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Wednesday, December 27


BESTIARY
by Dr. Joanna Macy
contributed by Gill Eardley

---------------

short-tailed albatross
whooping crane
gray wolf
peregrine falcon
hawksbill turtle
jaguar
rhinoceros

In Geneva, the international tally of endangered species, kept up to
date in
looseleaf volumes, is becoming too heavy to lift. Where do we now record
the
passing of life? What funerals or farewells are appropriate?

reed warbler
swallow-tailed butterfly
Manx shearwater
Indian python
howler monkey
sperm whale
blue whale

Dive me deep, brother whale, in this time we have left. Deep in our
mother ocean
where once I swam, gilled and finned. The salt from those early seas
still runs in
my tears. Tears are too meager now. Give me a song...a song for a
sadness too
vast for my heart, for a rage too wild for my throat.

anteater
antelope
grizzly bear
brown bear
Bactrian camel
Nile crocodile
American alligator

Ooze me, alligator, in the mud whence I came. Belly me slow in the rich
primordial soup, cradle of our molecules. Let me wallow again, before we
drain
your swamp, before we pave it over and blast it to ash.

gray bat
ocelot
marsh mouse
blue pike
red kangaroo
Aleutian goose
Audouin's seagull

Quick, lift off. Sweep me high over the coast and out, farther out.
Don't land here.
Oil spills coat the beach, rocks, sea. I cannot spread my wings glued
with tar. Fly
me from what we have done, fly me far.

golden parakeet
African ostrich
Florida panther
Galapagos penguin
Imperial pheasant
leopard
Utah prairie dog

Hide me in a hedgerow, badger. Can't you find one? Dig me a tunnel
through leaf
mold and roots, under the trees that once defined our fields.

My heart is bulldozed and plowed over. Burrow me a labyrinth deeper than
longing.

thick-billed parrot
zone-tailed pigeon
desert bandicoot
Southern bald eagle
California condor
lotus blue butterfly

Crawl me out of here, caterpillar. Spin me a cocoon. Wind me to sleep in
a shroud
of silk, where in patience my bones will dissolve. I'll wait as long as
all creation if
only it will come again and I take wing.

Atlantic Ridley turtle
pearly mussel
helmeted hornbill
sea otter
humpback whale
monk seal
harp seal

Swim me out beyond the ice floes, mama. Where are you? Boots squeeze my
ribs,
clubs drum my fur, the white world goes black with the taste of my
blood.

gorilla
gibbon
sand gazelle
swamp deer
musk deer
cheetah
chinchilla
Asian elephant
African elephant

Sway me slowly through the jungle. There still must be jungle somewhere,
my
heart drips with green secrets. Hose me down by the waterhole, there is
buckshot
in my hide. Tell me the old stories while you can remember.

fan-tailed flycatcher
flapshell tortoise
crested ibis
hook-billed kite
bobcat
frigate bird

In the time when his world, like ours was ending, Noah had a list of
animals, too.
We picture him standing by the gangplank, calling their names, checking
them off
on his scroll. Now we also are checking them off.

ivory-billed woodpecker
brown pelican
Florida manatee
Canada goose

We reenact Noah's ancient drama, but in reverse, like a film running
backwards,
the animals exiting.

ferret
curlew
cougar
wolf

Your tracks are growing fainter. Wait. Wait. This is a hard time.

____________________________________________________________________________

MARCIA PAUL AND MARK OTTER CONTINUE THEIR CONVERSATION

MARK:

Hi Marcia,

I'm still struggling to get a handle on what I'm trying to say about
HB. I think part of Gene's conversation with John may say it for me
better than I am managing to say it myself. The HB can and does often
push participants to see things they don't want to see, and the trick
to making good use of that is to allow oneself to see those things
without judgment. (I mean without judging either oneself or others in a
negative way.) For example, I think your experience was suggesting that
you were the person in a position of power, crucifying your son. There,
I've said it, now please know that I am not saying it with any
judgement of you, your son, Jesus, HB, or the story line. I say it just
to see if it resonates, and if so, can you change whatever it is that
prompted your psyche to offer up such an experience? (This has most
likely already happened long ago, so it's non of my business.) I offer
all of this as a means of understanding the power of the HB for those
who want to clean house.

