ignorance. The real self can rise to perfection; the false self ends in limitation. The real self has all good, the false self is productive of all evil. One can see both in oneself: God and the other one. By conquering the other one, one realizes God. This other power has been called Satan; but is it a power? In reality it is not. It is and it is not. It is a shadow. We see shadow and yet it is nothing. We should realize that this false self has no existence of its own. As soon as the soul has risen above the false self, it begins to realize its nobility.

- posted to SufiMystic

RN: How difficult it is to communicate the secret of life.

What more can I say?

Listen. Imagine you are at the center of a temple dedicated to the supreme deity. It is round, with a dome, and not even one ray of light comes in from the outside. With both your hands you are holding a bright lamp, the only source of light in the temple. You look around and notice it has no sacred images, there is just you and... countless mirrors of various shapes and sizes scattered everywhere, on the wall, on the dome and on the floor. Now, look at the mirrors and tell me what you see.

GB: In every mirror there is an image of me holding the lamp, but in different forms.

RN: Right! So stop separating yourself from other beings and from the Primordial Buddha. You are the 'God of gods'.... I am too, and like us so are other beings, because all is one. Oh! Isn't this revelation marvelous? There will come a day when all will be fully aware of it. That glorious day is not far... In truth, it is already now.

~Lama Rangdrol Naljor from Mahamudra and AtiYoga, by Baroetta, posted to DailyDharma

A myriad bubbles were floating on the surface of a stream. 'What are you?' I cried to them as they drifted by. 'I am a bubble, of course' nearly a myriad bubbles answered, and there was surprise and indignation in their voices as they passed. But, here and there, a lonely bubble answered, 'We are this stream', and there was neither surprise nor indignation in their voices, but just a quiet certitude.

Wei Wu Wei, posted to The_Now2

This life is deceiving, don't you understand?
And material things are illusion, don't you understand?
And samsaric existence is peace, don't you understand?
And all happiness is a dream, don't you understand?

Criticisms and praise are dreams, don't you understand?
Appearances are your mind, don't you understand?
And your own mind is Buddha, don't you understand?
And Buddha is (Buddha Nature,) don't you understand?
And Buddha Nature is (True Reality,) don't you understand?

And when you realize this, whatever appears is mind.
Throughout day and night, look at your mind.
When you look at your mind, you don't see anything.
When you don't see anything, let go and relax.

- excerpt from the Song of Milarepa, posted to DailyDharma
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4828 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-01-29
Subject: #4828 - Monday, January 28, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee


#4828 - Monday, January 28, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
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В 
В 
Giving up the false self is the true renunciation.
В 
~ Ramana Maharshi
В 
by Sandra Ma on Facebook
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В 
A Smile
В 
Shakyamuni held up a lotus
so Kashyapa smiled.
Not at all.
The lotus smiled
so Kashyapa smiled.
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Nowhere was Shakyamuni!
В 
В 
В from: 'Beyond Self: 108 Korean Zen Poems' by Ko Un
via Tao & Zen on Facebook
В 
В 
В 
Everything we call real is made up of things that cannot be regarded as real.
~ Niehls Bohr
В 
В 
"Ignorance is the sense of having one particular aim and object and goal in mind.
And that aim and object, that goal-mindedness, becomes extremely overwhelming,
so you fail to see the situation around you. That seems to be the ignorance. Your
mind is highly precoccupied with what you want, so you fail to see what is."
В 
~Chogyam Trungpa
From "Transcending Madness: The Experience of the Six Bardos"
В 
Via Amrita Nadi on Daily Dharma

В 
Alan Larus Photography
В 
В 
Excellent Interview with Ram Dass (Video)
В 
"You've got to trust that when you have surrendered, you will hear clearly. The
Tao says the truth waits for eyes unclouded by longing, and your longing to have
it different than it is, is ultimately a trap, because it keeps you from hearing
the whole gestalt, the whole way things are. And as you hear the totality of it,
you trust that out of that will come an appropriate action, a dharmic action.
That's the trust of dharma, that's the trust in the wisdom of the Universe that is
greater than your own personal egoism..."
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Full interview here:
В 
via Tao & Zen on Facebook
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Group: NDhighlights Message: 4829 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-29
Subject: #4829 - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4829 - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
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В 
В 
В 
В 
Photo: Ella Joy and Jeannie McGillivray
В 
В 
Interview with Ella Joy McGillivray
В 
Ella Joy lives in Shropshire, U.K. with her parents Paul and Jeannie McGillivray and attends high school. She's 15 years old. On Facebook I announced that I was looking for "young people" to interview. I was anticipating people in their twenties. When Jeannie suggest Ella, I thought yeah sure, this could be ground breaking. And I really wanted to find out how Ella spoke and related to her friends.
В 
You may know Jeannie and Paul through their website http://www.meetingtruth.com/ which lists "everyone's" upcoming events and satsangs. It's a great resource and under constant development as new teachers and features are added. You can actually buy event tickets through the site.
В 
Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EULS43QbTz0В (Photos selected by Ella.)
В 
"Tracks"
В 
0:00 - 1:52 Introduction to Ella, her parents Jeannie and Paul. Being raised in a household where nonduality makes up the values and way of looking at things. School.
В 
1:53 - 4:07 Ella tells of talking to a boy who felt lost and unhappy and how she spoke to him.
В 
4:08 - 7:18 Ella talks about her relationship with her mother and elaborates on how she speaks to her peers from the place of nondual understanding.
В 
7:18 -В  9:31 Singing, dancing, and art are discussed. Ella can sa-a-ang and may be heard here:
https://soundcloud.com/ella-joy
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9:31 - 11:43 Chanting and other interests at the Science and Nonduality Conference 2012.
В 
11:43 - 12:50 Interests in school classes.
В 
12:50 - 14:42 Nonduality teachers Ella likes. The two teachers Ella couldn't think of in the interview, she later told me were Gangaji and Adyashanti. And the amazing Sufi teacher at SAND 2012, whose name neither of us could think of, was Ashegul Ashki, who may be viewed at http://vimeo.com/926726
В 
14:42 - 15:51 Coming from experience. Ella's mother Jeannie being her influence or teacher.
В 
15:51 - 21:44 Ella's use of the word nonduality with her friends and in Religious Education class.
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21:44 - 23:19 Sharing these teachings and experiences with friends.
В 
23:19 - 24:15 Comments on spiritual practices.
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24:16 - 25:33 Harry Potter.
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25:33 - 29:05 Impact of the book/dvd The Secret. Dealing with self-image, mind set, and outlook on life, and how it affects you.
В 
29:05 - 30:03 Influence of the book Flip It on self-image and attitude.
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30:03 - 30:59 Ella's group of friends, their values and interaction.
В 
30:59 - 33:22 Ella speaks to people's pain. Suffering.
В 
В 
Photo: Paul and Ella Joy McGillivray
В 
Big thanks to all the McGillivray's for being part of this, and especially to Ella Joy for her light, her joy, ease, and caring wisdom. -Jerry
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4830 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-02-01
Subject: #4831 - Thursday, January 31, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4831 - Thursday, January 31, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights/
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В 
Follow my ways and I will lead you
To golden-haired suns,
Logos and music, blameless joys,
Innocent of questions
And beyond answers.
For I, Solitude, am thine own Self:
I, Nothingness, am thy All.
I, Silence, am thy Amen.
В 
~ Thomas Merton
В 
"A Thomas Merton Reader"
via Along The Way
В 
January 31 is Thomas Merton's Birthday
В 
photo by Amalia Saar
В 
В 
Solitude is in the mind of man. One might be in the thick of the world and
maintain serenity of mind. Such a one is in solitude. Another may stay in a
forest, but still be unable to control his mind. Such a man cannot be said to be in
solitude. Solitude is a function of the mind. A man attached to desires cannot get
solitude wherever he may be, whereas a detached man is always in solitude.
В 
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

