The sea will be the sea, whatever the drop's philosophy...
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Not One, Not Two
Not One, Not Two
How does one seek union with God?
The harder you seek, the more distance you create between Him and you.
So what does one do about the distance?
Understand or recognize that it isn't there.
Does that mean that God and I are one?
Not one. Not two.
How is that possible?
The sun and its light, the ocean and the wave, the singer and his song. --
Not one. Not two.
Anthony de Mello
THE MYSTICS describe reality as an indivisible Unity containing two, apparently distinct, aspects: an eternally unchanging and constant aspect, and an aspect that appears changing and inconstant.
To those who have never experienced that Unity, such declarations about It must appear illogical and self-contradictory. But, say the mystics, however paradoxical it may seem to the rational intellect, that is simply and truly the nature of the one reality.
In order to explain that reality which is both the eternal God and the world of forms, a reality which appears to possess two such incompatible aspects while remaining one reality, it became apparent very early on, historically, that it was necessary to introduce two terms, each to designate one aspect of this dual-faceted Being, yet which would in no way represent two separate and distinct entities, but one -- a One with two faces.
As the mystics tell us, the universe is a manifestation of an insubstantial, creative Energy. This Energy has no independent existence of its own, but is simply a "projection" of pure Consciousness and is similar to the thought-energy projected in the form of a dream-image by an individual mind.
Different cultures and traditions have distinguished between pure Consciousness and the creative Energy with terms such as, Shiva and Shakti in the East and Godhead and Christ (the Logos, the Word, or the Light) in the West. The first is the unmanifest Source and the second, the manifesting Energy that manifests the world.
So it can be said, the transcendent Absolute (Numenon) with its Energy manifests as our inner and outer world (phenomenon) -- these are simply polar aspects of the same one and only Being.
These two are not even a hair's breadth apart; they are but two different perspectives of the same reality. And the duality created by conceptually dividing the formless Source from the world of forms is only an apparent and artificial one, as they constitute an indivisible unity.
The complementarity of the unmanifest/manifesting Energy and the manifestated universe may be illustrated by an analogy with the ocean and its waves: Consider an infinite ocean; if we regard its "water-ness," the ocean is one constant whole. But if we regard its "wave-ness," that same ocean is a multiplicity of incessantly changing forms.
The ocean is the one reality that is manifesting as all the waves; and, though the waves form and dissolve, form and dissolve, the ocean as a whole remains the same, continually unchanged and unaffected.
This is exactly what the mystic experiences in his awakening to the universal Self; he appears to be but one of the many manifestations of reality, but he is, in fact, the one Reality Itself, forever unchanging, eternal.
Shankara, the great expounder of the philosophy of unity, called this apparent duality between the many and the One, a "superimposition":
Like ripples on the water, the worlds arise from, exist in, and dissolve into, the supreme Lord, who is the material cause and support of everything.
The manifested world of plurality is superimposed upon the eternal, all-pervading Lord whose nature is Existence- Consciousness, just as bangles and bracelets are superimposed on gold.
How does one seek union with God?
The harder you seek, the more distance you create between Him and you.
So what does one do about the distance?
Understand or recognize that it isn't there.
Does that mean that God and I are one?
Not one. Not two.
How is that possible?
The sun and its light, the ocean and the wave, the singer and his song. --
Not one. Not two.
Anthony de Mello
THE MYSTICS describe reality as an indivisible Unity containing two, apparently distinct, aspects: an eternally unchanging and constant aspect, and an aspect that appears changing and inconstant.
To those who have never experienced that Unity, such declarations about It must appear illogical and self-contradictory. But, say the mystics, however paradoxical it may seem to the rational intellect, that is simply and truly the nature of the one reality.
In order to explain that reality which is both the eternal God and the world of forms, a reality which appears to possess two such incompatible aspects while remaining one reality, it became apparent very early on, historically, that it was necessary to introduce two terms, each to designate one aspect of this dual-faceted Being, yet which would in no way represent two separate and distinct entities, but one -- a One with two faces.
As the mystics tell us, the universe is a manifestation of an insubstantial, creative Energy. This Energy has no independent existence of its own, but is simply a "projection" of pure Consciousness and is similar to the thought-energy projected in the form of a dream-image by an individual mind.
Different cultures and traditions have distinguished between pure Consciousness and the creative Energy with terms such as, Shiva and Shakti in the East and Godhead and Christ (the Logos, the Word, or the Light) in the West. The first is the unmanifest Source and the second, the manifesting Energy that manifests the world.
So it can be said, the transcendent Absolute (Numenon) with its Energy manifests as our inner and outer world (phenomenon) -- these are simply polar aspects of the same one and only Being.
These two are not even a hair's breadth apart; they are but two different perspectives of the same reality. And the duality created by conceptually dividing the formless Source from the world of forms is only an apparent and artificial one, as they constitute an indivisible unity.
The complementarity of the unmanifest/manifesting Energy and the manifestated universe may be illustrated by an analogy with the ocean and its waves: Consider an infinite ocean; if we regard its "water-ness," the ocean is one constant whole. But if we regard its "wave-ness," that same ocean is a multiplicity of incessantly changing forms.
The ocean is the one reality that is manifesting as all the waves; and, though the waves form and dissolve, form and dissolve, the ocean as a whole remains the same, continually unchanged and unaffected.
This is exactly what the mystic experiences in his awakening to the universal Self; he appears to be but one of the many manifestations of reality, but he is, in fact, the one Reality Itself, forever unchanging, eternal.
Shankara, the great expounder of the philosophy of unity, called this apparent duality between the many and the One, a "superimposition":
Like ripples on the water, the worlds arise from, exist in, and dissolve into, the supreme Lord, who is the material cause and support of everything.
