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When we believe we are our bodies, thoughts, and feelings, There is an inherent vulnerability.For who we perceive ourselves to be is always changing. The root cause of all suffering is the identification with this I-Thought.
Jerry also transcribed several bits from their conversation that are worth reading again:
Of course we believe we’re separate, because that’s been enforced through our whole life.
The I-thought cannot hold up to investigation.
I learned to listen nakedly without the mind.
Awareness is a solvent; it melts everything away.
When you’re empty, you respond optimally in a situation.
Gloria posted an issue of “short-stoppers” this week which lived up to its name: the issue was filled with small nuggets of deep wisdom that were each worth ruminating on. A few of my favourites:
Self-Enquiry leads directly to Self-Realization by removing the obstacles which made you think that the Self is not already realized.— Ramana Maharshi
Disciples and devotees… what are most of them doing?Worshipping the teapot instead of drinking the tea!— Wei Wu Wei
The “Best of 2013” lists are started to come out in force, and for some reason, those lists often make me think about The Big Problems in the world that haven’t been solved yet. When I read the three haiku Jerry posted by Miriam Louisa, I was reminded that this is my preferred way of interpreting the world’s so-called problems:
How to heal a heart:stand alone, drop your stories,fall in love with this.
Gloria called back to a 2005 issue of hers in a recent post that commemorated the passing of Sam Pasiencier, an “early adopter” in the online nonduality world who passed away this month. I quite enjoyed this excerpt that Sam posted from the Advahut Gita:
47. We're not a problem to be solved, there's no prize for a winning story. Close the book and exhale. There is nothing broken, nothing to fix.
48. Oh mind, why struggle? Fall into the heart, drown in the ocean of your own bliss! Let what happens happen, yours is none of this!
49. Not the fruit of a tended vine, I am not what changes. Source of sweetness and thirsting both, spilt wine drops lifting into air, Love's own intoxication.
50. Neither formless or form, inconspicuous in my own absence, the true word is "Silence". Before we knew, we all knew it.
51. Nothing to cling to, nothing to grasp, why wander, restless, dear mind? Relax!
I’m closing with a link to Mark’s 2011 Christmas Day edition, which features a good story from Jeannie Zandi about how she got in touch with the Christmas spirit (via White Man’s Guilt) at the gas station when somebody cut in front of her at the pumps:
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NDhighlights/conversations/messages/4463
That issue also features some interesting pieces of Christmas music, two of which I’m including here:
The Band — Christmas Must Be Tonight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5O7vhv49eE
"Grateful Dawg,” featuring Jerry Garcia — God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJu97xdUPDs
Happy Holidays!
Dustin