В 
via Along The Way
В 
В 
Unbrokenness
В 
The wind is in the trees,
it looks like trees in the wind.
Being infinite I appear to be finite,
being nothing I appear to be something,
being alive I worry about dying.
But brokenness is just the way
unbrokenness appears to be.
~ Peter Baker
В 
via Nonduality Highlights on Facebook
В 
В 
В 
Hold the question 'What is love?' in silent contemplation until love reveals itself
in its fullness. This takes real patience and dedication, and an inclination to be
open to the dimension of being that lies in the heart of stillness. It's a very big
question that deserves very big devotion.
В 
~ Adyashanti
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В 
If you sit with this question about what is more important, to be loving or to be
awake, you may find that the two are not so separate, that they are actually
highly complementary and integral and perhaps one and the same.
В 
~ Mukti

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В 
В 
"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."
В 
~ Carl Jung
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В 
Everything that bothers us is actually in our mind. We blame our unhappiness on
the environment, our situation, and believe that if we could change our
circumstances we would be happy. But the situation in which we find ourselves is
only the secondary cause of our suffering. The primary cause is innate ignorance
and the resulting desire for things to be other than they are.
В 
Excerpt From: Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and
Sleep." Snow Lion Publications, 1998.
В 
via Robert Cooper on Daily Dharma
В 
В 
"Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.
If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we
cannot be free."
В 
~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Heart of Buddha's Teaching
В 
В 
Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom under our feet.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on the Earth your love and happiness.
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Earth will be safe when we feel in us enough safety.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
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В 
В 
В 
The thing to do is to understand who you are, first.
Realize you are not the body or the mind or the doer or the knower or the speaker.
This is not you.
If you can realize this first before you talk, you will say very little and the little things you do say will be very meaningful.
Something within you will speak the few words that you have to say and they will be the right words to cause a positive reaction.
Do not feel you have to speak too much to anyone about anything.
Truth is silence.
Reality is quietness.
Peace and love are stillness.
Be still and know that I am God.
В 
~ Robert Adams
В 
The Knower is the last to go! - January 9, 1992
В 
via Roxane Chapdelaine on Facebook
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4831 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-02-01
Subject: #4832 - Friday, February 1, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4832 - Friday, February 1, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
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В 
Interview with Roger Mahaffey
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В 
Roger Mahaffey is 23 years old and lives in Columbus, Ohio. He works at an insurance company in technical support. We talk about thoughts, silence, experience, presence, peace, impermanance, darkness, surrender, how life flows, addiction, action, "no me." And we talk about the doorways to Roger's understandings: LSD, psilocybin, talks with his grandfather, Buddhism, Mooji.
В 
Watch/listen on YouTube:
В 
В 
Interview Tracks/Contents
В 
1:28 - 3:07 Nonduality scene in Ohio. Gar Drolma Buddhist Center. http://www.gardrolma.org/ Garchen Rinpoche.
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3:07 - 6:08 Challenge of finding peace. Silences. More Buddhism. Writing. Some rambling.
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6:08 - 9:34 Watching thoughts. What is noticed when taking psychedelics.
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9:34 - 12:12 How nondualists talk about experience and awareness. Relation to his psychedelic experiences. Talking about silence.
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12:12 - 16:47 Roger talks about his experience at work when "fully resting in the moment." Contentment and experience. Bringing presence to his work. Nature of presence.
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16:47 - 18:30 Ajahn Chah and impermanence and how this teaching has changed Roger's perception of the world.
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18:30 - 22:03 Issues with drugs and avoidance of bad sensations and the seeking of good sensations. Addictive behavior as the actual seeking of inner peace. Addiction/recovery.
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22:03 - 31:09 Compulsive thought. Meditation as an attempt to control the mind. Experience at a 12 day silent retreat. Transcendence of pain and the meaning given to the transcendence.
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31:09 - 35:38 What is the point of such a 12 day silent retreat? Impermanence revisited. Gangaji discussed. Mooji discussed as a teacher Roger finds valuable and his favorite.
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35:38 - 41:32 Family. Religious and spiritual life growing up. Talks with his skeptical grandfather at a Chinese restaurant. Education. Meditation in schools.
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41:32 - 45:43 Roger gets into nonduality discussions with clients at work. Hypothetical cold call selling of nonduality. The possibility of a cult of awareness.
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45:43 - 51:26 Roger's reaction to the teaching that there's nothing to teach and you don't exist. Nothing Ever Happened, by Papaji. Diamond Sutra. Emptiness of emptiness. Negating existence. Impermanance and not knowing. Buddha. What is going on?
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51:26 - 56:48 How Roger lives this knowing.
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56:48 - 1:00:32 Grace as related to the flow of events in Roger's life. Lex Gillan. Prayer. Letting go. Faith and neuroscience.
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1:00:32 - 1:04:45 Consciousness is not the result of brain activity. Near death experiences. You are what you're praying to. Mother Theresa. Truth-based way of thinking. Rochelle Arch-Hayostek mentioned. Negative emotions and fear still present.
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1:04:45 - 1:07:15 Seeing the void or some knowing in the eyes of some people. More LSD-influenced perceptions. Experience of oneness through eye contact.
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1:07:15 - 1:15:08 Using entheogens in controlled conditions. Seeing through your darkness while on psychoactive drugs. Nature of the darkness. Depression. Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Shamans. Icaros. Being forced out of you.
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1:15:08 - 1:21:00 Having given up psychoactive chemicals. Roger asks Jerry about his perception, search, and what is seen. Nature of surrender.
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1:21:00 - 1:28:03 Roger's daughter. Long silence. Talking about the Nonduality Highlights. The pace of conversation slows way down. Talking about alternatives to caffeine.
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1:28:03 - 1:32:58 Roger talks about things he sees happening in his life in the near future. The nature of the flow of his life these days. Contentment. His friends.
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1:32:58 - 1:34:58 Roger's opinion of nonduality on the internet. Suggestions for improving access to the Nonduality Highlights.
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1:34:58 - 1:42:25 Time. "This." Deep peace. Feeling like you need nothing. The urge to action. How do you know what to do next? Findings of neuroscience regarding action. Rafael Stonemen. Thinking.
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1:42:25 - 1:48:35 No thought. Eating mushrooms and the experience of "no me." "I don't have a clue of what I'm doing at work, but it goes pretty well." Flowness. Drug-induced seeing compared to sober seeing. Neem Karoli Baba and LSD.
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В 