The manifested world of plurality is superimposed upon the eternal, all-pervading Lord whose nature is Existence- Consciousness, just as bangles and bracelets are superimposed on gold.
Read more
Monday, December 30, 2013
Maghrebi - Sufi poem
At the moment we saw your sun, we left all particles of dust behind us
On account of that Essence we left all attributes behind us.
All the world is but a stage, displaying the signs of Being
So we have left the search of these signs behind us.
Do not talk to us about revelations and miracles
As we have left such talk behind us.
Do not boast about your many mystic states and stations
As we have left these states and stations behind us.
We have escaped from the Sufi centres, monasteries and convents
As we have been liberated from litanies and we left time behind us.
We have fled from school, lessons and discourses
As we have left obscurities, doubts and questions behind us.
And the ka’ba, the idol temple, the Christian cincture and the cross
And the wine shop and the lane to the tavern of ruin, we have left it all behind us.
We spent some time as an ascetic in our retreat
But even the seven heavens, seen in true dreams, we have left it all behind us.
We saw it all in our sleep and in our imagination,
So like true men, this sleep and imagination, we left it all behind us.
O, shaykh! If this is all you have realised in the field of perfection,
Then rest at ease, as this perfection, we left it all behind us.
All of this is nothing more than difficulties on our path;
These difficulties, thanks to God, we left it all behind us.
We in our search of lights, yes, even the most oriental of all lights:
Maghrebi, the ‘glittering star’, and the ‘niche’, we left it all behind us.
On account of that Essence we left all attributes behind us.
All the world is but a stage, displaying the signs of Being
So we have left the search of these signs behind us.
Do not talk to us about revelations and miracles
As we have left such talk behind us.
Do not boast about your many mystic states and stations
As we have left these states and stations behind us.
We have escaped from the Sufi centres, monasteries and convents
As we have been liberated from litanies and we left time behind us.
We have fled from school, lessons and discourses
As we have left obscurities, doubts and questions behind us.
And the ka’ba, the idol temple, the Christian cincture and the cross
And the wine shop and the lane to the tavern of ruin, we have left it all behind us.
We spent some time as an ascetic in our retreat
But even the seven heavens, seen in true dreams, we have left it all behind us.
We saw it all in our sleep and in our imagination,
So like true men, this sleep and imagination, we left it all behind us.
O, shaykh! If this is all you have realised in the field of perfection,
Then rest at ease, as this perfection, we left it all behind us.
All of this is nothing more than difficulties on our path;
These difficulties, thanks to God, we left it all behind us.
We in our search of lights, yes, even the most oriental of all lights:
Maghrebi, the ‘glittering star’, and the ‘niche’, we left it all behind us.
~~~
Maghrebi, a Sufi of the 14th century, who expressed in poetical terms what Ibn al-‘Arabi taught in his many books, recited the following poem for his murshed Isma’il Sisi. He was delighted by the poem and praised his disciple for composing it. The Persian text comes from A Critical Edition of the Divan of Muhammad Shirin Maghribi; ed. By Leonard Lewisohn; Tehran and London; ghazal 122; pp. 253-4.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Nisargadatta Maharaj - dream
See the dream as dream.
There is no need of a way out of the dream!
Can you see that a way out is also a part of the dream?
All you have to do is see the dream as dream.
The very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory.
Why go anywhere? Just realize that you are dreaming a dream you call the world, and stop looking for ways out.
The problem is not the dream.
Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another.
Love all, or none of it, and stop complaining.
When you have seen the dream as a dream,
you have done all that needs be done.
Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another.
Love all, or none of it, and stop complaining.
When you have seen the dream as a dream,
you have done all that needs be done.
Norman Fischer - intimacy
In Zen literature the word intimacy is often used as a synonym for enlightenment.
In the classical Zen enlightenment stories, a monk or a nun is reduced simultaneously to tears and laughter as he or she suddenly recognizes that nothing in this world is separate, that each and every thing, including one's own self, is nothing but the whole, and that the whole is nothing but the self.
What are such stories telling us if not that love is much wider and deeper than an emotion?
Love is the fruition of, the true shape of, one's self and all that is.
–Norman Fischer
Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up
In the classical Zen enlightenment stories, a monk or a nun is reduced simultaneously to tears and laughter as he or she suddenly recognizes that nothing in this world is separate, that each and every thing, including one's own self, is nothing but the whole, and that the whole is nothing but the self.
What are such stories telling us if not that love is much wider and deeper than an emotion?
Love is the fruition of, the true shape of, one's self and all that is.
–Norman Fischer
Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up
Saturday, December 28, 2013
John O’Donohue - from "To Bless the Space Between Us"
"To all that is chaotic in you, let there come silence. Let there be a calming of the clamoring, a stilling of the voices that have laid their claim on you, that have made their home in you, that go with you even to the holy places but will not let you rest, will not let you hear your life with wholeness or feel the grace that fashioned you. Let what distracts you cease. Let what divides you cease. Let there come an end to what diminishes and demeans, and let depart all that keeps you in its cage. Let there be an opening into the quiet that lies beneath the chaos, where you find the peace you did not think possible and see what shimmers within the storm."
