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Sunday, May 13

GILL EARDLEY

> ** ok, so Adam is in the garden one day and the Lord God speaks to
> him and says, "Adam, I am going to make a companion for you, called
> woman. She will serve you in all ways... --justthis

Seems God was just about done creating the universe, had a couple of left-over
things left in his bag of creations, so he stopped by to visit Adam and Eve in
the Garden. He told the couple that one of the things he had to give away was
the ability to stand up and pee. "It's a very handy thing," God told the couple
who he found hanging around under an apple tree. "I was wondering if either one
of you wanted that ability." Adam popped a cork. Jumped up and begged, "Oh, give
that to me! I'd love to be able to do that! It seems the sort of thing a Man
should do. Oh please, oh please, oh please, let me have that ability. It'd be so
great! When I'm working in the garden or naming the animals, I could just let it
rip, I'd be so cool. Oh please God let it be me who you give that gift to, let
me stand and pee, oh please........." On and on he went like an excited little
boy (who had to pee). Eve just smiled and shook her head at the display. She
told God that if Adam really wanted it so badly, and it sure seemed to be the
sort of thing that would make him happy, she really wouldn't mind if Adam were
the one given the ability to stand up and pee. And so it was. And it was...well,
good. "Fine," God said, looking back into his bag of left-over gifts. "What's
left here? Oh yes, multiple orgasms..."

__________________________________________________________________________

GLORIA LEE

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,43685,00.html

...the art looks very flat and lithograph-y to me, no texture. No depth,
even tho perspective is indicated, and they all have such a sameness to
them. Did you look at the poetry writing program? The art form that seems
to work best (so far) with computers is music. My husband loves how he
can compose and then have the keyboard play it. And the classical music
pieces available online really are legitimately free. The notes are past
copyright, and the keyboard can sound like a grand piano with sample
sounds.

____________________________________________________________________________

MICHAEL READ

I was thinking just awhile ago how we humans are very much like
amoebas. We tend to act and react to our environment without thinking.

I don't know if amoebas have religion or philosophy. Ah, what if an
amoeba started to think about its place in the vast universe. Of course
an amoebas universe may be no larger that a drop of water. Would that
amoeba feel terror or joyful awe for the inconcievable beauty that
surrounded it? Who knows! :-)

Perhaps amoebas have decided that there is a god who is controlling
thier lives. They may even think that they are somehow created in the
image of this god. Do you suppose that amoebas would go to war with
each other over thier beliefs? Who knows. :-)

Perhaps when a human comes down with amoebic dysentary it is just a
side effect of amoebic holy wars. Then we take some medicine and wipe
out entire microscopic civilizations. Hmmm. Would the survivors huddle
up and call it the will of god?

Nope, I don't see much difference between human beings and amoebic
beings. We are born, have a dramatic life, then disappear. And a 100 or
a 1,000 or a 1,000,000 years from now what difference will it have
made?

Well, please excuse all this silly chatter.

Love yourself and take care of each other.

Instead of punching out your 'enemy' what would be wrong with buying
him or her a cup of tea and a biscuit instead? You ever wonder what
wars would be like if they were not fought with guns? What if we
'overcame' our 'enemy' with kindness and generosity instead?

Well, there I go being silly again! :-o

Loveya - Michael

...

REALIZATION

It's not about the 'other' guy and it's not about 'you'. It's about
discovery of your so-called true nature. It's about finding out what
you really are. What is that energy that keeps the heart beating and
the lungs working? Hmmmm?

What is life? Is it - oh I don't know - process?

Ever wonder why we don't see pictures or statues of a pissed off
buddha? Or see pictures of a Ramana browbeating some poor schnook just
because he doesn't understand?

So you had an experience of that timeless state. You know the one.
There was no 'I' there. No sense of a 'me' there. Simple awareness and
peace.

So what the hell do we do when we 'come back' from that?! Like the
insufferable fools we are we try to quantify, identify, catagorize, and
explain it! Back to the same old same old!

Our feeble attempts to intellectualize what the intellect can't even
begin to understand trap us into thinking we are soooooo smart!

Or even worse we set up shop as some sort of Self appointed teacher. I
mean after all 'we' did it! 'We' had the 'ultimate awareness' and 'we'
saw through to the 'big E'. Ooooooh! How Special! 'My' 'Teacher' told
me to 'spread this Teaching'.

You dumb bunnies would do well to get this straight - there is only One
Truly Enlightened Being in the Entire Universe - and it isn't you!

You and I are a freaking illusion. We are projected by the OTEBEU. If
you think your little fanatasy life of spiritual 'truths' is the real
deal, be sure to get your passport stamped by god so we can all know
who you truly are.

Well, there is a Sam Peckinpah movie on the television - 'The Wild
Bunch'. It has more to do with realization than what passes for truth
around this list lately. At least it (the movie) doesn't pretend to be
anything more than what it is - a movie.

HAHAHAHAH and HOHOHOHO!

Peace - get a sense of humor - Michael

ps - god made me post this cause he was busy doing everything else
heeheehahahoo!

_____________________________________________________________________

JAN BARENDRECHT

The 7 biggest lies

1. there are no others
Wrong - without others there wouldn't have been a "you"
to call itself "I".

2. when i know "who I am" i will be happy
Wrong - you will clearly see what mess was made of life but
then you can cope with it :)

3. when i know "who I am" i can teach that
Wrong - a tendency (desire) to teach isn't the same as 'ability'.

4. what i feel as a good path is OK
Wrong - a diseased child likes the sweetest medicine best - and
refuses a bitter one. Still surprised there are so few jivan muktas?

5. all paths are equally OK
Wrong - not knowing "who I am" is a disease, one that can
vary between incurable and mild. A path is but the specific medicine
having provided a cure for the one teaching it. So no-path is OK <laugh>

6. when knowing "who I am", that opens the road to moksha
Wrong - only if apperception comes with an indescribable
love for "that", which makes one forget nearest and dearest
in a 'party' of love and ecstasy that will "burn itself out".

7. knowing this and more will make happy
Wrong - living up to it and more would have made happy.

So the thread continues...

BTW, no-path = "the art of consistent living" <laugh>

__________________________________________________________________________

JOHN METZGER

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
"Breakfast of Champions"

Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two
pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as
they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their
limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were
making champagne.

__________________________________________________________________________

HUR

THE POWER OF THE PRESENCE

Transforming Encounters With Sri Ramana Maharshi Edited by David Godman

"Jnana is given neither from outside nor from another person. It can be
realised by each and everyone in his own Heart. The jnana Guru of
everyone is only the Supreme Self that is always revealing its own
truth in every Heart through the existence-conciousness 'I am, I am.'
The granting of true knowledge by him is initiation into jnana. The
grace of the Guru is only that Self-awareness that is one's own true
nature. It is the inner conciousness by which he is unceasingly
revealing his existence. This divine upadesa is always going on
naturally in everyone." -Sri Ramana Maharshi

This is an excerpt from a new book by David Godman called "The Power of
the Presence" which is about transforming encounters devotees had with
Ramana Maharshi. The back cover asks, 'What was it like to live with
and be guided by Sri Ramana Maharshi, one of the greatest Advaita sages
that India ever produced?' Inside, eight devotees give their answers in
the form of long first-person narratives. The people featured come from
a wide variety of backgrounds and their personal stories demonstrate
the different relationships Ramana had with the seekers who came to
him. Most of these stories have never appeared in English before.

"The Power of the Presence" is self-published by David Godman. It will
not be widely avaliable in the bookstores for several months. Please
visit <http://www.davidgodman.org> for ordering instructions.

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