Roger Mahaffey

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I have been wanting to write for a while now, its been in the back of my mind pushing its way to the front yearning for expression. What is yearning for expression I am not sure, but there is definitely a desire to let my thoughts and my heart pour on to the canvas. Today I went to Mass for the first time in over a year . And this has been one of a handful of times I have gone in the past five years. As I grew up I never found much interest in Mass though I have always been infatuated by religion and spirituality. I never quite understood what the priests were saying or worse I was so far towards the back as my Mom was habitualy late to everything that I was unable to clearly hear what they were saying. As I grew older we stopped attending church as it didnt seem to do much for my Mom or step dad or me for that matter.

But there was always a spark inside of me waiting to be kindled yearning for some understanding of life some meaning, some point to it all some higher or greater truth... something. I knew that there was something to existance or life , I knew that there was something I was missing, life was not just some random meaningless jumble of atoms. This spark for truth grew as my grandpa and I started to talk on the issues of God and the universe. My Grandpa is a stoud Athiest, who believes in the rationality of man and the sciences. He told me that God is like santa clause. He has played the role of the skeptic in my life always questioning spirituality and my later drug induced experiences of oneness with the universe.

But back to where all this started I went to Mass today and I found it beautiful, besides the priest essentially calling people deadbeats if they were unable to donate money to the church. I had shivers up my spine and hair stood on end as I listened to the hymns and prayers. I felt my heart slowly opening, and a silence blanketed my mind. Even as I first walked into the church today there was a certain energy in the air, I felt a subtle calm, a soothing feeling. I will no doubt be going to Mass again as there is something to be gained by going, I still feel uplifted 2 and a half hours after mass ended. For the past three years or so I abandoned my Catholic roots completely in search of my own truth and it started with my experimentation with psychedelics especially LSD and psilocybin.

As soon as I had my first experiences with psychoactive substances the fire in my heart blossomed. There was no turning back. Those chemicals opened my eyes to another way of seeing, another way of experiencing, it was like a key that let me walk out of my own psychological prison. Boy did I walk out, I burned the prison down and felt alive for the first time, my breath was fantastic, it was exhilirating. My senses felt electric. I looked into others eyes and it was as if I was looking into the depth of their being, not even... my own being. There was a deep unity, but not on a mental level but a feeling, even beyond feeling it was a seeing, a deep knowing that all was love, all was ok. Life was beautiful. Damn was it beautiful. Like so superbly beautiful these words are dead in comparison. And this did not feel like some drug induced delusion, some fake hallucination, this felt more real, more meaningful then anything that had ever happened in my life. Its like truth took a hammer and knocked me out of my head and most of all my misery. The problem with this experience is that it didnt stay, once I came down it went away, the chains slowly weighed me back down again, the prison walls were built back up. And that was the problem with every one of these experiences which for me were innumerable I couldnt get enough as every time I did it I was one with it all, saw beauty and truth in everything. Later to come down to the same old "me" the same old dead reality, the mundane drone of it all. But I clung to these experiences knowing that they were pointing to something greater, pointing to who or what the hell we really are.

Thats when I discovered Buddhism and eventually Timothy Leary and later Ram Dass. This put my experiences into perspective, and made me know for certain that I was not insane, but there was something to these insights gained through drugs. For those of you who dont know who Timothy Leary or Richard Alpert are (ie. Ram Dass) they were PhD. psychologists from Harvard who researched, consumed and popularized LSD and mushrooms in America. They were the guru's of the 60's authors of numerous books, and psychonaut explorers. They became my heroes as they were people who I could relate to, people who had been to the edge of their minds and beyond and came back to tell about it. The problem with my experiences was that no one knew what the hell I was talking about, didnt care or thought I had a case of LSD insanity. But when you have lived a typical normal life, and then something that mindblowing enters your life you cant help but become obssesively passionate about it. I was like a preacher for LSD and any psycho-active drug for that matter for I knew there was something. Eventually the chemicals stopped working or the supply evaporated and I was left with ganja, I realized that those experiences were impermanent and if I wanted to live in the modern world I could not be high on lsd and mushrooms a few times a week. I stuck to pot and started meditating and burning incense, that was my idea of spirituality light a joint, and read the Buddha.

Over the next year or so I devoured anything Buddhist... actually anything Eastern. The ideas of suffering, emptiness, no-self, enlightenment and imperamanence fascinated me not to mention Reincarnation which to me sounded romantically mystical. Whats interesting about Buddhism is that suffering and impermanance arent really theories or faith based ideas they are basic observations of the reality we inhabit. Everything changes, everything perishes, everything dies and every human I have met has suffered at one point or another if not continually. So I could jive with these concepts because they were fundamental truths that I could confirm in my own existance. Just watch how truly impermanent everything in your life is. You dont even have to look around you just watch your breath.... in and out each breath fades into nothingness. Your thoughts come and go. Relatives die. Meals end. Sensations end. Emotions end. Your favorite dog or pet dies. The days pass by and before you know it your old... nothing is static, nothing is permanent. Buddhism brings this truth right into the broad daylight of your consciousness. Its like KABLAM death is at your door step, and you dont have to wait to the end of your life, its happening, and its all around you, this whole life is melting away fading into impermanance.

