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Saturday, April 21, 2001

A happy birthday to Mira and to Michael
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Desire "to be" vs "am"

Michael:
Resistance/non-resistance
occur/don't occur in the
Totality of the ever present,
non-present, non-moment.

And it is all absolutely appropriate.

"It" is so simple, "it" is often overlooked.

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
and all else will be revealed.

If you think Heaven is in the sky,
the birds will get there first.
If in the ocean, the fish will
get there first.
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You Are Invited

Jerry:
A gathering will be held September 28 - 30, 2001, at
Pema Osel Ling <(http://www.polmountainretreat.com>.
The facility has been reserved and a deposit made.
Available will be the main house which has 3 bedrooms,
a living room, kitchen, etc., where we can get together.
There will also be the amazing outdoors, of course, and
a drive to the beach is planned for those who wish to partake.
This can be a very small and intimate gathering, or a l
arge one. Right now the people committed to attending
are cee, Paul ("Waterlift"), Gene Poole and lady
partner, Omkara (Tim Gerchmez), myself. This will
be an unstructured gathering. Rates are $25-50 per
day plus $27 for three full prepared and served meals
per day, optional. Camping is available for $25 per day.
Others have expressed their interest, but this is the time
to circle the date on your calendar and Commit! Now that
you know the rate structure, location, dates, please let me
know if you're going to 'be there'. I'll get back to you with
more details on accomodations, payment, etc. Please
write me if you have any questions.

Jerry Katz
umbada@ns.sympatico.ca
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A Little Poem

Michael:
Awakening

Silly people
Doing silly things.
These too are one.

Vicious people
Doing vicious things.
These too are one.

Tears of laughter
Tears of joy
Tears of sorrow
Tears of pain
The source of tears is one.

How can this be?
It is too much,
I am slain.

Freedom.

From the Heart of Awakening - Mu
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Enlightenment

Gracie:
The wisdom of Enlightenment is inherent in every one
of us. It is because of the delusion under which our
mind works that we fail to realize it ourselves, and t
hat we have to seek the advice and the guidance of
Enlightened ones before we can know our own Essence of
Mind. You should know that so far as Buddha-nature
is concerned there is no difference in an Enlightened
person and an ingnorant one. What makes the difference
is one realizes it, while the other is ignorant of it.
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Free Will vs Determination

Jan:
Regarding "free will" there is a simple experiment:
Sit on a chair, both feet on the ground.
I want you to lift one foot, and it doesn't matter which one.
Think it over... Which one will you lift?

And when it has been lifted, was that because of:

1. free will
2. determinism
3. choice
4. god's choice
5. god playing dice
6. I don't know
7. I don't care
8. nobody cares

(pick what is appropriate)

Joy, laughter and humor,
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Sharing

J.P.
Warmest hello beloved friends

There are so many wonderful postings on this list.
I feel so grateful for all that is shared with Love and
the deep yearning to come to Unity. I share
with you from my heart - hoping that it may - even
in a tiny way - be of help to someone who is reading
this beautiful list.

We can all freely share from our own direct experiences,
trusting that we can accept each other's experiences
and views with tenderness and deep courtesy. So I share
with you as you so freely and lovingly share with all
on this list. We share not to display our erudition or
unique awakening. We share - in our humanity - what
we feel, have and yearn for- freely and with Love.

To you on this list who have experienced the awesome
wonder and vastness of the One - I bow to you - to the
Love that you have witnessed in truth and
not in concept. To the One reflected in each
and every one of us who share
together on this list - I bow to you.

I share two little poems with you. The first was
written by a beautiful Sufi student who was experiencing
the intoxication of the blissful face of the
Beloved. The second is a very poor reply from my broken heart.

Love,

JP
----------------

Beloved, how can I sleep when the full moon enters
my window through Your door? When everything is
calling to me of Your love, touching every part of
me, with You. Quivering in the aliveness, of the oneness,
singing this song of love, the eternal chant of living light.

Beloved, how can I sleep if You continue to caress
me with every sound? Awakening my spirit's longing to
embrace You, forever, in this, Your invitation to Love's
Divine dance.

Beloved, how can I sleep, turning, turning, inside love,
there is no sleep, only the love making movement of
this moment...

I can't keep quiet any longer! Love burns in me so
deeply that I am the sun in the day and the moon at night.
Even then I see the moon's face in the light of day, and the
sun stars through the dark of night.

I can't keep quiet any longer! Oh, how you fill me and
everything with Your love. I want to shout and scream,
laugh and cry, sing and dance, play and work, pray and
chant, all that You are, inside me and not hold onto any of
It! To give it all all the time.

I can't keep quiet any longer! In this joyous leaping lov
e I feel for You!