~ John O’Donohue, from To Bless the Space Between Us
~ John O’Donohue, from To Bless the Space Between Us
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Tozen - The Dharmakaya Sutra
THE DHARMAKAYA SUTRA
The author: Fluent in several languages, Tozen presently resides in Sweden and established Thirteen years ago the Zen school of the Unborn Mind,
a virtual sangha of genuine spirituality. Tozen’s aim in the formation
of this school is to provide a safe haven for some few good dharma seeds
to grow amidst the present darkness of this age; according to Tozen,
during this age the true buddhadharma will be as rare as a flower atop a
great snow-filled mountain and the false paths of Mara are as dangerous
as the vast sand dunes of the Sahara desert–beautiful and inviting at
first, but full of death traps once one becomes lost without a skillful
guide. His pinnacle work, The Dharmakaya Sutra, is a real authentic
breakthrough in genuine mystical zen buddhism.
The Dharmakaya Sutra can be found here in the “texts page” as a PDF
It is also available as a Deluxe Size Paperback Edition at LuLu Press:
As also viewed in its entirety on YouTube:
Tozen: Facing the dilemma of the fourth noble truth
“Master, please tell me. What is the difference between the material body-mind
and the spiritual one? I know I am supposed to cut through the dialectical mind
with your koans, directly seeing for myself what truth is, but I would
appreciate a basic simple explanation to my dilemma, which i share with my
lesser able brothers and sisters in the sangha. Is a fair answer to this inquiry
possible at all?”
“You pose a fair question which deserves a good answer.
Lets see now…(ponders a moment)…In this mind-field our samsaric consciousness
reveals a seamless frame by frame realm and body that is both frightening and
yet very alluring . It is one that resonates faster than our senses can notice.
We are basically walking around in a deep dream because we are dealing with a
spiritual being caught up in the biological imperative. In other words, we
as spiritual beings are caught in the matrix of the skandhas, dealing with
something that demands constant attention or action, granting pleasure and
pain depending on concurrent conditions very hard to see through for what they
are. Pure illusion.
This is an evil circle. One created by the evil one (Mara) where some of us
strive to desperately break free from. Luckily others, before us, have done just
that by the direct realization of their true self-nature. This great awakening
is produced by a force (of Buddhas) that is immaterial. It is uncreated, unborn
and as such free from any mark of corruption or decay that signifies all
phenomena.
Among us, whom by the aid of this pure light of the Unborn Mind (The Mind of the
Buddhas) have broken free from the shackles of the evil one, we return
to samsara, now fully conscious of our true body of pure spirit/light
(Bodhi-sattva) which is free from the previous psychophysical one.
We can now as a self awakened fully self-aware spirit (maha-bodhisattva) steer
around the biological suit or in special cases myriad suits, like it /they were
a robot/s, driven by virtue of a good remote (right thought) among sentient
beings caught in the spiritually numbing consciousness of their own “biological
suits”.
We become thus bringers of light, arised from the noble wisdom found in this
deathless body of truth. We fulfill in a way a beginningless vow to those
shining ones that aided us in our struggle to break free and awake and in this
awakening and cultivation of the deathless principle that guides all things in
any universe, aid sentient beings in a myriad ways, although in truth there
are no actual sentient beings to save.
As the Lankavatara sutra states to us whom solved its mystery; It’s all illusion in the great mind field of the One Mind. Thus we call our profound dharma, one of Mind Only. The last four words effectively solving the raised dilemma each practitioner encounter in the last of the four noble truths.”
and the spiritual one? I know I am supposed to cut through the dialectical mind
with your koans, directly seeing for myself what truth is, but I would
appreciate a basic simple explanation to my dilemma, which i share with my
lesser able brothers and sisters in the sangha. Is a fair answer to this inquiry
possible at all?”
“You pose a fair question which deserves a good answer.
Lets see now…(ponders a moment)…In this mind-field our samsaric consciousness
reveals a seamless frame by frame realm and body that is both frightening and
yet very alluring . It is one that resonates faster than our senses can notice.
We are basically walking around in a deep dream because we are dealing with a
spiritual being caught up in the biological imperative. In other words, we
as spiritual beings are caught in the matrix of the skandhas, dealing with
something that demands constant attention or action, granting pleasure and
pain depending on concurrent conditions very hard to see through for what they
are. Pure illusion.
This is an evil circle. One created by the evil one (Mara) where some of us
strive to desperately break free from. Luckily others, before us, have done just
that by the direct realization of their true self-nature. This great awakening
is produced by a force (of Buddhas) that is immaterial. It is uncreated, unborn
and as such free from any mark of corruption or decay that signifies all
phenomena.
Among us, whom by the aid of this pure light of the Unborn Mind (The Mind of the
Buddhas) have broken free from the shackles of the evil one, we return
to samsara, now fully conscious of our true body of pure spirit/light
(Bodhi-sattva) which is free from the previous psychophysical one.
We can now as a self awakened fully self-aware spirit (maha-bodhisattva) steer
around the biological suit or in special cases myriad suits, like it /they were
a robot/s, driven by virtue of a good remote (right thought) among sentient
beings caught in the spiritually numbing consciousness of their own “biological
suits”.
We become thus bringers of light, arised from the noble wisdom found in this
deathless body of truth. We fulfill in a way a beginningless vow to those
shining ones that aided us in our struggle to break free and awake and in this
awakening and cultivation of the deathless principle that guides all things in
any universe, aid sentient beings in a myriad ways, although in truth there
are no actual sentient beings to save.
As the Lankavatara sutra states to us whom solved its mystery; It’s all illusion in the great mind field of the One Mind. Thus we call our profound dharma, one of Mind Only. The last four words effectively solving the raised dilemma each practitioner encounter in the last of the four noble truths.”
~~~
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Longchenpa - we are free from the start.
"Freedom attends reality:
free at the core, any effort is wasted;
timelessly free, no release is needed;
free in itself, no corrective is possible;
directly free, released in the seeing;
completely free, familiarization is redundant;
and naturally free, freedom cannot be contrived.
