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Sunday, March 3, 2002

JAN SULTAN contributes:
Franklin Merrell-Wolff's fundamental
realizations
First Fundamental Recognition:
Realization of Self,
Liberation
The first of Wolff's two fundamental
Realizations
took place on August 6, 1936. In
contrast with the
prior insights, which retained objective
elements
in his own consciousness and thus
fell short of
genuine identification, the fundamental
Realizations unequivocally transcended
the
subject-object or relative consciousness.
Just
prior to the first Realization,
Wolff had been
meditating upon the teachings of
Shankara,
particularly the discussion of Liberation.
Upon
meditative reflection, he realized
that his efforts
to attain Liberation involved a
seeking after a
subtle object of experience. But
any new object of
experience, no matter how subtle,
was something
other than the objectless transcendent
consciousness. Thus, Liberation
does not
necessarily involve any new object
of experience or
change in the content of consciousness.
To seek
such a new object or experience,
therefore, is a
mistake. Genuine Realization, therefore,
is a
recognition of Nothing -- but a
Nothing that is
absolutely Substantial and identical
with the SELF.
The result of this profound realization
was the
complete and instant cessation of
expectation of
having any new experience or relative
form of
knowledge arise. The light of consciousness
then
turned back upon itself, toward
its source, and the
pure Atman was realized as absolute
fullness and as
identical with himself. This Recognition
was not an
experience of any new content in
consciousness, but
a Re-Cognition of a Truth that is,
was, and always
will be. It is a nondual knowledge
of identity that
transcends space and time. Nevertheless,
there were
various effects experienced within
the relative
consciousness, that may be considered
expressions
of the Recognition. Because the
Recognition is not
the recognition of any particular
effects or
phenomena, they should not be confused
with the
Recognition itself. Some of the
effects Wolff
experienced were: (1) A shift in
the base of
reference in consciousness, transplanting
the roots
of identity from the relative to
the transcendent,
(2) a transformation of the meaning
of self from a
point-like principle opposed to
objects of
experience to a space-like identity
with the entire
field of consciousness and all its
contents, (3) a
sense of penetrating knowledge into
the depths of
reality, (4) a transcendence of
space, time, and
causality, (4) complete freedom
and liberation from
all bondage. Also experienced were
qualities of
joy, felicity, serenity, peace,
and benevolence.
Second Fundamental Recognition: High
Indifference,
Equilibrium
Although Wolff's first fundamental
Realization was
an unequivocal transcendence of
the subject-object
consciousness, for a period of approximately
33
days there remained certain unresolved
tensions
preventing it from being a full
state of
equilibrium. This tension consisted
in the contrast
in valuation between the superlative
Joy, Peace,
Rest, Freedom and Knowledge of the
Transcendent and
the emptiness of the relative world.
There was a
distinction between being bound
to embodied
consciousness and not being so bound,
with a subtle
attachment to being not bound. Counter-acting
this
subtle attachment, however, was
Wolff's prior
acceptance of the bodhisattva vow,
a commitment to
the value of relative manifestation
and embodiment,
motivated by compassion for all
sentient beings.
With this motivation, Wolff resisted
his strong
inclination to retreat into the
transcendent bliss
of nirvanic consciousness. Instead,
he sacrificed
his strictly personal enjoyment
of those
transcendent values in order to
maintain a relative
embodiment and help liberate all
sentient beings.
This act of compassion and ultimate
renunciation
led to an unexpected second fundamental
Recognition
that resolved the residual tensions
between the
universe and nirvana. The Realization
represented a
complete Equilibrium, not only a
relative
equilibrium between objects, but
also an ultimate
Equilibrium between relative and
absolute levels of
consciousness. Because this realization
does not
give any more valuation to nirvana
than to the
universe, and recognizes no ultimate
difference
between the two, Wolff called it
the High
Indifference. It is the complete
resolution of
tension between all opposites, the
complete
transcendence of all distinctions,
including the
distinction between the transcendent
and the
relative. At this profoundly deep
level of
Recognition, all self-identity,
both in the highest
sense of the transcendental Self
and the lower
sense of the ego self, was no more.
In Wolff's
words, "I was no more and God was
no more, but only
the ETERNAL which sustains all Gods
and Selves."