Now this seems overly nihilistic like who the hell would want to learn a religion that emphasizes suffering and impermanance? But there is a light at the end of the tunnel which is enlightenment, or liberation from suffering which Buddhists call awakening from Samsara or the dream. Thats what Buddha means... awakened one. They asked the buddha are you a saint? Are you a God? he said no, I am awake. So the beauty in this religion is that there is an end to your suffering a way out. When you awaken from the dream of your self, birth, old age, sickness and death then you are free from the cycle of rebirth free from the pains of existance. You are a Buddha. Basically the fundamental nature of your own mind is Buddha-nature, or as Tibetans call it the Dharmakaya the eternal clarity, spaciousness, love and compassion that is the true nature of all beings and all things. And when you realize yourself to be this fundamental awakeness then you are freed from your ignorance.

Now that sounds great but Westerners are gonna say how is this any different then the God who sits on his throne and where is the practicality in it all?

В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4832 From: Mark Date: 2013-02-03
Subject: #4833 - Saturday, February 2, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4833, Saturday, February 2, 2013




The non-action of the no-mind state is not generally apprehended in its true significance. On the contrary, it is misconstrued as idleness in a materialistic society where what is valued and expected is a furious competitive spirit to achieve particular goals. But what is forgotten is that all such thinking and action leads only to the achievement of a "success" that is soon found to be empty and ephemeral. One is finally left in ultimate frustration with the sense of having wasted one's life.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels

in the universal womb that is boundless space
all forms of matter and energy occur
as flux of the four elements,
but all are empty forms, absent in reality:
all phenomena, arising in pure mind, are like that.

just as dream is a part of sleep,
unreal in its arising,
so all and everything is pure mind,
never separated from it,
and without substance or attribute.

experience is neither mind nor anything but mind;
it is a vivid display of emptiness, like magical illusion,
in the very moment inconceivable and unutterable.
all experience arising in the mind,
at its inception, know it as emptiness!

- Longchenpa

While the mind is centered in the body, and consciousness is centered in the mind, awareness is free. The body has its urges and mind its pains and pleasures. Awareness is unattached and unshaken. It is lucid, silent, peaceful, alert and unafraid, without desire and fear. Meditate on it as your true being and try to be it in your daily life, and you shall realize it in its fullness.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels

There is nothing to practice. To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let your true nature emerge. Don't disturb your mind with seeking.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj from I Am That - Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to AlongTheWay

Dropping Keys

The small man
Builds cages for everyone
He
Knows.
While the sage,
Who has to duck his head
When the moon is low,
Keeps dropping keys all night
Long
For the
Beautiful
Rowdy
Prisoners.

- Hafiz from The Gift - Translations by Daniel Ladinsky, posted to AlongTheWay

Follow my ways and I will lead you
To golden-haired suns,
Logos and music, blameless joys,
Innocent of questions
And beyond answers.
For I, Solitude, am thine own Self:
I, Nothingness, am thy All.
I, Silence, am thy Amen.

- Thomas Merton from A Thomas Merton Reader, posted to AlongTheWay
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4833 From: Mark Date: 2013-02-04
Subject: #4834 - Sunday, February 3, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4834, Sunday, February 3, 2013




God is not a personality outside of you.
What God is, is inextricably part of what you are.
God is the dimension of depth within you.

- Eckhart Tolle, posted to The_Now2

The Question

One dervish to another, "What was your vision of God's presence"?
I haven't seen anything.
But for the sake of conversation, I'll tell you a story.

God's presence is there in front of me - a fire on the left,
a lovely stream on the right.
One group walks toward the fire, into the fire, another
toward the sweet flowing water.
No one knows which are blessed and which not.
Whoever walks into the fire appears suddenly in the stream.
And then a head goes under on the water surface, that head
pokes out of the fire.
Most people guard against going into the fire,
and so end up in it.
Those who love the water of pleasure and make it their devotion
are cheated with this reversal.
The trickery goes further.
The voice of the fire tells the truth saying, "I am not fire.
I am fountainhead. Come into me and don't mind the sparks."

If you are a friend of God, fire is your water.
You should wish to have a hundred thousand sets of mothwings,
so you could burn them away, one set a night.
The moth sees light and goes into fire. You should see fire
and go toward light. Fire is what of God that is world-consuming.
Water, world-protecting.
Somehow each gives the appearance of the other. To these eyes
you have now, what looks like water
burns. What looks like fire
is a great relief to be inside.
You've seen a magician make a bowl of rice
seem a dish of tiny, live worms.
Before an assembly with one breath he made the floor swarm
with scorpions that weren't there.
How much more amazing God's tricks.
Generation after generation lies down, defeated, they think,
but they're like a woman underneath a man, circling him.
One molecule-mote-second thinking of God's reversal
of comfort and pain is better
than any attending ritual. That splinter
of intelligence is substance.

The fire and water themselves:
accidental, done with mirrors.

- Rumi, Mathnawi V: 420-458, version by Coleman Barks from The Essential Rumi, posted to Sunlight

We should cast aside all childish games that fetter and exhaust body, speech and mind; and stretching out in inconceivable nonaction, in the unstructured matrix, the actuality of emptiness, where the natural perfection of reality lies, we should gaze at the uncontrived sameness of every experience, all conditioning and ambition resolved with finality.

- Longchenpa



Meditation practice awakens our trust that the wisdom and compassion that we need are already within us. It helps us to know ourselves: our rough parts and our smooth parts, our passion, aggression, ignorance and wisdom... Although it is embarrassing and painful, it is very healing to stop hiding from yourself.

It is healing to know all the ways that you're sneaky, all the ways that you hide out, all the ways that you shut down, deny, close off, criticize people, all your weird little ways.

You can know all of that with some sense of humor and kindness. By knowing yourself, you're coming to know humanness altogether. We are all up against these things. So when you realize that you're talking to yourself, label it 'thinking' and notice your tone of voice. Let it be compassionate and gentle and humorous.

Then you'll be changing old stuck patterns that are shared by the whole human race. Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves.

~ Pema Chodron from Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living, posted to DailyDharma

When you lose touch with inner stillness,
you lose touch with yourself.
When you lose touch with yourself,
you lose yourself in the world.
Your innermost sense of self, of who you are,
is inseparable from stillness.
This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form.