"Yet 'freedom' is just a verbal convention,
and who is 'realized' and who is not?
How could anyone be 'liberated'?
How could anyone be lost?...
Reality is free of all delimitation!
"Freedom is timeless, so constantly present;
freedom is natural, so unconditional;
freedom is direct, so pure vision obtains;
freedom is unbounded, so no identity is possible;
freedom is unitary, so multiplicity is consumed.
"Conditions are released as conditions,
and so I am free of all constructs;
objects are released as objects,
so I am free of dualistic perception;
a cause is liberated as the cause itself,
so I am free of the duality of samsara and nirvana;
all events are released as phenomena,
so I am free of all verbal convention...
"Like washing off dirt with dirt,
purity is released by purity,
every poison cured by poison.
Iron bars are cut by iron,
stones smashed by stone,
wood burned by wood--
each is its own nemesis,
or there could be no release in the moment.
"There is no freedom through striving--we are free from the start."
free at the core, any effort is wasted;
timelessly free, no release is needed;
free in itself, no corrective is possible;
directly free, released in the seeing;
completely free, familiarization is redundant;
and naturally free, freedom cannot be contrived.
"Yet 'freedom' is just a verbal convention,
and who is 'realized' and who is not?
How could anyone be 'liberated'?
How could anyone be lost?...
Reality is free of all delimitation!
"Freedom is timeless, so constantly present;
freedom is natural, so unconditional;
freedom is direct, so pure vision obtains;
freedom is unbounded, so no identity is possible;
freedom is unitary, so multiplicity is consumed.
"Conditions are released as conditions,
and so I am free of all constructs;
objects are released as objects,
so I am free of dualistic perception;
a cause is liberated as the cause itself,
so I am free of the duality of samsara and nirvana;
all events are released as phenomena,
so I am free of all verbal convention...
"Like washing off dirt with dirt,
purity is released by purity,
every poison cured by poison.
Iron bars are cut by iron,
stones smashed by stone,
wood burned by wood--
each is its own nemesis,
or there could be no release in the moment.
"There is no freedom through striving--we are free from the start."
From Old Man Basking in the Sun by Longchenpa, translated by Keith Dowman.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Wu Hsin - “Nothing appears as it seems”
Wu Xin (无心, aka Wu Hsin)
It is widely believed that Wu Hsin (the name itself means No-Mind) was born during the Warring States Period (403-221BCE), postdating the death of Confucius by more than one hundred years.
He offers a highly refined view of life and living.
When he writes “Nothing appears as it seems”, he challenges the reader
to question and verify every belief and every assumption.
Brevity was the trademark of his writing style.
Whereas his contemporaries were writing lengthy tomes, Wu Hsin‟s style
reflected his sense that words, too, were impediments to the attainment
of Understanding; that they were only pointers and nothing more.
He repeatedly returns to three key points. First, on
the phenomenal plane, when one ceases to resist What-Is and becomes more
in harmony with It, one attains a state of Ming, or clear seeing.
Having arrived at this point, all action becomes wei wu wei, or action
without action (non-forcing) and there is a working in harmony with
What-Is to accomplish what is required.
Second, as the clear seeing deepens (what he refers
to as the opening of the great gate), the understanding arises that
there is no one doing anything and that there is only the One doing
everything through the many and diverse objective phenomena which serve
as Its instruments.
From this flows the third and last: the seemingly
separate me is a misapprehension, created by the mind which divides
everything into pseudo-subject (me) and object (the world outside of
this me). This seeming two-ness (dva in Sanskrit, duo in Latin, dual in
English), this feeling of being separate and apart, is the root cause of
unhappiness.
The return to wholeness is nothing more than the end
of this division. It is an apperception of the unity between the
noumenal and the phenomenal in much the same way as there is a single
unity between the sun and sunlight. Then, the pseudo-subject is finally
seen as only another object while the true Subjectivity exists prior to
the arising of both and is their source.
zen statue by alex algo
From: The Lost Writings of Wu-Hsin: Pointers to Non-Duality in Five Volumes, translated by Roy Melvyn
Wu Hsin
Milarepa - Songs of Renunciation
The way of the world is illusion:
I strive after true reality.
To be moved by earthly possessions is illusion :
I endeavour to rise above duality.
To be the world’s servant is illusion:
I wander in the mountains alone.
Wealth and possessions are illusion:
I renounce for the sake of the faith any I may have.
External things are illusion:
I contemplate the mind.
Distinctive thought is illusion:
I follow after sapience.
Conditional truth is illusion:
I dispose the absolute truth.
The printed book is illusion:
I meditate upon the counsels of the ear-whispered tradition.
Philosophical argument is illusion:
I study at length that which is unfeigned.
Both birth and death are illusion:
I contemplate the deathless truth.
Ordinary knowledge is illusion:
I exercise myself in wisdom.
The delight of mental thought is illusion:
I dwell in the state of reality.
I strive after true reality.
To be moved by earthly possessions is illusion :
I endeavour to rise above duality.
To be the world’s servant is illusion:
I wander in the mountains alone.
Wealth and possessions are illusion:
I renounce for the sake of the faith any I may have.
External things are illusion:
I contemplate the mind.
Distinctive thought is illusion:
I follow after sapience.
Conditional truth is illusion:
I dispose the absolute truth.
The printed book is illusion:
I meditate upon the counsels of the ear-whispered tradition.
Philosophical argument is illusion:
I study at length that which is unfeigned.
Both birth and death are illusion:
I contemplate the deathless truth.
Ordinary knowledge is illusion:
I exercise myself in wisdom.