So, this is what I read today that prompted this email...

-------------------

GENE POOLE: Yes. When inner thresholds are exceeded, action is taken,
automatically. That is, unless abiding has been inserted and hard-wired
at at deep level of the structure. If that is the case, the 'abide'
impulse will interrupt the aforementioned action. By this method, are
thresholds 'reset'.

The point in entirety, is to make our 'controls' available to conscious
awareness. This process can take time. But the rewards are immediate,
proportional to the sway which one's 'story' exerts upon one. It
becomes a matter of recognition of 'will' VS 'habit'.

--------------------

So, if I may try to paraphrase, or perhaps I am even altering the
meaning to suit my own needs... I hear Gene saying that we have
conditioned responses that kick in when we get threatened, and when
they kick in, we suffer, but if we really wish to, we can learn to
dismantle them. To do so requires that we practice abiding, which is
allowing that which sets the conditioning in motion to occur and just
ride it, rather than allowing the conditioned response of defending
ourselves against the noxious stimulus to happen. If we do so enough,
this can become a natural habit, much like the conditioning itself has
been a long term habit, and when it does, we can take more and more of
the noxious stimulus without needing to defend. Eventually, we can let
go of the conditioning entirely, which is to turn over control of our
lives to God (or consicous awareness for those who dislike the
anthropomorphism of the word God.) That is to say that there is a
movement by the entire universe towards unity, and our personal
struggle to be independent human beings is counter to that movement,
but it is really just a set of habits which we have developed to defend
ourselves against an apparently cruel world, and if we can find a way
to dismantle these habits, we can learn to let the universe have its
way with us, which turns out to be what we were looking for all along.
For me the HB generates increased noxious stimuli, that I can use to
practice abiding. The problem with it for me is that I get prepared for
such an effort, and so it becomes something I do during the breathwork
and I need to learn to extend it into the rest of my life, which
produces plenty of noxious stimuli for me to work with.

Well, thank you Marcia for helping me to this point of understanding.

Love, Mark

MARCIA

The way I saw the experience is that Jesus was a real person with a
real mother who suffered enormously as she watched her son being
crucified. Until then, Jesus was the third person of the trinity. There
was lots more to the experience but I really how awful it would be to
see your son being crucified. His and her sacrifice was brought home to
me.

When Jesus said to me that I was Peter and it was upon this rock that
he was going to build his church, it kept bringing it back to me. I am
always looking "out there" for answers. He kept saying in effect..."It
is YOU, dummy."

The nonpersonal level was where we got to but it was through the pain
of the personal that we got there. When we were there was when we went
from place to place in the world and he showed me and taught me about
customs and people.

I was Mary/Marcia. Mary didn't crucify her son. It is not the mother
that crucifies.

__________________________________________________________________________

GENE POOLE AND JOHN DUFF

G: Hello once again John. Once again we make conscious, what is 'always
going on':

J: Potentially.

G: Well, perhaps a movement in the 'right direction', an effort to come
to peace, with the inevitability of our nature, and knowledge of our
conditioning.

G: Yes, understood now. Indeed, individuation is movement towards Self,
leaving identity dissolving like a sugar cube in a cup of hot tea.

J: Yes, the normal apprehension is towards using the term
'individuation' as the creation and/or maintenance of 'John Duff'.
This is not what was meant.

G: Yes.

G: Yes. Identity is an assemblage of pieces, each derived from the
world-dream. Maintenance of identity necessitates revisiting the
world-dream, and seeing it as _real_, thus to validate identity,
piece by piece. The ongoing thread on 'nondual activism' shows how
thin the line, between perception and reaction, and how easy it is
to lose track of 'cause and effect'.

J: Yet if I may say, once again, that this calling or felt-ness towards
'nondual activism' makes perfect sense [to me]. Threads are bounded,
it seems, by disclaimers of what I would term 'non-identification'
to this felt-ness. New words are sought out and employed so as align
'correctly' with the flavor of dispassionate 'action' and abiding in
the moment.

Nuance of 'affect' amongst myriad alternatives in the moment towards
some 'apparent' outcome, however disclaimed.

