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12/2/01 Sunday

*********************

GENE POOLE

NDS

Excerpts from two letters written recently...

....................


It comes as an emergency when it is not attended to, and it is not
attended to when the alternative plans seem to be working. But no
alternative will ultimately work.

The longer one waits (or tries alternatives which are more
'convenient' or 'comfortable'), the greater the emergency will be
when it finally comes. The worst may be, to go with whimsy or
sentiment.

By going with world-dream values, one goes against actual
self-nature, and this provokes countless confrontations. (Nonethless,
it is necessary to intimately know of these world-dream values, for
they are the very basis of commerce.)

These confrontations can be understood to be in the flavor of the
most favored identity; for it is that one, which is being fought for
so heroically. It is the 'supremacy of the self' which is the heroic
battle.

Giving oneself congratulations and rewards for overcoming opposition
may seem like a good thing, but if you remember that the real battle
is between 'versions' and reality itself, you must eventually realize
that reality is destined to win, and that any hero who fights against
reality is doomed, no matter how glorious the fight may seem, as it
is happening.

To be aligned 'with reality' is a good thing. To start, we first
'dis-align' from the obvious stuff like superstition, and at the same
time, discipline to be open to possibility.

Being open to possibility is a good thing, because it disallows the
'answers' provided in advance, by the various value-systems which
have so intimately populated us.

It seems so safe to find and cling to what has been 'proven' in the
world, but we must remember that no matter what, it is the unknown
which holds the way and the life, and therefore any seeming safety is
merely an avoidance of the ultimate meeting with the unknown.

Now, it is possible that there is one who is so set in his ways, that
the best that can be hoped for, is the least violent and stressful
life and eventual end-time. It is good to allow such a one to simply
experience their fate as they please, no matter your feelings in the
matter. To attach yourself to such a one, is to 'virtuously' go down
with the captain of a doomed ship.

So it comes to a matter of deliberately setting aside what one thinks
one 'knows' and simply living in constant communion with 'what is',
and letting the chips fall where they may. One who accepts the Living
Universe as 'teacher and guide' cannot go wrong. One who finds the
ultimate 'fix', goes wrong at the moment commitment to that 'fix' is
undertaken.

"A person is vulnerable to whatever forces are subscribed to".


..................................................


OK. I think I see what you are pointing to.

"Why should a person continually question the validity/veracity of
their own assumptions and perceptions?"

Reason: Survival and/or quality of life will be jeopardized unless
knowledge matches reality.

Question: Does opinion modify reality?

Answer: No. But in a realm populated by those who favor opinion over
reality, opinion rules.

Q: What is the basis of opinion?

A: Opinion is the version which least threatens the most favored identity.

Q: Could it be said then, that it is identity itself, which tries to
bend or modify reality?

A: In a way, yes. However, learning is what is actually happening,
even though it is gain and safety which seem to be at the forefront.
Learning is the key; thus, those who deliberately learn, will gain,
and also find safety much sooner than those who take
'version-reality' at face value.

By learning, the number of and intensity of challenges diminish, for
one has voluntarily taken on what the entire system was set up to
deliver. Those who open the door, avoid the battering-ram.

Q: If learning is 'it', what specifically is to learn?

A: Self-nature is that of a learning-system which first and
ultimately needs to learn of itself, as a self-learning system. All
other accomplishments are window-dressing.

Q: How can I bring myself into line with reality?

A: Drop all opinion. Purge all versions. There is nothing to compare
to, ultimately, so all analogies and systems of symbolic logic fail.
The one is the system and you are 'of it'.

System continually extends itself as 'reality', yet people insist on
taking only parts as real; they have their priorities, after all, and
like infants, their narcissistic emotional needs must be catered to,
or they will want to quit the game, before they can see through it,
thus to perceive self-nature.

They are obsessed with satisfying their earliest conditioning, and
thus continually reform their environments into womb-like chambers,
in which they all insist on being the only 'fetus'. This insistence
on being the only one, however, leads to tragic isolation.
Conseqently, they will make provisions for 'one special one' to be
with them, and this special one must of course not ever challenge
their rule or supremacy. And therein lies the rub, so to speak, for
each one must of course be in charge. This impossible criteria leads
to conflict, separation, and war.

Far be if from any of 'them' to simply slow down and observe; they
would rather flog reality with desire and opinion, constantly
recreating the tragic traditions of their race. And it is from this
painfully redundant ground, that 'heros' spring.



ANDREW

There's an interesting story by Haruki Murakami
in the current New Yorker, online here;

http://www.newyorker.com/FICTION/


MICHAEL READ

"I was reading more of U.G.Krishnamurti and now I'm really scared."