The delight of mental thought is illusion:
I dwell in the state of reality.
~~~
From the Songs of Milarepa (Dover Thrift Editions)
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Chuck Surface - Sojourn
Sojourn
As my Experience of Being has unfolded
Over what is quickly becoming a long life,
The mind has dragged me into the “villages” of the Great Traditions
In search of those things it so desperately cherishes;
Knowledge, understanding, and guidance.
For it is utterly confounded by what happened
When I “died”, when I and the world vanished,
When subject and object vanished,
When absolutely everything vanished,
And only Unalloyed Ecstasy remained.
I frown… troubled…
For the word “Ecstasy” can never hope to express,
The Experience, not the place,
Of Heaven.
There are simply no metaphors in manifest experience.
Poor mind is utterly confounded, as well,
By the Sun of Bliss that shone thereafter in the locus of the Heart,
Effortlessly ever-present, here in manifest form,
In this world of time, space, and all that appears;
A Wellspring from which the waters of that Ocean of Formless Ecstasy
Flows into manifest experience.
What do I call that death unto Life;
How can I interpret, understand, or explain,
To myself, much less anyone else?
And what is this Blissful Radiance of the Heart that remains;
Perfection shining within this wounded and broken vessel.
In the village of each Tradition,
The mind has run like a starving vagrant
To the temples of knowledge,
Has sat with the “enlightened” ones,
Gorging voraciously on interpretations and descriptions,
Grasping desperately at understanding…
While the Heart reveled in Bliss,
Sipping Amrita at the Tavern of the Beloved.
And in time, in the village of each tradition,
The mind has arrived at the Tavern door,
Exhausted, and ignorant as ever,
And, joining the Heart at the bar,
Has sobbed to all who would listen,
Its tale of woe.
And in time, again and again,
The two staggering drunkards push open the village gate,
And wander out;
The Heart into Sublimity,
The mind…
Into the crushing immensity of The Great Mystery.
As my Experience of Being has unfolded
Over what is quickly becoming a long life,
The mind has dragged me into the “villages” of the Great Traditions
In search of those things it so desperately cherishes;
Knowledge, understanding, and guidance.
For it is utterly confounded by what happened
When I “died”, when I and the world vanished,
When subject and object vanished,
When absolutely everything vanished,
And only Unalloyed Ecstasy remained.
I frown… troubled…
For the word “Ecstasy” can never hope to express,
The Experience, not the place,
Of Heaven.
There are simply no metaphors in manifest experience.
Poor mind is utterly confounded, as well,
By the Sun of Bliss that shone thereafter in the locus of the Heart,
Effortlessly ever-present, here in manifest form,
In this world of time, space, and all that appears;
A Wellspring from which the waters of that Ocean of Formless Ecstasy
Flows into manifest experience.
What do I call that death unto Life;
How can I interpret, understand, or explain,
To myself, much less anyone else?
And what is this Blissful Radiance of the Heart that remains;
Perfection shining within this wounded and broken vessel.
In the village of each Tradition,
The mind has run like a starving vagrant
To the temples of knowledge,
Has sat with the “enlightened” ones,
Gorging voraciously on interpretations and descriptions,
Grasping desperately at understanding…
While the Heart reveled in Bliss,
Sipping Amrita at the Tavern of the Beloved.
And in time, in the village of each tradition,
The mind has arrived at the Tavern door,
Exhausted, and ignorant as ever,
And, joining the Heart at the bar,
Has sobbed to all who would listen,
Its tale of woe.
And in time, again and again,
The two staggering drunkards push open the village gate,
And wander out;
The Heart into Sublimity,
The mind…
Into the crushing immensity of The Great Mystery.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Sri H. W. L. Poonja - Find out what it is.
What is not stable and permanent, let go.
There is only one thing left.
Worlds and gods will disappear, but This will not.
When you are reminded of this keep your eye on it,
not with the intention of having it, but just to BE it!
All the things you want are in the “let go” category:
House, wife, body, parents, gods, let go.
What is left? What cannot go? That you ARE!
You cannot go because you have never come
and anything that comes must go.
Find out what it is.
~ Sri H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji)
There is only one thing left.
Worlds and gods will disappear, but This will not.
When you are reminded of this keep your eye on it,
not with the intention of having it, but just to BE it!
All the things you want are in the “let go” category:
House, wife, body, parents, gods, let go.
What is left? What cannot go? That you ARE!
You cannot go because you have never come
and anything that comes must go.
Find out what it is.
~ Sri H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji)
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Rumi - Hidden music
With love you cannot bargain
there, the choice is not yours.
Love is a mirror, it reflects
only your essence, if you have the
courage to look in its face.
there, the choice is not yours.
Love is a mirror, it reflects
only your essence, if you have the
courage to look in its face.
To the parched lips of those who
are willing to surrender
Love will bring the wine that
changes darkness into vision,
cruelty into compassion and dust
into precious incense.
are willing to surrender
Love will bring the wine that
changes darkness into vision,
cruelty into compassion and dust
into precious incense.
Love means to reach for the sky
and with every breath to tear a
hundred veils. Love means to step
away from the ego, to open the eyes
of inner vision and not to take this
world so seriously.
and with every breath to tear a
hundred veils. Love means to step
away from the ego, to open the eyes
of inner vision and not to take this
world so seriously.
Like a thief, reason sneaked in and
sat amongst the lovers
eager to give them advice.
They were unwilling to listen, so
reason kissed their feet
and went on its way.
sat amongst the lovers
eager to give them advice.
They were unwilling to listen, so
reason kissed their feet
and went on its way.
When you plant a tree
every leaf that grows will tell
you, what you sow will bear fruit.
