Jac O’ Keeffe - Desire

Desire

All desire arises from an innate lack of contentment. While nothing that mind can imagine and want is of any real value, the personal ‘I’ will ensure that each day is peppered with efforts to fulfill desires. In fact when identified thought is running, there is interest in little else. It is the nature of desire to prompt the mind to create a world for its fulfillment.

The state of craving for anything inhibits deeper experience. When mind is fixated on a desire, maturation is arrested. If you inquire into yourself, all you really desire is desirelessness. Desirelessness can be recognized as the moment of satisfaction when desire is fulfilled. There is calmness, perfection and a feeling of completeness. Desire for an object or experience is a compensation for the lack of fulfillment of the ultimate desire – desirelessness. There is no end to the cyclical nature of desire; however, the cycle falls away when it is seen to be a looped pattern of thinking. The perpetuation of desire is predicated on the fact that personal ‘I’ desires the very thing that cannot come by desire.

The smallest desire has the ability to ignite a long line of action as one objective idea feeds the next. To engage in desire is a lack of discrimination; let it be seen that acquiring objects, be it a car or a lover, can never bring you to the end of desire. In order for you to enjoy something it must first be objectified by mind as an independent form or formless experience. There is only movement in consciousness which we call life force or functioning and we give names to create an objectified world. Then if this apparent division into subject-object is taken to be true, the desires to have and to own, to acquire and enjoy, will follow. Thus the mind will make the body dance to its tunes.

 When a desire is fulfilled the personal ‘I’ is happy for a while. This happiness arises because of the absence of desire and has nothing to do with the properties of the object of desire. Original perfection is restored when desire is not running. If you imagine yourself to be separate from the world then the world will appear as separate from you, and you will experience desire and fear. As long as there is identification with the body, attractions and repulsions will operate. You cannot but see the world through the ideas you have about yourself. Managing desire has nothing to do with your relationships with objects of desire; it is your own misunderstanding that requires correction. Find out how the perception of objects arises in mind and do not follow thought patterns in ignorance.

There is no object which is of a different nature from the subject, and as there is only the subject, how can it be seen as an object? Let it be realized that there is only subject and then it is clear that there can be no division in such a vision. All experience rests on the reality of objects. If you investigate you will find that objects are unreal. Thus the effect of an unreal object is also non-existent and the experience of any effect is delusion. Let the end of desire and experience come into view through correct seeing. Understand that the world has no real existence and it will no longer be troublesome.

It can be said that desire is the memory of pleasure and that fear is the memory of pain. These are simply habits of mind. Once you know they are impermanent and not real, why bother with them? Pull attention away from the personal and impersonal, and all of this is just the flickering of energy. If you cannot, then there is a deeper understanding and a dropping of attachments that needs to take place. When mind turns to go outward, turn it inward instantly. It goes out due to the habit of looking for happiness in objects, but if you have seen that external objects are not the cause of happiness, then it is time to keep the direction of mind in check. In all whom search for truth there is a root desire to be free from misunderstanding, free from the personal. This pursuit continues for as long as you can be seduced by pleasure and goaded by pain, because desire continually agitates the mind. Desire is at the root of all misunderstanding. For as long as desire continues to hold your attention, the sense of good and bad, right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable, will inevitably continue.

http://www.jac-okeeffe.com/

Alan Watts - Knowing Who You Are...

..."You have seen that the universe is at root a magical illusion and fabulous game, and that there is no separate 'you' to get something out of it, as if life were a bank to be robbed. The only real 'you' is the one that comes and goes, manifests and withdraws itself eternally in and as every conscious being. For 'you' is the universe looking at itself from billions of points of view, points that come and go so that the vision is forever new. What we see as death, empty space, or nothingness is only the trough between the crests of this endlessly waving ocean. It is all part of the illusion that there should seem to be something to be gained in the future, and that there is an urgent necessity to go on and on until we get it. Yet just as there is no time but the present, and no one except the all-and-everything, there is never anything to be gained--though the zest of the game is to pretend that there is.

Anyone who brags about knowing this doesn't understand it, for he is only using the theory as a trick to maintain his illusion of separateness, a gimmick in a game of spiritual one-upmanship. Moreover, such bragging is deeply offensive to those who do not understand, and who honestly believe themselves to be lonely, individual spirits in a desperate and agonizing struggle for life. For all such there must be deep and unpatronizing compassion, even a special kind of reverence and respect, because after all, in them the Self is playing its most far-out and daring game--the game of having lost Itself completely and of being in danger of some total and irremediable disaster. This is why Hindus do not shake hands on meeting, but put their palms together and bow in a gesture of reverence, honoring the Godhead in the stranger."

~Alan Watts, The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are...

Christmas Humphreys - The perfect way

The perfect way knows no difficulties
    Except that it refuses to make preferences;
    Only when freed from hate and love
    It reveals itself fully and without disguise;
    A tenth of an inch’s difference,
    And heaven and earth are set apart.
    If you wish to see it before your own eyes
    Have no fixed thoughts either for or against it.

