Jnaneshwar - Shiva/Shakti

One of the most perfect expressions of this Experience of Being comes to us from Jnaneshwar, a 13th century saint who, although he lived only twenty-two years, left a profound impact on Hindu spirituality. In Jnaneshwar's writings, Shiva is the formless, unmanifest Absolute, and Shakti is manifest form. Shiva is “That”, and Shakti is “This” – all that arises in and as That. But the most precious gift of Jnaneshwar is his communication in words of the inexpressible truth that Shiva and Shakti are One. Shakti is merely unmanifest, objectless, unmoving Shiva, moving into and as form. Jnaneshwar brilliantly communicates this inexpressible truth through poetry, in which “He” is Shiva, and “She” is Shakti.

There are "logical contradictions" galore in Jnaneshwar's writing. But if you read from your Heart, you'll be taken…

~~~

Chuck Surface

~~~

Jnaneshwar

It cannot be spoken of or spoken to;
by no means may It be comprehended by the intellect.

It is that one pure Consciousness who becomes everything,
From the gods above to the earth below.

Objects may be regarded as high or low,
But the ocean of Consciousness, ever-pure,
Is all that ever is.

Though the shadows on the wall are ever changing,
The wall itself remains steady and unmoved.
Likewise, the forms of the universe take shape from Consciousness,
The eternal, primordial One.

Sugar is only sugar,
Even though it may be made into many forms.
Likewise, the ocean of Consciousness is always the same,
Though it becomes all the forms of the universe.

Various articles of clothing are made from the same cotton cloth;
Likewise, the varied forms of the universe are creatively fashioned
Of the one Consciousness,
Which remains forever pure.
Whatever form appears,
Appears because of Him.

There is nothing else here but the Self.
It is the gold itself which shines
In the form of a necklace or a coin;
They are made of nothing but gold.

In the current of the river or in the waves of the sea,
There is nothing but water.
Similarly, in the universe, there is nothing which exists
Or is brought into existence
Other than the Self.

Whether appearing as the seen,
Or perceiving as the seer,
Nothing else exists besides the Self.

Through Her,
The absolute Void became the primal Person (Purusha);
And She derived Her existence from Her Lord.

Shiva formed His beloved Himself;
And without Her presence,
No Person exists.

Because of Her form,
God is seen in the world.
Yet it was He Who created Her form of Himself.

When He embraces Her,
It is His own bliss that Shiva enjoys.
He is the Enjoyer of everything,
But there is no enjoyment without Her.

She is His form,
But Her beauty comes from Him.
By their intermingling,
They are together enjoying this feast.

Shiva and Shakti are the same,
Like air and its motion,
Or gold and its lustre.

Fragrance cannot be separated from musk,
Nor heat from fire;
Neither can Shakti be separated from Shiva.

If night and day were to approach the Sun,
Both would disappear.
In the same way, the duality of Shiva and Shakti
Vanishes, when their essential unity is seen.

Since He appears because of Her,
And She exists because of Her Lord,
The two cannot be distinguished at all.

When He awakes,
The whole house disappears,
And nothing is left.

They became two for the purpose of diversity;
And both are seeking each other
For the purpose of becoming one.

Each is an object to the other;
And both are subjects to each other.
Only when together do they enjoy happiness.

The lover, out of boundless love,
Has become the Beloved.
Both are made of the same substance
And share the same food.

Out of love for each other, they merge;
And again they separate for the pleasure of being two.

When sleep comes to an end,
Aman returns to his senses.
Now my individuality has come to an end,
And I have returned to Shiva and Shakti.

Salt gives up its salty taste
To become one with the ocean;
I give up my individual self
To become Shiva and Shakti.

When the covering is removed,
The air inside a plantain tree merges with the air outside.
And this is how I honor Shiva and Shakti,
By removing all separation and becoming one with them.

Out of Supreme love they swallow up each other
But separate again for the joy of being two.

They are not completely the same,
But neither are they different.
No one can tell exactly what they are.

How intense is their longing to be with each other.
This is their greatest bliss.
Never, not even in jest,
Do they allow their unity to be disturbed.

They are so averse to separation
That even though they have become this entire world,
Never for a moment do they let a difference come between them.

They created a difference to enjoy this world.
When that “difference” had one glimpse of their intimacy
It could not help but merge back
Into the Bliss of their eternal union.

They become two for the sake of a divine play,
But in every moment they seek to become one again.

How can we distinguish these two from each other?
He appears because of Her,
And She exists because of Him.

To capture light we take hold of fire.
To capture the Supreme Shiva
We must take hold of Shakti.