So if you have any sense my friend,
don’t plant anything but love, you
show your worth by what you seek.
Water flows to those who want
purity. Wash your hands of all
desires and come to the table of love.
every leaf that grows will tell
you, what you sow will bear fruit.
So if you have any sense my friend,
don’t plant anything but love, you
show your worth by what you seek.
Water flows to those who want
purity. Wash your hands of all
desires and come to the table of love.
If you can’t smell the fragrance
don’t come into the garden of Love.
if you are unwilling to undress
don’t enter into the stream of
Truth. Stay where you are, don’t
come our way.
don’t come into the garden of Love.
if you are unwilling to undress
don’t enter into the stream of
Truth. Stay where you are, don’t
come our way.
From the heart of the lovers, blood
flows like a vast river. Our body is
the windmill, and love, the water.
Without water the mill cannot turn.
flows like a vast river. Our body is
the windmill, and love, the water.
Without water the mill cannot turn.
Can the essence and the scent
be separate?
Whisper to me intimately, like a
lover for tenderness is rare in this
world.
It is difficult to convey the magic of
love to those who are made of dust.
be separate?
Whisper to me intimately, like a
lover for tenderness is rare in this
world.
It is difficult to convey the magic of
love to those who are made of dust.
When you see the face of anger
look behind it and you will see the
face of pride. Bring anger and pride
under your feet, turn them into a
ladder and climb higher. There is
no peace until you become their
master. Let go of anger. It may taste
sweet but it kills. Don’t become it’s
victim, you need humility to climb to
freedom.
look behind it and you will see the
face of pride. Bring anger and pride
under your feet, turn them into a
ladder and climb higher. There is
no peace until you become their
master. Let go of anger. It may taste
sweet but it kills. Don’t become it’s
victim, you need humility to climb to
freedom.
There is a thread from the heart to
the lips where the secret of life is
woven. Words tear the thread
but in silence the secrets speak.
the lips where the secret of life is
woven. Words tear the thread
but in silence the secrets speak.
Do you want me to tell you a
secret? The flowers attract the most
beautiful lover with their sweet
smile and scent.
secret? The flowers attract the most
beautiful lover with their sweet
smile and scent.
To find a pearl dive deep into the
ocean, don’t look in the fountains.
To find a pearl you must emerge from
the water of life always thirsty.
ocean, don’t look in the fountains.
To find a pearl you must emerge from
the water of life always thirsty.
Do not be flattered by reason,
reason is only the child of the
mind. But true friendship
in born out of love and is the water
of life.
reason is only the child of the
mind. But true friendship
in born out of love and is the water
of life.
My dear heart, never think you are
better than others. Listen to their
sorrows with compassion. If you
want peace, don’t harbour bad
thoughts, do not gossip and
don’t teach what you do not know.
better than others. Listen to their
sorrows with compassion. If you
want peace, don’t harbour bad
thoughts, do not gossip and
don’t teach what you do not know.
Those who think the heart is only
in the chest take two or three steps
and are content. The rosary, the
prayer rug, and repentance are
paths that they mistake for the
destination.
in the chest take two or three steps
and are content. The rosary, the
prayer rug, and repentance are
paths that they mistake for the
destination.
Seek the wisdom that will untie
your knot. Seek the path
that demands your whole being.
Leave that which is not, but
appears to be, seek that which is,
but is not apparent.
your knot. Seek the path
that demands your whole being.
Leave that which is not, but
appears to be, seek that which is,
but is not apparent.
You are searching the world for
treasure but the real treasure is
yourself. If you are tempted by
bread, you will find only bread.
What you seek for you become.
treasure but the real treasure is
yourself. If you are tempted by
bread, you will find only bread.
What you seek for you become.
Your earthly lover can be very
charming and coquettish but never
very faithful. The true lover is the
one who on your final day
opens a thousand doors.
charming and coquettish but never
very faithful. The true lover is the
one who on your final day
opens a thousand doors.
First, lay down your head,
then one by one let go of all
distractions. Embrace the light and
let it guide you beyond the winds of
desire. There you will find a spring
and nourished by its sweet waters
like a tree you will bear fruit
forever.
then one by one let go of all
distractions. Embrace the light and
let it guide you beyond the winds of
desire. There you will find a spring
and nourished by its sweet waters
like a tree you will bear fruit
forever.
Why are you so afraid of silence,
silence is the root of everything.
If you spiral into its void
a hundred voices will thunder
messages you long to hear.
silence is the root of everything.
If you spiral into its void
a hundred voices will thunder
messages you long to hear.
You have woken up late,
lost and perplexed
but don’t rush to your books
looking for knowledge.
Pick up a flute instead and
let your heart play.
lost and perplexed
but don’t rush to your books
looking for knowledge.
Pick up a flute instead and
let your heart play.
Do not look back my friend,
no one knows how the world ever
began. Do not fear the future,
nothing lasts forever. If you dwell
on the past or the future you will
miss the moment.
no one knows how the world ever
began. Do not fear the future,
nothing lasts forever. If you dwell
on the past or the future you will
miss the moment.
translated by Maryam Mafi & Azima Malita
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Anonymous - The Cloud of Unknowing
The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymously written 14th Century mystical text. Standing in the line of St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Meister Eckhart, and drawing on Dionysius the Areopagite, its author aims to instruct souls in the way of contemplation.
It will blow your mind.
In this first excerpt, our author describes “How contemplation shall be done, and its excellence over all other works”…
It will blow your mind.