--------------------
The Nameless - Franklin Merrell-Wolff
The Nameless
Above, below, to right, to left,
all-encompassing,
Before and after and all between,
Within and without, at once everywhere,
Transforming and stable, ceaselessly;
Uncaused, while fathering all causes,
The Reason behind all reasoning,
Needing nought, yet ever supplying,
The One and Only, sustaining all
variety,
The Source of all qualities, possessing
no attributes,
Ever continuous, appearing discrete,
Inexpressible, the base of all expression,
Without number, making possible
all number,
Containing the lover and the beloved
as one,
Doing nought, remaining the Field
of all action—
The actor and the action not different—
Indifferent in utter completion;
Diffused through all space, yet
in the Point concentrated,
Beyond time, containing all time,
Without bounds, making bounds possible,
Knowing no change;
Inconceivable, yet through It all
conceiving becoming;
Nameless ever and unmastered;
THAT am I, and so art Thou.
__________________________________________________________
JAN BARENDRECHT
Whether 'free' or 'bound' depends
on the
definitions given: thoughts determine
that. Pain
plus mental turmoil is called suffering,
without
the turmoil 'just' pain and some
will define that
as 'free'. Yet, when the pain exceeds
a threshold,
fainting occurs which shows, that
kind of freedom
is relative too and numerous are
the accounts of
disease ridden saints who were visibly
in pain
despite saying 'i am not the body'
which of course
is true but for some, not very convincing.
The
potential to feel pain destroyed,
whatever pertains
to the mind-body is but sight and
sound. For a few,
only that defines as 'freedom' and
it doesn't need
a qualifier, both mind and body
having become
transparent like empty space. Please
note the
difference with a newborn, filled
up to the brim
with feelings :)
__________________________________________________________
JERRY KATZ
so i was taking a walk a few days
ago
and i ran into a guy i run into
about once a year
knowing he runs an ashram
i asked him how the enlightenment
business was
everyone's enlightened, he said cheerfully,
only they don't know it
where had i heard that before?
anyway
we gabbed for awhile
and then i mentioned i had a website
and that he was listed as a spiritual
teacher.
he said he never uses the internet
but that a year ago a woman found
his name listed
on a website
she was attracted by a quote attached
to the listing.
he quoted the quote and i recognized
the listing
from my website.
that woman had traveled a long distance
to be with this teacher, based on
the quote.
now they had lived together for one
year
and he seemed happy about it.
i thought it was interesting and
all that.
compassion is being and allowing.
so he seemed quite happy to make
the connection
and i went on my way.
a week later i happened to meet him
again.
that morning his woman told him she
'needed space'
and their relationship was about
to end.
oh well.
but he thought maybe my presence
was a good sign
and that she'd change her mind.
oh well. whatever. nothing i could
do about it.
i hung around him a little while
and it was revealed that there was
a person
in his ashram
with vampire tendencies
who was drawing people away from
his main group
he didn't know how to extract this
vampire.
seems there are landlord/tenant legalities
involved.
so what does a guru do?
he seemed puzzled and mentioned that
he was fearful.
what does a guru do?
what can he do except all he can
then relax and let it all be?
so the vampire takes all his followers.
so his woman leaves.
so what?
he's a guru for chrissakes.
so his world falls apart.
the entire world is a catastrophe
because of a single thing not known.
know that thing
and what is there
and what is there not?
not even that knowing.
so things can be pretty rough for
people.
JAN BARENDRECHT
...vampires and
other (unwanted) guests spontaneously
leave when
enveloped by a strong, positive
space charge. A
similar application is that of subsonic
waves:
likely to cause anxiety about 'family
& home'.
Long ago i came across a rare booklet,
translated
from Sanskrit into English, at a
time it was
thought, the restless Westerners
could be benefited
by studying the science of emotions.
Knowing and
applying prevents the build up of
situations glued
together with compromises, the sum
of which sooner
or later develops into a stranglehold.
It boils down to this:
The mind-body is like a sail boat
driven by the
wind, the emotions. The emotional
memory is the
automatic rudder, so the course
of the boat is
entirely out of control, but not
random.