An object has a reflection:
When looking we see two images,
Yet there is only one thing.
Likewise, this world is a reflection of the Supreme Lord.
We may see two,
Yet only One exists.

Out of pure emptiness
She gives rise to the entire world.
Everything depends on Her.
Yet She exists only because of Her Lord.

Merged in unity, there was nothing to do.
So Shakti, the bringer of good fortune,
Created this world for the sake of divine play.

She reveals Her Lord's splendor
By melting Herself and becoming everything;
And He glorifies Her
By hiding Himself completely.

He is so mysterious and subtle,
That while apparent
He cannot be seen.
It is by Her grace alone that He comes into being.

While He is sleeping,
She gives birth to all that exists
And all that does not exist.
When She is sleeping,
He has no form at all.

Look!
He is hidden, and cannot be found without Her.
For they are mirrors, each revealing the other.

She is His very form,
But Her radiance comes from Him.
Blending into one,
They enjoy the nectar of their own union.

Shiva and Shakti are one,
Like air and the wind,
Like gold and its luster,
Shiva and Shakti cannot be separated.
They are like musk and its fragrance,
Like fire and its heat.

In the light of the Sun
There is no difference between day and night.
In the Light of the Supreme Truth
There is no difference between Shiva and Shakti.

I honor the union of Shiva and Shakti,
Who devour this world of name and form
Like a sweet dish.
All that remains is the One.

Embracing each other they merge into One,
As darkness merges with the light
At the breaking of dawn.

When we discover their Unity,
All words and all thoughts dissolve into silence,
Just as when the Universal Deluge comes,
The waters of the ocean, and those of the Ganges,
Merge into one…

The air and the wind will merge into the endless sky;
The sun and its light will merge into the Universal Fire.

With a true vision of them,
The seer and the seen merge into one.
Again, I honor the two who are one.

They are like an ocean of knowledge.
And only those who throw themselves in,
Can drink of their waters.

I appear separate from them
Just so I can honor them.
But that separation is not real,
It is only in name. 

 ~~~

HERE  as PDF

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more reading HERE

Adyashanti - The Way of Liberation

 

excerpt

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Thought and Freedom from Suffering

~~~

There is no such thing as
an absolutely True thought.
(This doesn’t mean that some thoughts are not truer than others, only that no thought is absolutely True.)

What is is what’s happening
before you have a thought about it.
(Notice the difference between what your mind thinks about this moment, and this moment as it is before you have any thought about it.)

Suffering occurs when you
believe in a thought that is at odds with
what is, what was, or what may be.
(Experience this moment free of your mind’s interpretations of it.)

You are not your story.
They are not your story about them.
The world is not your story about the world.

Suffering is how Life tells you
that you are resisting or misperceiving
what is real and true.
It is the way Life suggests that you are not in harmony with what is.

Deeper understanding and insight flow forth from a quiet mind.

To be happy is to
live as the unknown.

All true knowing arises out of the unknown
and is an expression of the unknown.

The Nature of Being

~~~

To look within and not find yourself as a self
is the beginning of finding yourself as a presence (being).

Being (or Spirit) is universal
and exists prior to all conditions,
all points of view, all objects of consciousness,
and all subjects as well.

Being is the true nature
of everything.

Being the nature of everything,
there is nothing outside of being.

Being is self-cognizant and aware. Right now!

Being doesn’t explain everything;
being is the true nature of everything.

The only thing that realizes being is being itself.

There is only being living itself
through you, as you, and as all that exists.

Being is unborn and uncreated—
the source and substance of all.

Being is our original condition,
prior to all egoic antics, prior to all thought,
prior to all description,
prior to past, present, and future.

That beingness which is
prior to the world of space and time
is here, now, and always.
It is a single drop of rain, a leaf falling from a tree,
a single heartbeat.
It is the world-less world,
the substance of emptiness.

I AM is pure being.
It is the ultimate confession of Reality
echoing throughout eternity.

The Infinite
~~~

Beyond ego is universal being; beyond being is the Infinite.

The Infinite is pure formless potential,
prior to being and non-being, life and death,
form and formlessness.

The Infinite is neither one nor many,
neither dualistic nor nondualistic,
neither worldly nor spiritual,
neither self nor other.

The Infinite knows itself
through a simple intuitive regard it has for itself
in every aspect of itself.
Thus it knows itself as utterly unknowable
and absolutely present.

To realize the Infinite is to lose your inner world.

To lose your inner world is eternal silence.
It is to become the shining.