All of this, to me at least, is natural. No apologies nor
justifications need be expressed. Nor 'purity' supported.

G: In essence, understood. My experience also. I would point out, the
well-known temptation to proceed up the avenue of 'virtue'.
'Activism' will to some, imply 'changing the world into a better
place', even 'bringing people to (nondual) salvation'. While some of
us may understand the differences, the words themselves are
predefined in common usage.

As Buddha said: "There is no better world, this is a better world".

I would rather belabor this point, than cruise along, hoping for the
best. Activism gives birth to defense, commonly; the last thing I
personally want to be doing, is 'defending the faith'.

G: Yes. Any 'action' emanating from 'I', will be at least partially
designed to reinforce the given reality of the tribal primate. That
is, unless self-checking is in place.

Again, the concept of 'helping the world' comes to mind. In my
experience, the world is kept in it's painful discordant configuration
by 'me'; this I have seen. But when I am 'okay', the world is 'okay';
in fact, the world comes to me, and wants to escort me to the ball.

J: Understanding both points here and relegating to both
'appropriateness', depending on 'where one is'.

One might find that 'being at the ball' was, in part, a function of the
impulse of 'helping the world'. That, and a certain emotional integrity
that is not satisfied with the filling, but thin gruel, of
self-satisfaction. Further realizations bail one out of this 'noble'
impasse.

G: Yes, your points are taken and understood.

Nondual realization eliminates the difference between self and 'the
world'; consequently, the impulse to 'help the world' is seen as
self-preservation, or better, as implementation of the One Imperitive,
that Being, One Conscious Living Universe.

I simply suggest the 'noble' impulses exist or we would not experience
them. This seems to me a basic enough observation. That one is capable
of dissociating from these impulse seems basic also.

G: True enough, but we must recall, that such understandings "could be"
a simple metaphor, for the enactment of the One Imperative. Thus,
even 'identity-bound' humans would have a role to play, albeit
unconsciously.

Try as we might, however, we are left to circle this topic with the
'reasons' for their existence, be it programming, divine impulse, Maya,
birth experience or no reason at all. This reasoning process a function
of our socialization.

G: Reason is one thing, 'vision' is another.

It might be useful [for me] to ask which, then, came first?

Noble impulse and then the conceptual support? Or conceptual framework
giving rise to noble impulse. My impressions would lean towards the
former. Since we see reflections of such impulses and attempts at
reconciliation or effort directed at their realization through time.

G: Human concepts, are the convenient language of metaphor, the
strongest language that the 'sleeping human' can tolerate. Only in
'fantasy' such as '2001, A Space Oddesy', do humans dare open their
eyes to a more direct message. And all messages come from 'within',
from the 'human unconscious'.

So, from my POV, all levels of 'knowledge' exist at once, for the
human, but what is commonly accessed, is only what does not threaten
the 'integrity' of the world-dream, thus allowing the continuation of
'identity'.

Identity is the 'dog in the manger', displacing awareness of the One
Imperative.

G: Yes. In this sense, 'activism' is 'remembering'.

J: Yes, remembering.

J: Use of 'my' in this context in light of 'actually gone' is
understood. What is not as clear from a practical perspective is the
constancy of 'all the time'. Here is where the concept of
responsibility enters [for me].

G: 'All the time' is perhaps glimpsed, if not deeply understood. From
the glimpse, one may lay-in a course to follow, for times when the
guide-on is not visible.

J: Yes, Gene. This is observed. Hence my aversion to speaking of
absolutes, and more recollection and awareness of relativistic
models of 'where one is at any given moment'.

This assumes a personal trail of 'Boolean breadcrumbs', metaphoric or
otherwise, that lead one to be invited to the 'ball', and which
[breadcrumbs] may or may not be of use to others.

Whether 'others' truly exist or not presupposes existence in some
absolute station. I would hazard this is not the case for most of us,
though, from experience, one may always 'know' this at some deeper
level.

G: Well said.

One may also observe that intermittent may be the case. One may also
observe a tendency towards more continuity against a temporal backdrop.
In the absence of such continuity one may say 'be responsible' as to
the state of 'Thy will be done', personally lacking, as I do, less
colorful phraseology.

G: Hmmm...