    To set up what you like against what you dislike -
    That is the disease of the mind:
    When the deep meaning (of the Way) is not understood,
    Peace of mind is disturbed to no purpose.

    The Way is perfect like unto vast space,
    It is indeed due to making choice
    That its Suchness is lost sight of.

    Pursue not the outer entanglements,
    Dwell not in the inner Void;
    Be serene in the oneness of things,
    And dualism vanishes by itself.

    When you strive to gain quiescence by stopping motion,
    The quiescence thus gained is ever in motion;
    As long as you tarry in dualism,
    How can you realize oneness?

    And when oneness is not thoroughly understood,
    In two ways loss is sustained:
    The denying of reality is the asserting of it,
    And the asserting of emptiness is the denying of it.

    Wordliness and intellection -
    The more with them, the farther astray we go:
    Away, therefore, with wordliness and intellection,
    and there is no place where we cannot pass freely.

    When we return to the root, we gain the meaning;
    When we pursue external objects we lose the reason.
    The moment we are enlightened within,
    We go beyond the voidness of a world confronting us.

    Transformations going on in an empty world which confronts us
    Appear real all because of ignorance:
    Try not to seek after the true.
    Only cease to cherish opinions.

    -From Zen: a way of life, by Christmas Humphreys

 

 

Ilie Cioara - The Power of Emptiness

picture source  (Erik)'s photostream

The Power of Emptiness

       The "void" or " psychological emptiness" is a strange phenomenon,
       It appears spontaneously, in the pause between two thoughts,
       As the old thought ends its course and disappears,
       Its end is the gate, natural silence ensues.

       Insist in being with it, as much as you can,
       The mind is completely silent, we are attentive - a clear consciousness,
                                                                                     
       All meanings, boundaries disappear – us and the Infinite are "One";
       Practically, we have a new mind – always fresh.


       Being in the pause – I become infinite!
       It separates two worlds. I leave the limited world
       And enter Boundlessness, through total melting;
       The whole being is calm – a constant sparkle.

       There is no time, no space – just everlasting Eternity;
       I move in direct contact with life, in a permanent present.
       I am Pure Energy, without motivations,
       The simplicity of existence integrates us completely.


We really encounter Life only through this “now”,
Free from the old, we are able to embrace the new.
All this beauty vanishes, when another thought appears,
It comes from the knowing mind – an old recording.

Let it play its game, do not oppose any resistance,
Encounter it as it is, without any purpose,
It will certainly disappear, and “emptiness” ensues again,
Another opportunity to encounter it practically.

We find the real meaning of Life through this “void”,
It is a boundary line between the two worlds:
On the one side the limited, where the “ego” is the
master.
On the other, the Infinite, where Love is the master.

Emptiness also separates Light from the darkness,
The permanent chaos through struggle, contradictions and
conflicts,
From the harmonious being, equilibrium and joy;
The whole egocentrism perishes, by encountering the
void.

Peace, divine order becomes our nature
It changes our way of being, without effort or will,
Only through this psychological void, we become honest
and humane,
The Purity of the Energy – makes titans out of pigmies .

Let this “psychological emptiness” be your guide,
In everything you encounter on your spiritual path.
If it is not the starting point, we easily get deceived,
Only through emptiness – we become Love!

 

http://thesilencebook.blogspot.gr/

Amata Natasha Goldie - One Sacred Essence

                                                One Sacred Essence

Mountains formed and volcanoes erupted,
Because of our love,
This quivering of inner devotion,
This divine ascent into time long forgotten,
Now remembered again, as vibrational whispers,
Pulsing with pure intent


Of Love,
And destinys’ longing to fulfil itself,
To align the Beloved with her Beloved,
To sing unto the night sky
And know that this love shall reach you,
Upon awakening


One world, two hemispheres,
Twixt upon time,
Past meets present,
Where the divination of the future unfolds,
And inner smiles behold, tender kisses,
Sprinkled upon your lips and mine


Planted as star seedlings
Within a new galaxy,
Nourished with the chords of our hearts,
Together, re-birthing, a symphony
As though a composer has arranged,
This planetary composition


That unites two beings,
As One sacred essence

http://www.facebook.com/amata.goldie

Rumi - Between your heartbeat

image:  http://lieveheersbeestje.deviantart.com/

 Between your heartbeat
Bides a summons.
Do you hear it ?
Name it if you must,
Or leave it forever nameless,
But why pretend it is not there ?
Leave that which is not,
But appears to be.
Seek that which is,
But is not apparent.

Jiddu Krishnamurti on suffering

Question: What is the purpose of suffering? Is it to teach us not to repeat the same mistake?