- Eckhart Tolle, posted to The_Now2
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4834 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-02-05
Subject: #4834 - Monday, February 4, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4834 - Monday, February 4, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
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В 
В 
"You should sit in meditation
twenty minutes every day.
Unless you're too busy;
then you should sit for an hour."
В 
~ old Zen saying
В 
Gravity Glue
В 
"He balances them and they balance him right back.
That is the relationship that has formed between
Michael Grabb and his special art pieces."
В 
В 
ItÂ’s Â… recognizing that the whole issue of a self, personal or absolute, is a
fantasy. Both the self and the Self are interpretations upon perception, and
nothing more. And when the interpretation ends, thought ends. When all identity
collapses, you abide in the unknown. There is no tendency left to fixate identity
anywhere – even in a universal somewhere. So you are left resting in the mystery
as the mystery. It is only then that you can be truly and absolutely free of all
concerns.
В 
~ Adyashanti
В 
В 
Stones by Michael Grabb
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
The word enlightenment conjures up the idea of some superhuman
accomplishment, and the ego likes to keep it that way, but it is simply your
natural state of felt oneness with Being. It is a state of connectedness with
something immeasurable and indestructible, something that, almost paradoxically,
is essentially you and yet is much greater than you. It is finding your true
nature beyond name and form.
В 
~ Eckhart Tolle
В 
В 
В 
For more stone balance photos:
В 
Fascinating video of Michael GrabbВ creating balanced stones:
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4835 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-02-06
Subject: #4835 - Tuesday, February 5, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4835 - Tuesday, February 5, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 

The Apparent Elasticity of Time

В 

by Colin Drake

В 

В 

I recently received the following question from one of my readers:

В 

Г‚вЂ˜Am I on the right track in thinking that when these thoughts, opinions and like relent, the mind is then free to focus on the task at hand......as any good computer should when uncluttered from virus and malware?Â’

В 

As with most good questions it contains its own answer. For life is managed much more efficiently when approached with a still mind, as then when the mind is used in its true capacity, as a problem solving (and working) device, it is much more efficient when it can concentrate solely on the task in hand. This is directly related to self-identity, for identifying oneself as a separate object (in a universe of such) leads to existential angst, self-absorption, considering oneÂ’s self-interest, opinions, judgements, worrying about oneÂ’s self-image etc Â… These all occupy the mind disturbing its stillness and run as a multitude of background programs when the mind is called onto act in its working capacity. Naturally this makes the mind inefficient, just as a computer can solve a complex problem much more quickly when running a single program compared to when it is running many programs simultaneously.

В 

The simple solution to this is to discover the constant, conscious, subjective presence (pure awareness) that one actually is Â… see the appendix, and cultivate identification with This. For this then terminates the Г‚вЂ˜background programsÂ’ as they are seen to relate to a non-existent entity! When this occurs time seems to acquire a seemingly miraculous quality, that of elasticity, as one is able to achieve a great deal with minimal effort and no waste of time.

В 

As an example of this I have a tendency to be lazy, spending on average at least two hours of my Г‚вЂ˜wakingÂ’ day lying down: meditating, contemplating, relaxing, Г‚вЂ˜wobblingÂ’ (on a Zen-Chi massager) and sometimes just dozing! I also spend as much time as I can each day hanging out on the verandah, enjoying the glorious view, eating, drinking, reading and entertaining guests. This would amount to at least another two hours a day and much more when friends are present. In fact I am sure many casual acquaintances think that this is all I do as this is all they ever experience of my activities! Add to this 2-3 hours of TV each evening and much more in the day when international cricket, or champions league soccer is showing, plus the large amount of time Janet and I spend travelling and holidaying in our campervan each year itÂ’s a wonder that I ever get anything done!

В 

Yet to balance this in the last ten years there has been the completion of a full-time four year honours degree in comparative religion and philosophy, the (researching, writing, editing and) publication of seven books, writing new articles and poems and answering questions by my readers, running a successful part-time pottery making restaurant ware, volunteering at the local environment centre as their IT and Volunteer Co-ordinator, maintaining an old large farmhouse and macadamia plantation of over 300 trees, maintaining three old vehicles and various pieces of farm machinery plus the usual tasks of living such as shopping, cooking, managing household finances, playing golf with my son, carrying out a regular morning yoga routine, and helping with the housework etcÂ…

В 

In fact it truly does appear to me that time is elastic in that one can achieve whatever one desires whilst still allowing plenty of time for relaxation and spiritual Г‚вЂ˜practicesÂ’ Â… A lot of this is down to efficient time-management but there are other elements. Another of these that is enhanced by the quiet mind is intuition and flowing on from this lateral-thinking. For intuitions can often be very subtle and easily obscured by the background programs that are running, and when the mind is uncluttered this makes lateral thinking much easier. These two factors greatly enhance our problem solving ability resulting in considerable time savings. All of the above are reliant on the major factor, which is not identifying oneself as a separate object with all of the useless suffering, mind-spinning and time-wasting this causes. Needless to say another benefit of avoiding this is that life becomes much less stressful and exhausting, resulting in one needing less sleep and saving even more time!

В 

Take today as a typical example of how one can cram so much into a short space of time:

5.30 - 5.45 Arising after 6 hours in bed. Morning ablutions.

5.45 – 6.30 Early morning sitting reading spiritual books on the verandah with a strong coffee.

6.30– 7.30 Meditation/contemplation lying in the campervan.

7.30 – 8 Answering e-mails, particularly the question at the beginning, and financial management.

8 -8.20 Morning physical yoga.

8.20 – 8.45 Cooking breakfast for Janet and I.

8.45 – 9.15 Sitting on the verandah eating breakfast and talking.

9.15 – 9.45 Writing this article.

9.45 – 10.45 Moving furniture, working at the pottery and car maintenance.

10.45 – 12.00 Painting the alcove behind our wood stove.

12.00 – 12.30 Watching the first cricket Test MatchВ  between Australia and Sri Lanka .

12.30 – 1.10 Wobbling on the Zen Chi massager followed by yoga-nidra.

1.10 – 1.30 Fixing the computer.

1.30 – 2.10 Lunch, on the verandah, whilst doing the daily crossword with Janet.

2.10 – 2.30 Finishing the painting.

В 2.30 – 3.00 Watching more cricket.

3.00 – 3.30 Finishing this article!

В 

Now I am going back to the pottery and then (Inshallah): В a shower, more coffee/reading on the verandah, followed by contemplation in the van, food preparation, dinner (on the verandah), washing up, the eveningÂ’s TV watching, teeth brushing, wobbling, contemplation and bed Â… Another glorious day over!