J: A loaded reference to 'remembering' as 'activism'. Baggage is
recognized.

G: Well, more continuity, or could we say, more 'constancy'?

J: Certainly, 'constancy' is more appropriate.

G: Incontinent travelers...

J: ??!! I feel the need to quickly excuse myself...I'll be right
back.;-)

G: ....need to recognize that 'constancy' could apply to either of two
states, one comfortable, the other not.

J: I feel better.

To this point, however, is it not possible that [at least] a third
alternative exists? That is, both comfortable and uncomfortable?

G: Obviously so, and the movement is between, never resting, always
seeking 'equilibrium', or a state of perfect non-activity, or
'sleep'.

G: So again, a glimpse of the guide-on, allows plotting a course; and
as the brickbats fly, to walk this course without flinching (much),
is abiding.

J: I would say this is a characterization of comfortable and
uncomfortable at the same time. Guide-on being necessary to not
flinch too much. The personal containment of opposites. The first
and necessary step in the eventual annihilation of opposites. Or
not. Opposites may be abided, since, at one level, they exist.

G: Yes. To abide the opposites, is to rest in movement.

G: Eventually one reaches the actual thing glimpsed; this is
'verification', not only of method, but also of one's overall
integrity. From this 'point' onward, method and integrity are
basically one and the same.

J: To method and integrity, a toast, during this holiday season.

G: Indeed; Cheers!

G: Yes. When inner thresholds are exceeded, action is taken,
automatically. That is, unless abiding has been inserted and
hard-wired at at deep level of the structure. If that is the case,
the 'abide' impulse will interrupt the aforementioned action. By
this method, are thresholds 'reset'.

The point in entirety, is to make our 'controls' available to conscious
awareness. This process can take time. But the rewards are immediate,
proportional to the sway which one's 'story' exerts upon one. It
becomes a matter of recognition of 'will' VS 'habit'.

J: A clear statement of reliable method actuated by integrity.

G: Yes, in a manner of speaking. It is 'noise VS signal', and becomes a
matter of fine-tuning the discriminator. But this is not to say,
that the 'noise' is bad or worthless. I could say, that the noise is
simply the fallout of the computational complexity of an immense
system. Maturation seems to have to do, with growing ability to
discriminate, without 'condemning'.

J: Yes, tremendous quantities of emotional energy are made available
through 'not condemning'. The necessary fuel for awareness on an
emotional level. In my observation it is only the pressure of this
non-attached emotional fire that can support acquiring the signal of
the guide-on. The guide-on tonal frequency is quite different than
that of 'condemning', or a host of other vibrations in that
harmonic.

We speak little of requisite fuels.

G: Similar, is Hawkins' equation: "Power VS Force".

See: <http://www.uni-verse.net/Website/Powerforce.htm>

This concept and book, have my very highest recommendation.

Understanding also that tremendous amounts of this fuel are available
abiding in the moment. To perceive this, however, takes a certain
amount of fuel not acquired in this manner. It takes gold to make gold
- to recount a phrase. Not spending this energy in an unprofitable
manner is one way to keep gold.

So strange it is, on reflection, to feel many things at once. Yet so
natural and fulfilling to have it so.

G: YES! Although one may have preferences, one also realizes the
universal nature of things. Sometimes this leads to the willingness
to 'try on' something which is outside of the usual range of
preferences.

J: One truly "get's one's life to live" in this process. What was
[persoanlly] impossible before, now becomes possible. Where there
was fear, dicomfort, complacency and self-calming now there is a
sense of wonder, adventure, fun and the miraculous.

G: Yes. I am not only a 'native' here, but this is actually my very own
world!

J: This, to me, is poignantly and oft asked, yet an unimportant
question. Perhaps I am missing some point in dismissing it so.

G: That is why I 'asked' it. It is indeed a pertinent question, yet, it
can indeed be dismissed! "Whom to blame?"

J: It is a question that, I feel, must be answered before it can be
dispensed with. The answer is important, as you say.

Blame being an early-on answer. The expenditure, unnecessarily, of
energy better used for other purposes. This from experiences in the
business world. Externally, at least, we can see that blame redeems or
changes nothing, only perpetuating an unpleasant or unfortunate
experiences.