In this first excerpt, our author describes “How contemplation shall be done, and its excellence over all other works”…
“This is what you are to do: lift your heart up to the Lord, with a gentle stirring of love desiring him for his own sake and not for his gifts. Center all your attention and desire on him and let this be the sole concern of your mind and heart. Do all in your power to forget everything else, keeping your thoughts and desires free from any involvement with any of God’s creatures or their affairs whether in general or particular. Perhaps this will seem like an irresponsible attitude, but I tell you, let them all be; pay no attention to them.
What I am describing here is the contemplative work of the spirit. It is this which gives God the greatest delight. For when you fix your love on him, forgetting all else, the saints and angels rejoice and hasten to assist you in every way – though the devils will rage and ceaselessly conspire to thwart you. Your fellow men are marvelously enriched by this work of yours, even if you may not fully understand how; the souls in purgatory are touched, for their suffering is eased by the effects of this work; and, of course, your own spirit is purified and strengthened by this contemplative work more than by all others put together. Yet for all this, when God’s grace arouses you to enthusiasm, it becomes the lightest sort of work there is and one most willingly done. Without his grace, however, it is very difficult and almost, I should say, quite beyond you.
And so diligently persevere until you feel joy in it. For in the beginning it is usual to feel nothing but a kind of darkness about your mind, or as it were, a cloud of unknowing. You will seem to know nothing and to feel nothing except a naked intent toward God in the depths of your being. Try as you might, this darkness and this cloud will remIan between you and your God. You will feel frustrated, for your mind will be unable to grasp him, and your heart will not relish the delight of his love. But learn to be at home in this darkness. Return to it as often as you can, letting your spirit cry out to him whom you love. For if, in this life, you hope to feel and see God as he is in himself it must be within this darkness and this cloud. But if you strive to fix your love on him forgetting all else, which is the work of contemplation I have urged you to begin, I am confident that God in his goodness will bring you to a deep experience of himself.”
- The Cloud of Unknowing, Chapter III
PDF HERE
Monday, December 16, 2013
Nirmala - Awake presence
Awareness
Awareness is a fundamental quality of our Being. Awareness is always here in everything and in every experience. We need to be aware in order to experience. If you could turn off your awareness, then the world, your body, your thoughts, and everything else would simply disappear. Since we are constantly having experiences, it must be true that awareness is always here.
And yet, what a mystery this awareness is. Why is it we have this capacity to register and notice what happens? Where does this capacity come from? Does it come from our brain and
nervous system or from something beyond our physical form? Are you aware of anything at all in this moment? What is that awareness like? How do you know you are aware right now? And
what if the source of awareness is also the source of everything else? Because spiritual seekers seek expanded awareness, they often overlook the mystery of the awareness that is already here. Just as a single drop of water is wet, the awareness that is reading
these words has all of the qualities of your true nature as pure awareness. Does the part of you that is already awake need to wake up, or is it already profoundly and mysteriously aware? Just
for a moment, instead of seeking more awareness, find out more about the awareness that is already here.
The awareness that is here in this moment is alive, spacious, discriminating, and full of love.
Everything that really matters is found in this awareness. Love, peace, and joy flow from within us to the experiences we have of the world. Seeking the source of peace or love in the world is
like looking for the source of the water in the puddle that forms under a water faucet. Not only is the source here within us, but it is flowing right now as the simple awareness that is reading these words.
Q: How can I become aware?
A: You can’t become something you already are. I invite you to explore the awareness that is already here. What is it that is reading these words? Are you aware right now of the words on
this page? What is that awareness like? Where does awareness come from in this very moment?
Everything that really matters, including peace, joy, and fulfillment, is found in this everpresent,simple awareness. We tend to overlook awareness because it is so ordinary, and yet awareness is actually a profound mystery. Many mistakenly think that awareness is something they need to seek or become. Awareness is something we can explore and recognize more fully,
but to do that, no seeking or becoming is required. In fact, seeking gets in the way because when we are seeking, we tend to overlook the experience of awareness that is already here.
Awareness is not an object, and it doesn’t come from an object: Awareness is a capacity of empty space or alive Presence, which is not a thing or a person. So when you explore awareness,
you can become “spacey” or disoriented. It is normal to feel spacey when you are exploring space! We aren’t used to directing our attention to emptiness, or the nothingness behind our eyes.
So we may look away and go looking for something else instead. But what happens right now if you simply pay attention to the space behind your eyes? What happens if you pay attention to the
empty silence your thoughts are appearing in? What happens if you pay attention to your aliveness?
There is no right or wrong experience of awareness. There are many different flavors, or qualities, of awareness, or aliveness. You have always been experiencing some quality of your
true nature. Since awareness is what experiences every experience, you have been exploring your capacity for awareness all along, in every experience you have ever had. And yet, there is always more to discover about this capacity to be aware.
The one thing you can be sure of is that your experience of awareness will never be the same way twice. The nature of Presence, or Being, is that it never has the same experience twice. So you will never be done exploring the limitless capacities of your nature as awareness, even though you don’t need to go anywhere or seek anything to find it. Awareness is always showing you a new face, a new disguise, a new possibility. The only question is: Will you acknowledge and savor the unique flavor that awareness has right now?
from
MEETING THE MYSTERY
Exploring the Aware Presence
At the Heart of All Life
Exploring the Aware Presence
At the Heart of All Life
PDF HERE
Miriam Louisa - Awakening is as simple as this
if you endlessly ponder
your seeming lack of enlightenment
(the proof of; the reasons for; the need to overcome)
your life appears to be unenlightened
and is experienced accordingly
-
if, for one instant, you stop your pondering
the Real is found to be already and always there
(luminous; changeless; already perfect)
and your life, in that instant, IS enlightenment
and is experienced accordingly
-
you don’t need to seek or strive or supplicate
you don’t even need to understand or accept or believe
you just need to slow down
get really quiet
and stop
-
how cool is that?