The operation described was to cut
down the mast
and start rowing! Then, the rudder
loses most of
its influence and eventually, a
powerful engine can
be assembled, adjusting the rudder
manually for
"the other shore".
When i read the book, it was a nice
'deja-vu'.
___________________________________________________________________
HARVEY SCHNEIDER
As a newbie at NDS, I confess I was
not expecting
to find such a colorful, spirited
and gutsy give
and take as the discussion of sexual
identity which
flared up on this list just as I
signed on. We seem
on the other side of most of the
fireworks, and
hopefully the better for it. It
seems we have come
to a rounding of the circle. Early
on Gene said
that "Root Being carries identity
in its back
pocket, like a driver's license",
and just a few
posts ago, Eric expressed the same
thought saying:
"no matter how you slice it, sexual
identity is
just another form of identification,
and must
finally go if Self Realization is
the goal." I
would guess that sexual identity
may not have to be
completely given up. Seeing through
it and
re-cognizing it may be sufficient,
but when I get
closer to the goal, I'll have another
look.
At the center of our understanding
of nondualism
are questions of identity. "Who
am I?" being, of
course, the primary issue. It would
seem that we
students of nonduality would have
an easier time
than most in seeing just what identification
amounts to and understanding its
blandishments and
its limitations.
It appears that both our stalwarts
have overstated
their cases. On the one hand, it
seems clear that
any claim to an identity, be that
as a man or
woman, or white or black, or Jew
or Christian, or
handsome or ugly, has only a restricted
application. And that obsessive
rigidity in tying
ourselves up in such identities
can be limiting in
obvious ways. On the other hand,
it seems equally
clear that someone who bases an
identity on a
recognition of the actualities of
his life, as for
example, sexual feelings and personal
sensibilities
as he experiences them, is not in
the same category
of self-delusion as someone who
takes himself to be
a rusty paper clip or the second
coming of God
Almighty. We don't want to insist
that all members
of the Hibernian Order of the Sacred
Cross need to
be locked up until they repent of
their limited
self-definitions.
On this lazy Sunday morning, my thoughts
are
focused on other concerns. Not least
of which is
the fact that, as some of you may
know, our
brother, friend, and teacher, Sandeep,
last known
to have been close to the scene
of carnage in
India, has not been heard from for
a disquieting
long time.
---------
Sandeep mentioned that he had made
some "noises" on
the subject at issue which were
not appreciated by
some of the parties concerned. For
a while, we on
the Yearnings list consoled ourselves
in the
thought that he was in Bombay, far
away from the
center of agitation. And then we
got a bombshell.
An Indian friend of his told us
that Sandeep was
not in Bombay, but in Godhra, which
is indeed in
the center of these current events,
and actually
mentioned in today's New York Times
coverage. What
is more, Sandeep's friend reported
that none of
Sandeep's acquaintances who he was
familiar with,
knew where Sandeep might be. The
posts on Yearning
are painful to read. I am still
hopeful -
unfortunately without anything to
go on - that we
haven't heard the last of him.
____________________________________________________________
MATTHEW FILES
...............just keep thinking
you are free,
think it all day long, chant it,
make it your
mantra, say it 10,000 times an hour,
post notes on
your refrigerator, bathroom mirror
and your front
door, wear t-shirts that proclaim
it, and bumper
stickers that announce it, tell
everyone you know,
write it in your journal, and on
all the elists you
belong to and just keep on suffering
baby. Thinking
one is free has never and will never
change the
fact of suffering (bondage), will
never bring about
freedom.
__________________________________________________________________
MELODY
People who crusade for peace, love,
justice and 'goodness'
often carry some of the heaviest,
deadliest arsenal.
One need only listen to the news
for
5 minutes to bare this out.
It may be worth a ponder.
______________________________________________________________
SU GANDOLF contributes
A poem by Jaan Kaplinski
Once I got a postcard from the Fiji
Islands
with a picture of sugar cane harvest.
Then I realized
that nothing at all is exotic in
itself.
There is no difference between digging
potatoes in our
     Mutiku
garden.
and sugar cane harvesting in Viti
Levu.
Everything that is very ordinary
or, rather, neither ordinary nor
strange.