В 

One final point is that when the Г‚вЂ˜background programsÂ’ are terminated by the realization that one is Pure Awareness, and that no separate self exists, then one approaches (and carries out) each task with no attachment or desire for a particular result. This is true Г‚вЂ˜Karma YogaÂ’ (union through disinterested action) as delineated by Sri Krishna in the Baghavad Gita; but it is the result of, rather than a path to, awakening. In this one meets life with a quiet mind, ready to respond to any challenge, and each task is performed with В relatively efficiency, no Г‚вЂ˜second thoughtÂ’ (caused by relating to an illusory Г‚вЂ˜meÂ’) or needless indecision. Thus one lives in the Г‚вЂ˜eternal nowÂ’ which is not bound by (the human conception of) timeÂ…  Needless to say this is only the case when one is awake, as soon as one misidentifies as an apparently separate being one finds oneself back in the time-bound illusion, and I would like to reiterate that I continually flip-flop between wakefulness and sleep, so sometimes time appears to be elastic and at other times it appears fixed.

В 

~ ~ ~

В 

Colin Drake's books are available at http://nonduality.com/colindrake.htm

В 

В 

Scott Kiloby's upcoming events:

В 

Scott Kiloby's Living Inquiries Workshops
http://www.kiloby.com/meetings.php

В 

Feb. 15-17, 2013
Santa Monica, California

Feb. 22-24, 2013
Berkley, California

Mar. 8-10, 2013
Durham, N.C.

В 

Scott Kiloby's "Freedom from Compulsion" Intensives

http://www.kiloby.com/meetings.php

В 

Mar. 1-3, 2013
Boulder, CO

Apr. 26-28, 2013
Boston, MA

В 
В 
В 
If you can't see the graphic below -- a newsletter from Fons Vitae publishing -- please view it here:
В 
В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4836 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-02-06
Subject: #4836 - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
#4836 - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
Order from Amazon.com:
В 
Order from Fons Vitae:
В 
WaitingВ and Being
В 
Sketches By Mary Bruce Cobb
with essays by her friends
В 
isbn 9781891785573
Here in her perceptive sketches, Kentucky treasure and acclaimed portrait artist Mary Cobb takes us on a journey through the spaces where people wait;В  patients in doctorÂ’s offices and cancer wards,В  travelers in terminals and stations, the homeless in shelters.В  She leads us from where we wait to where our waiting becomes pure presence or being.В  She shows us that we should not succumb to waiting for outcomes, but should instead use these opportunities to transform that time into being in the joyful present where we truly dwell.В 

Joining Mary are some of her friends, many of whom have also faced great trials in health and in life.В В 
Their additions in words complement what Mary has drawn, and further invite us to consider how intimately joined are Waiting and Being.
В 
В 
"That each of us is unique is probably why I find drawing and painting the human form a constant challenge.В  Searching for that spirit within is what itÂ’s all about for me—whether best expressed through the tilt of the head, the curve of a wrist or through an expression in the eyes.
В 
For many years I have kept a sketch pad and pen, or charcoal, in a separate purse, just in case something or someone of interest might appeal to me, to draw as I pass the time, in doctorsÂ’ offices, airports and bus stations, places where I seem to be spending more of my time, waiting for my number to be called.
В 
It occurred to me these were ideal opportunities to people watch—opportunities for a moment in time to be captured, to be revealed—before he, she or they became conscious of being watched. If I feel that anyone is puzzled by my staring, or made uncomfortable by my intrusion, I wave a hand, turn the sketch toward them, and share what I am doing.
В 
Once, at the airport, I saw a toddler who had fallen sound asleep in his chair. I asked the father if I could sketch his son. He acquiesced, with one caveat: “DonÂ’t wake him up.” After 15 minutes, simultaneously, I finished, the child woke up, and the announcement came over the PA system. Time to get in line.

Trying to convey what seems to be special about a person—it takes awhile to see what I want to record. But in these sketches I look for what speaks to me, when I am not making an effort to get a likeness, and am led by JOY. ItÂ’s so satisfying for me, and takes me into a another kind of world."В В В В В В  - Mary Cobb
В 
The drawings and thoughts of Mary Cobb, surrounded by the contributions of friends—are meant to be an offering of our transmissions—of some of what we have to pass on.В 
Each of us has endured trials of loss and great illness—that of our own and those near to us. It is our hope that our observations and reflections will be of some help.
В 
В 
Table of Contents
Preface 7
By Mary Bruce Cobb
Waiting at the Hospital 9
Waiting in the Darkness for the Light 15 By Anne Ogden
Waiting Rooms 23
On Waiting 39
By Helen Hammon Jones
Waiting in Line 49
Waiting Traveling 55
The Meaning of the Wait 70
By Al Shands
Waiting to Arrive 73
Waiting At the Destination and in lobbies for Meetings 79
Waiting for “Whatever” 87
WaitingÂ…at the trackÂ…for a fishÂ…during jury dutyÂ…at a paradeÂ…for a friend
to joinÂ…to see how the book comes outÂ…to finish the row, knitting 95
The Way of Women and Waiting 102
By Georgine Buckwalter
Waiting and Being Homeless 105
Г‚вЂ˜WaitingÂ’ at St. JohnÂ’s is a Г‚вЂ˜beingÂ’ 111
By Sue Speed
Renewal It was worth the Wait 119
Here is my Wait 122
By Sarah McNeal Few
Being Present 127
In Attendance 137
By Gray Henry
В 
Waiting and Being
В 
В 
When Nonduality Hits the Fan
В 
Vicki Woodyard

Occasionally I make a few scathing comments about the generic quality of nonduality. Truth be told, more than a few. I began writing for The Nondual Highlights as my husband Bob lived out the last five years of his life. I cut my teeth as an essayist under the kind patronage of Jerry Katz. He even created a link for me called Nonduality and Cancer.

BobÂ’s death, due to multiple myeloma was a long and harrowing one. Deprived of the ability to make red blood cells,В  he was entirely dependent on packed platelets in order to live. Finally the day came when his doctor and nurse called us in and said, “Time to quit.” Within a few weeks he was dead.

I kept writing.

Today after Tai Chi, I was speaking with one of the therapists on the staff at Cancer Wellness. I told her about the day I was out walking when a neighbor rolled down the window of his truck and said,”HowÂ’s it going?” Bob was doing downhill in a hurry and I was a walking basket case. My replyВ  involved the “F word.” The therapist said, “There are times when that is appropriate.”Yep. It was a release valve on an overloaded soul—me!