your seeming lack of enlightenment
(the proof of; the reasons for; the need to overcome)
your life appears to be unenlightened
and is experienced accordingly
-
if, for one instant, you stop your pondering
the Real is found to be already and always there
(luminous; changeless; already perfect)
and your life, in that instant, IS enlightenment
and is experienced accordingly
-
you don’t need to seek or strive or supplicate
you don’t even need to understand or accept or believe
you just need to slow down
get really quiet
and stop
-
how cool is that?
awakening
in this now place, here
is as simple as this:
in this now place, here
is as simple as this:
look and look again
for the self you take yourself to be
for the self you take yourself to be
find every self’s substance
to be a reflection
in the mirror-light of looking
to be a reflection
in the mirror-light of looking
and at last
on knees of awe and gratitude
see your True Face
on knees of awe and gratitude
see your True Face
Sunday, December 15, 2013
The Ten Oxherding Pictures
From The Manual of Zen Buddhism, D.T. Suzuki
By Shubun (15th Century)
1. Undisciplined
With his horns fiercely projected in the air the beast snorts,
Madly running over the mountain paths, farther and farther he goes astray!
A dark cloud is spread across the entrance of the valley,
And who knows how much of the fine fresh herb is trampled under his wild hoofs!
Madly running over the mountain paths, farther and farther he goes astray!
A dark cloud is spread across the entrance of the valley,
And who knows how much of the fine fresh herb is trampled under his wild hoofs!
2. Discipline Begun
I am in possession of a straw rope, and I pass it through his nose,
For once he makes a frantic attempt to run away, but he is severely whipped and whipped;
The beast resists the training with all the power there is in a nature wild and ungoverned,
But the rustic oxherd never relaxes his pulling tether and ever-ready whip.
For once he makes a frantic attempt to run away, but he is severely whipped and whipped;
The beast resists the training with all the power there is in a nature wild and ungoverned,
But the rustic oxherd never relaxes his pulling tether and ever-ready whip.
3. In Harness
Gradually getting into harness the beast is now content to be led by the nose,
Crossing the stream, walking along the mountain path, he follows every step of the leader;
The leader holds the rope tightly in his hand never letting it go,
All day long he is on the alert almost unconscious of what fatigue is.
Crossing the stream, walking along the mountain path, he follows every step of the leader;
The leader holds the rope tightly in his hand never letting it go,
All day long he is on the alert almost unconscious of what fatigue is.
4. Faced Round
After long days of training the result begins to tell and the beast is faced round,
A nature so wild and ungoverned is finally broken, he has become gentler;
But the tender has not yet given him his full confidence,
He still keeps his straw rope with which the ox is now tied to a tree.
A nature so wild and ungoverned is finally broken, he has become gentler;
But the tender has not yet given him his full confidence,
He still keeps his straw rope with which the ox is now tied to a tree.
5. Tamed
Under the green willow tree and by the ancient mountain stream,
The ox is set at liberty to pursue his own pleasures;
At the eventide when a grey mist descends on the pasture,
The boy wends his homeward way with the animal quietly following.
The ox is set at liberty to pursue his own pleasures;
At the eventide when a grey mist descends on the pasture,
The boy wends his homeward way with the animal quietly following.
6. Unimpeded
On the verdant field the beast contentedly lies idling his time away,
No whip is needed now, nor any kind of restraint;
The boy too sits leisurely under the pine tree,
Playing a tune of peace, overflowing with joy.
No whip is needed now, nor any kind of restraint;
The boy too sits leisurely under the pine tree,
Playing a tune of peace, overflowing with joy.
7. Laissez Faire
The spring stream in the evening sun flows languidly along the willow-lined bank,
In the hazy atmosphere the meadow grass is seen growing thick;
When hungry he grazes, when thirsty he quaffs, as time sweetly slides,
While the boy on the rock dozes for hours not noticing anything that goes on about him.
In the hazy atmosphere the meadow grass is seen growing thick;
When hungry he grazes, when thirsty he quaffs, as time sweetly slides,
While the boy on the rock dozes for hours not noticing anything that goes on about him.
8. All Forgotten
The beast all in white now is surrounded by the white clouds,
The man is perfectly at his ease and care-free, so is his companion;
The white clouds penetrated by the moon-light cast their white shadows below,
The white clouds and the bright moon-light-each following its course of movement.
The man is perfectly at his ease and care-free, so is his companion;
The white clouds penetrated by the moon-light cast their white shadows below,
The white clouds and the bright moon-light-each following its course of movement.
9. The Solitary Moon
Nowhere is the beast, and the oxherd is master of his time,
He is a solitary cloud wafting lightly along the mountain peaks;
Clapping his hands he sings joyfully in the moon-light,
But remember a last wall is still left barring his homeward walk.
He is a solitary cloud wafting lightly along the mountain peaks;
Clapping his hands he sings joyfully in the moon-light,
But remember a last wall is still left barring his homeward walk.
10. Both Vanished
Both the man and the animal have disappeared, no traces are left,
The bright moon-light is empty and shadowless with all the ten-thousand objects in it;
If anyone should ask the meaning of this,
Behold the lilies of the field and its fresh sweet-scented verdure.
The bright moon-light is empty and shadowless with all the ten-thousand objects in it;
If anyone should ask the meaning of this,
Behold the lilies of the field and its fresh sweet-scented verdure.
This Link
PDF
Ox-Herding Pictures
Guo-an Shi-yuan
Guo-an Shi-yuan
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