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Friday December 29, 2000



I said to my soul, be still, and wait
without hope,
For hope would be hope of the
wrong thing.

T. S. Eliot

~~~~~~~~~~~

dear jerry and dear friends,

in deepest meditation
not a creature is stirring
(not even a mouse!)
all is calm.
the substrate of being
where "i" is not
yet the only sense in which "i" truly is
all is bright.
"i" is the silent night
of nonduality

for me,
nondual activism is
not stirring
from the silent holy "night"

love, cee


presentnonexistence.com

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

andrew sends: Hermit, sage?

http://www.herald.ns.ca/cgi-bin/home/loadmain?2000/12/28+217.raw
Thinking about the discussion of activism that's been going on.
In his way, I think a hermit like Kitchener is an activist as much as
anyone. He stirs people's imagination, and shows a way of being true. He's the person
Ramana Maharshi was talking about when he said that a solitary hermit does as much to
save the world as the most socially engaged.
I don't think it's necessarily more difficult in the regular world, just
different difficulties. It's a matter of being as you are, whether that's a hermit or
a householder or whatever. There's a sense of being in solitude anywhere, the witness
of all this, and if you are settled into that sense, then it doesn't matter.

------------
Hi Andrew,

I really enjoyed the article, thanks for sending it. The nondual
activism I'm coming to know embraces Willard's activism, it's your
activism, it's cee's 'not stirring', it's Ed's movement to greater
depth. I'm saving everyone's expression and everyone is creating a whole
new thing. It wouldn't surprise me if no one has ever talked about
activism in these terms and from the dispostion/foundation that we know
in our particular ways.

From a nondual perspective some people are talking about activism in
very philosophical terms For example, see
<http://www.tulane.edu/~michaelz/Contest_of_Transpersonal_E.html>

Nondual activism embraces all approaches, including that depicted in the
link above, a passage from which goes as follows:

"As the nondual, timeless, ever-present, "groundless Ground" of the One
and the Many, the Absolute "is equally and fully present in and as
every single being, high or low, ascending or descending, effluxing or
refluxing." (SES,347) Hence, creatures are not merely a "part" or a
"strand" of the Absolute, as in pantheism; instead, each individual "is
the One Spirit in its entirety...." (SES,347) Nondualism thus opposes
the instrumentalism not only of anthropocentric traditions, but also of
radical environmentalisms that depict individuals as strands in the
cosmic web."

My mind turns to the moss stuffed between the logs of the cabin of
Willard Kitchener MacDonald. It makes me think that a good logo for the
NDS Activism web site might be a moss-stuffed log cabin. Whatever
craziness we get into in the field of activism, it could be an overall
symbol of the real. The cabin, moss and cracks serve as rich symbols on
their own.

Jerry

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

Soon after the Nondual Dialog list opened I came down with
heavy duty flu-like symptoms at a time when the wish to
contribute to the list was strong.

I noticed the more intense I became about contributing the
stronger the flu symptroms became and escaping into some
other activity did not help. There were many instances when
the symptoms overwhelmed my intention and a pause
became necessary. I would become still and all the
symptoms would leave. I would take the relief as a sign to
continue my writing and the symptoms would return full
force.

When I came to this last pause, I began to take a deeper
look at what was going on. I realized I was in a state of
repressed anxiety and was acting out of desperation to "save
the world", or at least some part of it. I was repressing the
anguish I felt about my daughter and the state of the world.

Here I was telling myself that "I" was not an activist, that all
I could "do" is *imagine* I was such an entity, allowing me
to discount the activism that "seemed" to arise. It was in
this "allowing", the denial that I was "me", that I was able to
repress the deep anxiety I was feeling.

Although I feel much relieved in having said this, I will be
looking a bit deeper into where I am going. I thank all of
you for being here with me and for your support.

Ed

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

Entry from the journal of Dustin LindenSmith, age 27:

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

Looking out from inside the shell (a.k.a. the world is but a stage) Thu
28 Dec

I know I'm just acting. I KNOW it - I'm not really just this simple guy
who has this life, family and home. That might be who I play on TV, but
it's certainly not the full extent of who I AM.

I think it's starting to come to me, this Knowing, this Understanding. I
can feel my own ignorance falling away like layers of cloth. Almost
every day I feel more aware of it. My understanding becomes more
integral each day.

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

Dustin's journal can be read at

<http://www.livejournal.com/users/iamom>

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

The Vessel

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

“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.

{...}

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.

{...}

Mark Christopher Valentine

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