My writing rips the facade off of most everything; I am just wired that way. You will never find me wandering in The Platitude Playground of Philosophy. Uh uh. No bleeping way. I have buried two family members and have the T-shirts to prove it. And 2 books as well.

One day my book, Life With A Hole In It, will be required reading for anyone enrolled in Life 101. It is a graphic account of how I managed to be a caregiver twice in one lifetime and retain my sanity.

Admittedly I lost some key ingredients for a normal social life. I enjoy being alone and have a passion to communicate via the written word.В  Sometimes I even speak it.

I have a real sense that Bob and Laurie, my husband and daughter, are still with me. Some report seeing angels around me. Apparently they think I am worth protecting for I am told repeatedly how safe I am. But the fear in my gut is alive and well. No mealy-mouthed nondualist-spouting phraseologist can take it from me. I earned it. And not only that, love is alive as well.

I have no real idea why I am pounding this essay out. Maybe it has something to do with Jeff Foster writing about his friendÂ’s messy death.

“Jeff comments: 'This was the kind of love they don't teach in books. This wasn't the conceptual love of the mind, not the fluffy happy love that comes and goes and depends on things going 'my way', but an unconditional love, a blood and shit and piss love, a fierce and unyielding grace without a name, indestructible, forever renewing itself in the furnace of presence, blowing anything unreal before it to smithereens. This was his final guru, whose lessons were brutal and unexpected, but ultimately pointed to nothing less than freedom.'

I just want to give a shout-out to the caregivers formerly known as people who have become angels unaware. Bob always called me Angel. Now I know why. Not because I deserve it, but because he, one of the kindest men on earth, found me worthy of his love. I live to continue that legacy. And so it goes. The playground of earth is where we find ourselves. Let us be kind to each other on the seesaw, the jungle gym and the swing set. Namaste. IÂ’m gonna go watch TV.

--
Vicki Woodyard
http://www.vickiwoodyard.com
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4837 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-02-08
Subject: #4837 - Thursday, February 7, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4837 - Thursday, February 7, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
В 
There is nothing to practice. To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop
imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let your true nature emerge.
Don't disturb your mind with seeking.
В 
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
В 
В 
To exert yourself in religious practice, trying to produce enlightenment by doing
religious practices and zazen, is all wrong too. There's no difference between
the mind of all the buddhas and the Buddha Mind of each one of you. But by
wanting to realise enlightenment, you create a duality between the one who
realises enlightenment and what it is that's being realised. When you cherish
even the smallest desire to realise enlightenment, right away you leave the realm
of the Unborn and go against the Buddha Mind. This Buddha Mind you have from
your parents innately is one alone - not two, not three!
В 
~ Bankei
В 
[Originally from 'The Record of Bankei', quoted from the book 'Bankei Zen'
translated by Peter Haskel]
В 
В 
Alan Larus Photography
В 
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only
creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in
whatever way they like.
В 
~ Lao Tzu
В 
-----
В 
To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point; we just do what we
should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism.
В 
~ Shunryu Suzuki
[Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind]
В 
-----
В 
The rising and the elimination of illusion are both illusory. Illusion is not
something rooted in Reality; it exists because of your dualistic thinking. If you
will only cease to indulge in opposed concepts such as 'ordinary' and
'Enlightened', illusion will cease of itself. And then if you still want to destroy
it wherever it may be, you will find that there is not a hairsbreadth left of
anything on which to hold. This is the meaning of: 'I will let go with both hands,
for then I shall certainly discover the Buddha in my Mind.'
В 
~ Huang Po
В 
-----
В 
Sometimes we think that to develop an open heart, to be truly loving and
compassionate, means that we need to be passive, to allow others to abuse us, to
smile and let anyone do what they want with us. Yet this is not what is meant by
compassion. Quite the contrary. Compassion is not at all weak. It is the strength
that arises out of seeing the true nature of suffering in the world. Compassion
allows us to bear witness to that suffering, whether it is in ourselves or others,
without fear; it allows us to name injustice without hesitation, and to act
strongly, with all the skill at our disposal. To develop this mind state of
compassion... is to learn to live, as the Buddha put it, with sympathy for all living
beings, without exception.
В 
~ Sharon Salzberg
В 
via Zen Poems, Haiku & Writings on Facebook
В 
В 
Alan Larus Photography
В 
В 
And once we have the condition of peace and joy in us, we can afford to be in
any situation. Even in the situation of hell, we will be able to contribute our
peace and serenity. The most important thing is for each of us to have some
freedom in our heart, some stability in our heart, some peace in our heart. Only
then will we be able to relieve the suffering around us.
В 
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4838 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-02-09
Subject: #4838 - Friday, February 8, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4838 - Friday, February 8, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
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В 
Photo: Charlie Engel with Spencer
В 
Intervew with Charlie EngelВ 

Charles (Charlie) Engel is a retired Teamster, having worked in trucking and package delivery for 35 years. В 

Charlie was born and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly his entire adult life. В As a "four decade" resident of Walnut Creek, Charlie lived at the edge of a mystical wonderland, The Shell Ridge Open Space. В His experiences and insights have been shared in several stories, some of them on facebook and a popular Teamster forum. В 

As a religious freedom advocate, Charlie assisted a dear friend, Bob Swanson, in addressing matters of concern on behalf of the Sikh community. В Bob also inspired Charlie to address problems in the workplace through means that were seldom used and/or recognized by his coworkers . В As a Union reformer, he and friends addressed several "problems" in organized labor, many of them National in scope. В Charlie and friends have written and collected several thousand pages of documents relating to their endeavors, the majority of which have not been shared with the public.В 

Charlie is currently enjoying retirement in Fort Bragg, California. В He has nearly completed building a Temple which will serve as a gateway to alternate realities including shamanic realms. В 

Charles Engel can be reached at: В theshaman@...

Play or Download link:
http://nonduality.com/charlieengel31january2013.mp3

Watch on YouTube

Tracks:

0:00 - 2:30 Introduction. Temple he is building and intentions for it. Relation of his interests to the nondual realm.

2:30 - 3:49 Connecting with nature spirits. Steven Doyle.