G: Yes, it is the roughest essence of the 'preservation of identity'.

Projecting this internally, can we see a similar pattern? We should be
able to. Since there is really no difference between the inside and the
outside, it's all one. One a reflection of the other.

G: Yes. In that hologram produced in that reflection between the two,
is the world of ambivalence which we inhabit. Surely, it can be
seen, that choice is the essence of Being; any movement undertaken,
actuates iteration of entirely new possibilities.

G: Better the work of freedom, than the work of staying 'asleep'. One
leads to joy, the other to pain.

J: Opening then, workless, to freedom.

J: As always, thanks. Warm regards on this cold but glorious day, John

Relaxing in the safety of my own delusions,

Gene Poole

________________________________________________________________________

T. GOLDENPOE

HOLY SPIRIT; SILENT KNIGHT

Shamanism is not taught nor can it be learned. A shaman leads by
example only and it's spoken words are few. The shaman is a spirit that
teaches you to be a spirit-being in a physical-plane and, as such, one
must also be at peace with physical-beings who have yet to meet their
shaman who will show them the inward journey to self-reconcilation. For
some facing the fears of the world will seem small to the fears that
lie within and thus many return greatful for the 'problems' they have
and the subsequent corrections.

Thus, these teachings can not be transmitted simply by words and
actions alone and the journey is only picked up when one drops their
attachment to what they think they are and replaces it with what they
are. For some, this is a hell of sorts (bardos if you prefer) and we,
the shaman, must shelter them where we can from those that would
otherwise aim to betray or seek vengence.

Shamanism is a state of being at peace with life and death which is
best achieved by detaching one's self from what is words (all is
language) and what is real. Shamanism and it's so-called magic is not
generated by potions or spells, networking or running in a gang; these
are just distractions from your own true self.

Unlike the 'mystery word/name' in christianity that suggests that if
one knew the word of the name of God/Spirit that it could be summoned
to do the 'bearer of the name's bidding'.

Nice try.

Real spirit knows that the 'first consciousness of being' could not
name it's self as all other being would be a part of (division of) the
word. Thus, there is no name of God/Spirit beyond the name we give it
and this, no matter the simplicity of complexity is no substitute for
the real thing.

Earth is your destiny and life is the arms that you must learn to trust
but above all else be true to your self and know that I am God and I am
in control. Not of you... of my 'self'.

And approaching death's final door I was surprised to see two... one
marked 'Pepsi' and the other 'Coke'.

I went left.

-----

Learn it now, learn it later, makes no difference. GP

_________________________________________________________________________

JOHN METZGER

Mainly Christian contemplative perspectives, dual/nondual? Have a good
day, John

http://www.shalem.org/quotes.html

--- John Metzger --- riverjohn77@earthlink.net

____________________________________________________________________________

WHITE WOLF

MEDITATION

"There abide, faith, hope and charity, but the greatest of these is
charity." -St. Paul

The four noble virtues are Love, Joy, Compassion and Equanimity, but
the grestes of these is Compassion. -Mark Christopher Valentine

...without charity, without compassion for yourself there is no love of
the Self...with love of the Self there is love for the Other...without
love for the Oher there is no other, there are no Creatures...the
other, without creatures there is no self....with no self there is
neither chariity nor compassion nor love...without love there is
nothing....with love there is nothing coming somthing becoming
creatures becoming you...return to Nothing and remember you are
love....^^~~~

ACTIVISM


The Vessel

“All created things cry out, each according to their manner, and say:
‘This is he who abused us.’ The earth says, ‘Why may I not
instantly suffocate him?’ The air says, ‘Why do I not deprive him of my
benefits?’ Hell says, ‘Why do not my flames devour and
inflict on him a thousand tortures?’”

-St.
Bonaventure


Because we love neither the gods nor the One God,
Because we honor neither the spirits nor the Great Spirit,
Because we respect neither our mothers nor the Immortal Goddess,
we do not love, honor or respect even ourselves.
It is no wonder then that we do not know how to love Creatures.
It is no wonder that having mutilated our world
we seek to conquer and destroy the universe.

What will happen to white wolfe when mankind is no longer?

