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Thursday October 19th


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<...>
I am luck itself, so who needs to get lucky? :-).

...Tim

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Thank goodness for those who "get lost" easily! You are blessed,
because you have more unstable 'reference points' than many others.
Leaping (or just falling) off cliffs is a lot easier for those such
as yourself (consider that a heart-felt compliment). Really, it's
all about not knowing, getting lost, confusion, bafflement. These
are wonderful things, priceless gems that look to most of the world
like bird droppings.

Peace,

'Tim'
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Nobody:


Sadness

In these sunny last days I was convinced
sadness has left me for ever and ever.

Today starts the 10th year in my job watching
small types ornamenting the screen.

With rain came cold autumn sadness back
what a precious feeling I have missed!

n

so long

19th October 00

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Hi Matthew,

you wrote:

> If we are interested in non-attachment, one of the
> best things to do is to take all the "abuse"
> (i use that word mockingly,speaking of projections)
> and do nothing about it. "sit with it like a brick".


One of the best things to do... hhhmmm...
but certainly not the first thing to do.


As we are allready full of our own projections,
full of all kinds of suppressed feelings and
suppressions (as most of us are in this
unsocial society), then just sitting on our
feelings would pressure-cook us in our own
unexpressed emotions.

That's exactly what happened all our lives.
We recognized something in mom's and dad's behaviour
and learnt it (the hard way) to shut our mouths.
We feel the boss is angry because he just got
a long call from his wife - and we keep quiet
and "sit it out" or at most "talk politely
about it".


So before that "sit and watch it" it is needed
to get some friends and arrange with them that
everything can be expressed (not lived out
- but expressed). Then say what we feel and
listen to what they say, watch what they express.
And then again express what we feel like
... and so on. Until all the emotional
and intellectual ice-blocks have become
fluid again.


But even before that period of "express what
you feel", it is mandatory to soften
our subconscious body-blocks against feelings,
otherwise those situations will only end in
expressing what we THINK to feel and not what
our body really feels.


And even before that bodywork, many people
(especially from the esoteric scene)
need to get their ideas straight, their ideas
about how 'far' they have allready developed
for example. Developed in their minds, of course.

No need to look into far away spaces -
we have a lot of such highly developed
minds in the NDS for example.


That's my mileage.
All the way back.
The dirty way.


If we are then "fluid" again in our expressions,
then we might simply "sit on it like a brick"
as you suggested. But that's a later phase,
not the first one, according to my experiences.

Greetings
Jivano

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


---------------------"siiting with it like a brick", a quote from
werner erhardt, is not about suppressing or denying anything. It
means to sit with all the feelings and emotions that arise and do
nothing about them. Sit and hold them, feel them completely. And yes
it is a pressure cooker that few can handle, but not one of
supression, it is a pressure cooker of feeling.

---------------------Having lived whithin a close knit sangha for 23
years i couldn't agree with this more. Feedback from a group of
friends (or even people we don't like too much)is absolutely
invaluable.

-----matthew

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Observations and a question:

It seems that from the point of view of some, the NDS has become an
institution. I find this POV to be interesting, but incorrect.

Certain voices call out stridently for uniformity, for compliance to
the higher wisdom found in this or that 'master's' teachings or
advocacy.

Other voices make accusations, criticise, or condemn, based on
standards which are unique to someone, that someone seldom if ever
showing up to state or enforce such standards.

It seems that people are coming to the NDS for something, that there
is an expectation of some kind. And if this expectation is not met,
criticism is forthcoming.

It is often mentioned, 'if you want better wisdom, bring it here
yourself'. I agree with this viewpoint.

So here is my question. Is it possible to make a contribution which
is more than an unsupported claim of deficiency? If you are
participating, if you come here hungry, do you feed others, as you
would be fed?

If there is something you want, which you come here hoping to find,
have you considered contributing something of equal or greater value?

I find the critics to be mumbling into an empty echo-chamber,
misunderstanding all that is heard in return. Again, if one wishes
for something to be here, and it is not here, how about bringing it
here?

To constantly berate (who?) for the judged 'void of wisdom', fills
this space with the very sort of noise which others find annoying,
setting off even more complaints.

Does anyone actually expect to be reading here, something so utterly
transcendent, that the eyeballs melt upon seeing it? Or is the
objection to a style of conversation, which differs from one's own
taste?

In any event, none of this stuff really bothers me. I am wondering if
you have considered what I have written above. If not, please do.

Non-institutionally yours,

==Gene Poole==
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Lately I'm hearing people talk about Nonduality Salon (NDS) as though it
is a structure. That structure is built of the beat and the pacing of
individuals. Any person can beat their drum or stop beating their drum
and change the structure in that way. There is a structure to the
community that I hope is flexible and changeable.

Jerry
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When, in my early 20's, I worked at the exclusive Century Plaza Hotel in
Beverly Hills for a summer (Presidents have stayed there), I suggested
that there should be a flashing neon red 'Vacancy' sign in front of the
hotel. Of course they didn't understand my dry sense of humor and
thought I was serious.

On another occasion an attractive waitress called the restaurant manager
'brave' for killing a bee. I spoke up and said it would have been braver
to capture the bee alive and release it outdoors.

Also, many Thai young ladies worked there. They were without exception
beautiful and lively. When I first got there, one asked me my name and I
said Mr. Wonderful. From that time they all called me Mr. Wonderful,
understanding the joke of it. Of course they pronounced it 'Mr.
Wannafool'.

On yet another occasion I was working the door at one of the night clubs
at the hotel. There was a line of Asian customers. They looked well
below drinking age. However, their id's were all in the Asian language,
whatever it was. I let them all in.

There are other stories.

I didn't last long at the job.

Mr. Wonderful
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Dan:


What?
Appointing someone else
as master manipulator
of the darkest kind?

Who is this someone else,
this "Tim"?

And who do you think you are
to do this, some kind
of master manipulator of
all the master
manipulators?

You're the same as ME,
no more or less masterful
in your manipulations.

Your greed is for the power
to say who is greedy
for power.

Remember, it is darkest
before dawn.

And remember, it is ME who
is the darkest of the dark,
exposed here on the common
ground of this Heart.

Namaste,

-- Stinky Dark Person
Me
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Back in the good old days, I lived in a commune with a
teacher of sorts. I say, of sorts, cause she was the most
ordinary person in an very unordinary way. She taught
elementary school. Anyway, we had group meetings
we attended. One morning round the kitchen table, she
was asking someone how their meeting went. You know,
what went on, any theme emerge, blah, blah, blah. The
person started to complain about how nothing ever went
on, so and so always did this and some other person always
did that. No one was awake and............
She turns to the person and asks...."Well, you were there
weren't you?"

Marcia
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*********
The signs of strength in my book is when a person lets go of their
anger, all their blaming tactics, their power trips, all their needs
for attention and simply begins to open,
becoming soft, pliable, their "edge" disappears, along with resentment
and violence. Their heart starts to open, they become relateable, their
fear starts
dissipating, they begin to trust themselves, and hence they begin to
trust others. A certain glow radiates about them, an easiness, and love
starts to become true of them. A certain "brokeness".

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