Love
Rashmi
~~~~~~~~~~

Scary stuff this awakening/enlightenment/realization business.
To be sure, there is a 'part' of us that wants IT more than a duck wants
water. And there is a 'part' of us that knows IT brings an end to the
way we have been all our lives.

I am not capitalizing IT because IT is higher or better or sacred. It is
the dropping of beliefs, concepts and ideas. IT happens of ITs own
accord. IT happens when the so called fictional character(s) we are
playing fall into open, honest and earnest longing.

IT encompasses everything about being and about being a human creature.
IT brings the death of what we used to believe about ourselves, God,
spirit/soul and so on. IT brings life in abundance.

IT is the end of seeking. IT is knowing in an intelligent and
experiential way the unity of just being. IT is the end of grasping for
yet another blissful experience. IT is the end of hanging onto a
personal comfort zone.

There are no practices that can bring about IT. No intellectual
understanding can prepare one for IT. IT is not a personal
accomplishment. IT is not a reward for good behavior. IT is not a prize
won in a contest.

So many seek after IT and never seem to find IT. They are not looking
for IT. They are looking for confirmation of their beliefs regarding
what IT is. Yet IT is always there. IT doesn't go anywhere.

If there is a barrier to knowing what IT is, it (the barrier) is hanging
onto the idea of separation from IT or hanging onto any idea about IT.

IT cannot be described in a way that will make sense. IT pervades all of
creation and all of creation has sprung from IT. Yet, IT is not stained
or affected by creation. IT is the mystery and the power and the peace
of existence. IT depends on nothing - no devotion, no prayers, no hopes,
no fears have created IT.

IT sets us up and lays us down.

IT is who we truly are. We can never become IT. IT is not a concept. All
concepts could be said to come from IT while never affecting IT.

IT is not the energy that permeates the universe. IT is not the matter
appearing in the void of space. Nor, is IT the void.

IT cannot be found. IT was never lost.

IT is the quickening in the womb. IT is the last breath of the dying.
IT is the fear and the horror. IT is the love and the comfort.

IT is those that seek. IT is those that do not seek.

IT doesn't exist. Only IT exists.

Well, that's enough.

love and peace eternal - michael


SU GANDOLF

Jan Sultan wrote:
"What can we conclude from the above paragraph? Get rid of the mind.
Still the mind. "
~~~
And, as soon as there is this objectification of the mind as some
thing to be got rid of, to be stilled, we are back in the realm of
the mind (and there is no "mind", truly, only a succession of
thoughts). All there needs to be for "enlightenment" (which cannnot
exist without its opposite, "delusion") to occur, is a seeing of the
thought (in its momentary totality), without the (subsequent)
identification of the thought (or experience) as belonging to
a "mind" (my mind). Yes, the mind is like a cloud that obscures the
Sun. No mindcloud, and the SunSelf shines unobstructed. See the mind,
and it is still. [Where is it going? (wherever "you" lead?...)]

Sure, "get rid of the mind", if it works. Is this your experience,
now? Or are you describing something that happened to you in the
past? Is this an accurate description? These are not meant as smart-
alecky questions. I am interested in your personal experience (more
than your formulation of concepts (although concepts can be fun!))
There was clarity in this post--I homed in on the one place that it
seems may create more confusion, not less. You may disagree. Or, it
may be only a verbal distinction.

> Enlightenment is simply being in the now moment before the brain
takes over
> and constricts and restricts everything into the limitations of
time and space

And I may change my mind tommorrow, wherever I may be.
;-)


SU GANDOLF
from a poem by Mary Oliver

Did you know that the ant has a tongue
with which to gather in all that it can
of sweetness?

Did you know that?
~~~~~
from the same poem by Mary Oliver

Would it be better to sit in silence?
To think everything, to feel everything, to say nothing?

This is the way of the orange gourd.
This is the habit of the rock in the river, over which
the water pours all night and all day.
But the nature of man is not the nature of silence.
Words are the thunders of the mind.
Words are the refinement of the flesh.
Words are the responses to the thousand curvaceous moments--
we just manage it--
sweet and electric, words flow from the brain
and out the gate of the mouth.

We make books of them, out of hesitations and grammar.
We are slow, and choosy.
This is the world.



MICHAEL READ
you are

you are god
of this have no doubt
this is the simple fact of the matter

this illusion?
this is your illusion
do with it as you will

i am god
of this have no doubt
this is the simple fact of the matter

this illusion?
this is my illusion
do with it as you will

cheerio! eternal joy and all that - michael

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