Far-off lands and foreign peoples
are a dream,
a dreaming with open eyes
somebody does not wake from.
It's the same with poetry – seen
from afar
it's something special, mysterious,
festive.
No, poetry is even less
special than a sugar cane plantation
or potato field.
Poetry is like sawdust coming from
under the saw
or soft yellowish shavings from
a plane.
Poetry is washing hands in the evening
or a clean handkerchief that my
late aunt
never forgot to put in my pocket.
__________________________________________________________________
HARSHA
Love, Knowledge and Freedom
Being Is Freedom.
Desire is desire, love is love, hatred
is hatred,
anger is anger, sadness is sadness,
rage is rage,
and bliss is bliss. What of it?
There is no mystery here. If you
truly accept the
totality of what is, then where
is the need to
improve yourself.
But you should improve yourself,
if you feel you
have to. Don't go against your natural
feeling. It
just creates additional conflicts.
In the long run, forget about overcoming
your
conditioning. That itself is another
type of
conditioning. Just layer upon layer
upon layers of
conditioning constitute our identity.
You may as
well become an enormous and huge
Chocolate Cake at
a wedding! You will have fewer layers
to contend
with and you will taste better to
your friends!
There is no end to this nonsense
about
self-improvement and if you have
the energy to
pursue, it will continue in one
form or another.
Forget permanent and impermanent.
Forget freedom
and bondage. Forget Samsara and
Moksha. Remain as
you are. That is actually the only
thing anyone can
do really well.
You don't need lessons!
If you know in your bones that there
is absolutely
nothing you can do, you will See
that there is
absolutely nothing you need to do!
To See Is To Be. To Be is to See.
These are Not Two!
If you love Truth enough, you will
see that You are
the Truth!
You and Truth.
These are not Two!
If you Love Truth enough, you will
see that You are
Love!
You and Love.
These are not Two!
Keep it in sight You will be all
right!
Be Seeing You (:-).
____________________________________________________________________
MATTHEW FILES
One who is Awake, in the spiritual
sense, is
expressing Light, is Rapture itself,
ecstatic,
blissful. Such a one is like a pulsating
moment or
event of Radiance, filling all corners
of the
universes. Such a one is Love itself,
present to
shine on any and all who will recognize
this
benediction. And shining on all
who won't recognize
this benediction, as a silent and
profound
encouragement towards recognition.
Surrender to the
Will of God, or Slavery to the Law
in every moment,
allows one to be or exist as perfect
sympathy to
the Divine Process and to the Divine
Essence, which
is itself Light, Love, Power , Glory,
Compassion,
and Mercy. Such a one loses personification(in
the
Real sense, not in the apparent
sense) in bending
to the needs of everyman, and even
to the endless
worlds of creation in every form.
Even this concept
is mindlessly unimagineable, even
unthinkable to
one who thinks or percieves from
the posture or
context or disposition of survival,
separation from
God, and the need to sustain this
human form
immortally. For one who does not
see God as the
Father and Source of all, including
that one's very
existence, any consideration of
the Truth of
Awakening is conceptually impossible.
Loving God,
however, is quite different from,
essentially
distinct from, Awakened existence,
function, and
surrender even though it must arise
from the
context of Awakening. Loving God,
which is pure
Gift, literally the only Grace,
is a condition (not
a gesture, posture, or a positional
meditation) in
which the entire Radiance or expression
of
universal Light, impersonally breathed
in every
moment and to everyone/everything,
is limited to
one channel or beam of direction
which is God in
Personal Form. Being Awake and therefore
surrendered to the Law, Sacrificed
to the Great
Process of Divine Evolution, is
being a reflector
of God, bathing all beings in this
outward
reflection or radiance. Loving God
is reflecting
God only back to Himself. Loving
God is a
reflection of God to God. Being
Awake is a
reflection of God's Reality to reality.
Loving God
is being turned only in the direction
of God,
melting in every moment in the heat
and passion of
ones love for God, in all God's
glory and beauty,
in His completely whimsical Being.
Being, Love on
the other hand, which is the condition
of
Enlightenment, is expressing this
Love outward as
God with outwardly no distinction
as to the object
of this reflection and with no reflection
of God.

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