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


Beloved who is sleeplessI

In the sweetness of the Love

Your song of rapture echoes in my heart that is your own

Now come with me and our caravan of desert beggars to
deeper unity

Your hidden eye can see the light the song of love r
ings in your secret ear

Now can you bare to see your brother in tattered
blood-stained robes and hear his groans of anguished
desolation

Now can you bare to see your sister in blackened
flesh and hear her breathe
in rasp of death's arrival

Will you flee in horror at these sights And hide in suns,
moons, stars of inner lights

Will you ask to know where love goes to hide amidst
hese ruins of shattered
minds and bodies of decay

Will you still dance in gentle fields of verdant green
as your feet walk through bombed streets red and
wet with innocent blood

Will you still hear the melodies of angels fair and
bright when voices filled with rage and unbound pride
call to war and idol making

Can you bare to mix together the honey and the
cup of poison and drink it
down like fresh pressed wine

Can you look into the sky the sky of darkened
night the sky of radiant day
and care not for either black or white

Can you bare to bathe in refreshing waters and
burn in scorching ovens and
make no separation

Can you bare to be extinct to all you think you
are all your heart can feel
and all you think He is

And in your nothingness that is but a holy
created picture of His infinite revelation

To join the lines and rows of desert beggars in
our caravan and in unison
Fall upon our faces in endless Awe and Silent Adoration
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Living in the moment

Missy:

Sitting silently,

Doing nothing,

Spring comes,

And the grass grows by itself.

OSHO
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-
Reflecting in the Moment

Tim:
Not only the nature of grass, but the nature of 'everything'... with
people, birthdays are celebrated as something special (just
reflecting on this due to the recent posts, not anything specific)...

If you really think about it, it's kind of strange -- is it an
accomplishment to be born, or even to have lived some length of
time? The body has no built in wish to live a short or a long time,
there isn't a craving 'to live long' like there are 'cravings' to eat
or to drink water.

Some people do make 'long life' into something to be achieved, a goal
to be met... and in doing so, miss the fact that a 5 minute life of
infinite blessings could be much 'fuller' than 2000 years of drudgery.

Missy:
We get locked into a fixed position...and egoistic view. We allow
things like competitiveness to keep us separate from ourselves and
each other...as soon as we do that, we enclose and limit our self.
Accepting that "I" know nothing regardless of who "I" was conditioned
to be has been the ultimate form of freedom. That is the letting go...
There is nothing to be accomplished.
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Take Away Mind's Attachment

Jerry:
Two posts not found on nds, bear on the topic:

The following is from Edg Duveyoung's Consciousness Exercises:

Exercise # 8 The talker and the doer

Position your hand in a way that it is comfortable. Keep your
index finger motionless--DO NOT move it--and stare at it
intensely while you say these words aloud AND mentally
simultaneously:

I want my finger to move.

Finger! Move!

I command my finger to move.

This finger will now move.

I am completely controlling this finger, and I will now move it.

This finger is an intimate part of me and will obey my every
whim.

I give myself permission to move this finger despite the
instructions of this exercise that I should not do so, and I
will now move this finger.

Now, after you stop speaking the above sentences, simply move
your finger--go ahead--it's okay. Note that you DO NOT have to
have words going through your head to make this motion happen.
Move it quite a bit and focus on the effortlessness of the
motion AND note the exacting precision and control you have over
the motion.

Ask yourself, Who moves my finger?

Who was speaking the "words-that-were-disobeyed"?

What is the difference between the "person-that-talks-inside-me"
and the "doer of my actions"?

Who am I? The talker or the doer or both? If both, how is this
logically possible?

Why am I so comfortable with this set up?

Why does the "talker" usually assume "it" is the "doer"? Why
doesn't the talker say things like, "I saw my finger move, but I
had no part in the moving of it."

Does the doer also create the "talker's words?"

What percentage of my life "happens" without the talker's
participation? What is the value of the talker? Do I always have
to have mental words to accompany my actions and feelings?
During the times of my life that are most filled with meaning,
how often does the talker "come up with words to match the
occasion"?

If my talker could always generate "really beautiful words" for
my life, would my life then be much more meaningful?

If the talker comes up with words that call for an action I
consider immoral, can I "just not do it" like I "just didn't
move the finger"? Can I give the doer permission to ignore the
talker?

Would the doer ever act without my "final go-ahead"?

How often am I aware that I am "finally giving permission" to
the doer to act?

What would life be like if I were always consciously in charge
of all doing?

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

And this contribution by Anthony Craig to Circle of Friends list:

"One there lived a wolf who slaughtered a great many sheep and
reduced many people to tears.

At length, I do not know why, he suddenly felt qualms of
conscience and began to repent his life; so he decided to reform
and to slaughter no more sheep.

In order to do this he went to a priest and asked him to hold a
thanksgiving service.

The pries began the service and the wolf stood weeping and
praying in the church. The service was long. The wolf had
slaughtered many of the priest's sheep, therefore the priest
prayed earnestly that the wolf would indeed reform. Suddenly the
wolf looked through a window and saw that the sheep were being
driven home. He began to fidget but the priest went on and on
without end.

At last the wolf could contain himself no longer and he shouted:
"Finish it priest!" Or all the sheep will be driven home and I
shall be left without supper!""

This is a very good fairy tale because it describes man very
well. He is ready to sacrifice everything, but after all today's
dinner is a different matter.

A man always begins with something big. But this is impossible,
thre can be no choice, we must begin with the things of today.

Gurdjieff ISOM p. 366

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