Jiddu Krishnamurti : There is no purpose in suffering. Suffering exists because of the lack of comprehension. Most of us suffer economically, spiritually, or in our relationships with each other. Why is there this suffering?

Economically, we have a system based on acquisitiveness, exploitation, fear; this system is being encouraged and maintained by our cravings and pursuits, and so it is self-sustaining. Acquisitiveness and a system of exploitation must go together, and they are ever present where there is ignorance of oneself. It is again a vicious circle; our craving has produced a system, and that system maintains itself by exploiting us.

There is suffering in our relationships with others. It is created by an inner craving for comfort, security, possession. Then there is that suffering caused by profound uncertainty, which prompts us to find peace, security, reality, God. Craving certainty, we invent many theories, create many beliefs, and the mind becomes limited and enmeshed in them, overheated with them, and so it is incapable of adjusting itself to the movement of life.

There are many kinds of suffering, and if you begin to discern their cause, you will perceive that suffering must coexist with the demand on the part of each individual to be secure, whether financially, spiritually, or in human relationship. Where there is a search for security, gross or subtle, there must be fear, exploitation and sorrow.

Instead of comprehending the cause of sorrow, you ask what is its purpose. You want to utilize sorrow to gain something further. So you begin to invent the purpose; you say that sorrow is the result of a past life, it is the result of environment, and so on. These explanations satisfy you, so you continue in your ignorance, with the constant recurrence of sorrow.

Suffering exists where there is ignorance of oneself. It is but an indication of limitation, of incompleteness. There is no remedy for suffering itself. In the discernment of the process of ignorance, suffering disappears.

Jeff Foster - A Healing Conversation

Picture source  Caras Ionut

A HEALING CONVERSATION

Sadness: “Sorry, awareness, I know I shouldn’t be here. I’m so sorry. I’ll be leaving soon. I know I’m a stain on your perfection…”
Awareness: “No. Wait. It’s okay. You’re allowed to be here! Relax! Stay awhile! Invite your friends!”
Sadness: “You mean, I’m not a stain on your perfection?”
Awareness: “Ha ha! Oh, no, no, my dear! A stain? Perfection? Whoever told you that? How could I be stained by you, or anyone? How sweet!”
Sadness: “But they told me I shouldn’t be here!”
Awareness: “Ah, they are all just afraid of you, because they don’t see that you are inseparable from me! They are trying to reach something called enlightenment in something called the future. It’s very endearing.”
Sadness: “But I don’t understand. I thought you preferred happiness to me?”
Awareness: “Preferred? What does that mean?”
Sadness: “Oh…. Well I know how negative I am, and…”
Awareness: “Negative? What’s that?”
Sadness: “You know, positive and negative, light and dark, heaven and hell, you and me?”
Awareness: “Nope. Never heard of them. Hell, I don’t even know who I”m talking to right now!”
Sadness: “Oh sorry. Let me introduce myself. I’m sadness…”
Awareness: “Sadness. Sadness. Interesting. You know, it’s just that you’re so close I can’t see your boundaries, so it’s hard for me to call you anything at all.”
Sadness: “Oh, all this time I thought I was a mistake. I thought I shouldn’t be here. I’ve never even stopped to check with you…”
Awareness: “Yes, I know, it’s strange! They all do the same, for some reason. Fear, anger, even pain, I don’t understand why they are all scared of me. I have never asked them to leave. And happiness, joy, bliss, too – I have never asked them to stay. Everyone is either trying to stay, or trying to run away from me! It’s very peculiar.”
Sadness: “So, they are ALL allowed to come and to go in you? I mean, you allow it all?”
Awareness: “Well… More than that! You see, I can’t actually allow anything, or get rid of anything. It’s all just myself. Do you see? Even you….”
Sadness: “You mean…. I am not… I’m not sadness?”
Awareness: “Of course not, my dear child! You are made of myself. I’m dancing as you…”
Sadness: “I am you? Oh, then…. then how can I call you awareness….”
“Exactly. Then….. there’s no problem.”
“And there never was”.

“I’m sorry I kept running away”.
“I’m sorry you felt that you couldn’t stay”.

Jeff Foster

 

Rumi - The next is born from the last

 

The next is born from the last

look at love
how it tangles
with the one fallen in love

look at spirit
how it fuses with earth
giving it new life

why are you so busy
with this or that or good or bad
pay attention to how things blend

why talk about all
the known and the unknown
see how the unknown merges into the known

why think seperately
of this life and the next
when one is born from the last

look at your heart and tongue
one feels but deaf and dumb
the other speaks in words and signs

look at water and fire
earth and wind
enemies and friends all at once

the wolf and the lamb
the lion and the deer
far away yet together

look at the unity of this
spring and winter
manifested in the equinox

you too must mingle my friends
since the earth and the sky
are mingled just for you and me

be like sugarcane
sweet yet silent
don't get mixed up with bitter words

my beloved grows
right out of my own heart
how much more union can there be