3:49 - 4:50 Going with flow as far as creating the Temple as a dedicated sacred space. Other uses for the Temple. Spirit House as space for ACIM and other discussion groups. http://spirithousehealing.org/home

4:40 - 9:38 What drives Charlie. Background as teamster and union reformer. His role in a lawsuit against UPS.

9:38 - 14:08 Introduction to Shell Ridge Open Space in Walnut Creek. http://www.walnut-creek.org/citygov/depts/ps/openspace/shellridge.asp Relation of his experience in the Open Space to building the Temple. More on development of the Temple and people interested in accessing it.

14:08 - 19:29 More on the Shell Ridge Open Space. Discussion about his late wife and parents. Relationship with his wife. The trees in the Open Space and how they speak to Charlie.

19:29 - 25:13 Nature of how Charlie's life is unfolding. His nondual experiences. Some spiritual autobiography: Experimentation with psychedelics in the Sixties. Experience of the white light and love. Kundalini experience. Permanent change in perception. Remote viewing.

25:13 - 29:54 Desire to raise a family. Joined Mormon Church. White light/samadhi experience during a prayer for guidance and the associated nondual awareness. Amma mentioned. Nature of samadhi. Effect of nondual experiences.

29:54 - 32:40 Sikh friends into chasing miracles. Marian movement. Fear of miracles.

32:40 - 34:50 Entheogens. MAPS Conference. http://www.maps.org. Usefulness and danger of entheogens.

34:50 - 37:58 Charlie is asked what his greatest strengths are at this point in his life. People finding healing, finding oneness with nature and self. Nature of nondual relationship as dualistic, nature of talking about nonduality.

37:58 - 40:15 Charlie talks about his mother and father in relation to his understanding of the nondual. View of western civilization regarding nonduality. His friends. Ron Nadeau and Spirit House. http://spirithousehealing.org/home

40:15 - 43:14 Charlie is asked why he thinks northern California is a hotbed of nondual interest. Feeling blessed to live in that area.

43:14 - 48:21 Charlie is asked about the property he lives on. Talks about the power of his 70s style sound system for the Temple. Drum circle compared to a good amplifier. Ron Nadeau's interest in sound healing and the Temple.

48:21 - 51:18 Charlie talks about his walks in the Shell Ridge Open Space and about the Space itself and how it reveals itself and how it saved his life.

51:18 - 53:16 Comparing life in the Open Space to life in the city. Charlie's walks on the beach, now that he's not living adjacent to the Open Space.

53:16 - 54:17 Charlie tells of an experience on Shell Ridge walking late at night. The moon.

54:17 - 55:20 An experience on Shell Ridge with fog.

55:20 - 57:23 The shaktipat experience with a coyote.

57:23 - 1:00:36 Drumming in the Open Space at sunset and what happened with coyotes.

1:00:36 - 1:02:52 With Steven Doyle and their drums, visiting the frog pond in the Open Space.

1:02:52 - 1:07:32 Crow stories. Comment on sychronicity.

1:07:32 - 1:11:46 Story of his bull mastiff Shaman and walking him through the Open Space late at night. Shooting star coincidences, including Amma http://www.amma.org. The nature of these interviews.

1:11:46 - 1:20:47 The story of the Father Tree. The Dog Tree. The Slide. The impact on high school students taken into the Open Space.

1:20:47 - 1:26:19 Charlie talks about sharing experiences in the Open Space as well as at his developing Temple, Dragonfly Den. The attitude of openness. Resonating with the heart-mind. The themes of intimacy, peace, healing, the nondual. The unsettling nature of stumbling on the nondual.

1:26:19 - 1:31:54 Charlie's interest in his ancestors in the sense that they are alive in his psyche in some way. Shamanic attitude of time as not existing. Discussion group he belongs to and its diverse interests and openness. Charlie's activities and interests as essential to health in older age.

1:31:54 - 1:35:15 Not hiding from "the dark stuff" in the world. Concern for younger generations. The difficult times people are facing. Healing the community.

1:35:15 - 1:38:55 Discussion about Randall who works with light and designed a certain kind of projector, a portal of sorts to shamanic realms. Charlie's work as a portal and not getting in the way of the process of how things are developing around his work. The meanings of words and assuming the other person understands your meanings. Believing vs recognizing.

Writings and stories by Charlie Engel:

Karma and a $87 Million Settlement on Behalf of Labor
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/karma-and-a-87-million-settlement-on-behalf-of-labor/10150166328933053

The Hollow Hill Human Head and the Fallen Pine
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/the-hollow-hill-human-head-and-the-fallen-pine/10150108141708053

Hiking Trip -- By Sarah Laue
by Charlie Engel
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/hiking-trip-by-sarah-laue/500450033052

Charolette
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/charolette/444050988052

Experiencing Oneness -- A Testimony
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/experiencing-oneness-a-testimony/435059423052

Mother Speaks
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/mother-speaks/411627173052

A Parasitic Corporate Goliath
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/a-parasitic-corporate-goliath/405787378052

Encounters with Rattle Snakes and Coyotes While Drumming in the Open Space
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/encounters-with-rattle-snakes-and-coyotes-while-drumming-in-the-open-space/417766823052
The House of Weeping Statues
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/the-house-of-weeping-statues/410082848052

True Love Never Dies
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/true-love-never-dies/482350163052

Two Crows Dancing
https://www.facebook.com/notes/charlie-engel/two-crows-dancing/437201933052

Listen to the interview or to selected tracks:

Play or Download link:
http://nonduality.com/charlieengel31january2013.mp3

Watch on YouTube

Photo: Steven Doyle, Charlie Engel, Spencer, on a bench in the Shell Ridge Open Space.

В 

В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4839 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-02-11
Subject: #4839 - Sunday, February 10, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4839 - Sunday, February 10, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
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В 
В 
Nisargadatta Maharaj
В 
from The Nisargadatta Song of I Am, selections from I Am That, edited by Jerry Katz
В 
When I met my Guru, he told me: "You are not what you take yourself to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense 'I am', find your real Self." I obeyed him, because I trusted him. I did as he told me. All my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence. And what a difference it made, and how soon!
В 
My teacher told me to hold on to the sense 'I am' tenaciously and not to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am -- unbound.
В 
I simply followed (my teacher's) instruction which was to focus the mind on pure being 'I am', and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the 'I am' in my mind and soon peace and joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared -- myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.
В 
My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense 'I am' and to give attention to nothing else. I just obeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain with the sense 'I am', it may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked! Obedience is a powerful solvent of all desires and fears.
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
Read The Nisargadatta Song of I Am at

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