Because we cleave to the Masculine and deny the Feminine,
Because we hold to the Bright and reject the Dull,
Because we keep to knowledge rather than wisdom, morality instead of
truth,
even though we have become Creation’s shining star,
Our flame has shifted from blue, to white, to orange to red.
We are imploding Creation and becoming its black hole.
In our passion to subdue Creatures we destroy that which we would
possess.

What will happen to womankind when white wolfe is no longer?

If we would take up our Cross and become Stewards,
If we would start to walk the Middle Way,
If we would follow the Masters who are our Teachers,
Maybe then we just might discover the Providence that shapes our lives.
Maybe then, if Fate smiles upon us, we will come to see ourselves in all
Creatures.
Maybe then, if our mothers and the Goddess are merciful, we will know
how to Love, Honor and Respect all Creatures.
Maybe then, but only then, we will remember how to live in the fragile,
tender, soft universe without annihilating it.

What will happen to white wolfe when mankind is no longer?

When and only when we submit to the gods and the One God,
When and only when we yield our spirits to the Great Spirit,
When and only when we surrender as Lovers unto the Beloved,
Then and only then will we know the Universe is a vessel for Spirit,
Then and only then we will find the Salvation we so earnestly seek,
Perhaps, at our end, then and only then, will we discover our beginning,
And we will begin to cherish all Creatures in ourselves for the first
time.

What will happen to womankind when white wolfe is no longer?

I ask you to ask yourself,
What, what I ask you, do you think will happen?

Will the vessel be shattered and a New Age begin?
A new beginning without white wolfe and humankind?
The gods and the One God are not sentimental.

The Vessel belongs to Spirit not to humanity.
The Vessel can be either empty or full.
The Vessel can be shattered but not destroyed.
Will Spirit remake the Vessel of the Universe?

Will Spirit make empty the Vessel to fill it anew once more?
Will Grey Wolf and Humanity no longer run in on sweet Mother Earth?

Or will we turn, empty ourselves of ourselves, become simple once again,
like an uncarved block once more, and allow Spirit to carve us into a
glorious vase?

Will we allow it to happen that white wolfe and humnaity are no more?

Lamb of God, who takes away of the world, have mercy on us!

Mark Christopher Valentine

___________________________________________________________________________

Fellow Nova Scotian Dustin LindenSmith keeps a daily journal and has
recently begun including portions of it on the LiveJournal website
where David Hodges keeps his well-known journal. Dustin's journal may
be accessed at <http://www.livejournal.com/users/iamom> Dustin's web
page is at <http://www.nonduality.com/dustin.htm>

Jerry Katz

__________________________________________________________________________

ED ARRONS

NONDUAL ACTIVISM

While "I" sometimes get the impression that "I" am the activist who
decides my actions, I soon realize that the action is always begun
prior to the decision to act. If the identified "me" as the actor and
decision maker is indeed an illusion, then there is no such person as
an "activist" who decides what acts will be undertaken. By that
understanding there is no such thing as willful "activism"...only
nondual activism.

I've been under the weather with the flu for the past several days and
am wondering if this makes any sense. I suppose it can be argued that a
decision is an effect that precedes the cause, like light that leaves
the chamber before it enters. For sure I didn't decide to become
delirious, or did I? :-)

Ed Happy Millennium

MARCIA

This is how I see it. As I am in my ordinary sleeping state, I am run
by life. I am not present to my life. I am not awake to life. Sometimes
I remember myself and I am present. I know from this state of being
present that it is possible to truly act, to make a decision and to
carry it out. But as I am, I cannot stay present. I have no presence.
In the state of not being present, the act is always begun prior to the
decision to act. The decision comes as an afterthought to explain the
action. That doesn't mean that real action is not possible. It just
means that I am not acting.

___________________________________________________________________________

Hi Gang,

I was just outside, and I noticed that the borogoves were all mimsy. I
can't tell from here... Have the momewraths out-grabed?

Just curious, Mark

Hi Mark,

Our borogoves mimsied last week, but we are still waiting for the
momewraths to outgrabe...will keep you posted. Beware the jabberwock my
son.

beth

Twas it brillig? If you do not see any slimey toves, don't worry, the
Jabberwock is nigh!

Hoo!

Michael

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