All is well,
and more well than can be imagined.

~~~

HERE

Juana Ramon Jimenez - I am not I

picture: Miguel Santos

I am not I.
I am this one
Walking beside me whom I do not see,
Whom at times I manage to visit,
And at other times I forget.
The one who remains silent when I talk,
The one who forgives, sweet, when I hate,
The one who takes a walk when I am indoors,
The one who will remain standing when I die.

The Uddhava Gita

Instructions to Uddhava by Lord Krishna known as "The Uddhava-Gita"

~~~

"Note-worthy' selections from the Uddhava Gita:"

The material universe that you perceive through your mind, speech, eyes, ears and other senses is an illusory creation that one imagines to be real due to the influence of maya (illusion). In fact, you should know that all of the objects of the material senses are temporary.
 

Because of absorption in sense gratification,
one cannot recognize himself or others.
Living uselessly in ignorance like a tree,
one is merely breathing just like a bellows.
 

When a person living in a temporary material body tries
to construct a happy home, the result is fruitless and miserable.

 Actual heaven is the predominance of the mode of goodness,
whereas hell is the predominance of ignorance.

 Happiness derived from the self is in the mode of goodness, happiness based on sense gratification is in the mode of passion, and happiness based on delusion and degradation is in the mode of ignorance. But that happiness found within Me is transcendental.

 Work performed as an offering to Me, without consideration of the fruit, is considered to be in the mode of goodness. Work performed with a desire to enjoy the results is in the mode of passion. And work impelled by violence and envy is in the mode of ignorance.

 The yogi who has taken shelter of Me remains free from hankering because he experiences the happiness of the soul within. Thus while executing this process of yoga, he is never defeated by obstacles.
 

A person is considered to be completely liberated from the gross and subtle material bodies when all the functions of his vital energy, senses, mind and intelligence are performed without material desire. Such a person, although situated within the body, is not entangled.

 One who is enriched with good qualities is actually said to be rich, and one who is unsatisfied in life is actually poor. A wretched person is one who cannot control his senses, whereas one who is not attached to sense gratification is a real controller. One who attaches himself to sense gratification is the opposite, a slave.
 

Any person, whether man or woman, who worships Me with loving devotion, offering his or her prescribed duties unto Me without material attachment, is understood to be situated in goodness.
 

Faith directed toward spiritual life is in the mode of goodness, faith rooted in fruitive work is in the mode of passion, faith residing in irreligious activities is in the mode of ignorance, but faith in My devotional service is purely transcendental.
 

When consciousness becomes clear and the senses are detached from matter, one experiences fearlessness within the material body and detachment from the material mind. You should understand this situation to be the predominance of the mode of goodness, in which one has the opportunity to realize Me.
 

A worker free of attachment is in the mode of goodness, a worker blinded by personal desire is in the mode of passion, and a worker who has completely forgotten how to tell right from wrong is in the mode of ignorance. But a worker who has taken shelter of Me is understood to be transcendental to the modes of nature.
 

Although the material body is different from the self, because of the ignorance due to material association one falsely identifies oneself with the superior and inferior bodily conditions. Sometimes a fortunate person is able to give up such mental concoction.
 

After many, many births and deaths one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life as long as his body, which is always subject to death, has not fallen down and died. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Krsna consciousness is possible only for a human being.

THE UDDHAVA GITA PDF  HERE

John Wheeler - No division

Your fundamental nature is utterly outside of and untouched by any concepts. 

 There is no division in it, in fact. Only concepts (seemingly) divide anything. But concepts are concepts and not true. By projecting a sense of reality, identity or happiness onto concepts, one appears to "take onboard" the divisions projected by them. Seeing concepts as concepts (not true, not what you are), can there be any real division in what you are? See the truth of things. Only concepts can divide. But concepts are not true, so how can there be any real division? Understand this point. Until investigated, it is natural for these notions to grab one's interest. This stuff does not fall into one's lap. It is won by clear understanding and application of the pointers to one's experience. There is no division in your nature, and you are not divided from your nature. Thus, non-division rules the day. Everything else is just concepts. Ideas don't actually divide anything but other ideas. So all sense of division is "smoke and mirrors". Ultimately, reality exists beyond, outside of, or prior to the mind (the conceptual process). This reality is what you actually are. It cannot be defined, grasped or understood in the mind. You can use the mind to think about what you are, but you don't use the mind to BE what you are. There is no harm in using the mind, but you need to understand this critical point. Your real nature is not available IN the mind. Once this is understood, you stop looking for yourself there, and all comes to resolution.

~~~~~~~

http://www.thenaturalstate.info/index.html

 

 In 2003, John Wheeler heard the good news from “Sailor” Bob Adamson (who heard the good news from Nisargadatta Maharaj in 1976).

Philip Jacobs - Pathless Path

"The opportunity at this stage of exhausting the search both in the outer world and in special future states of Consciousness is that we start to notice that there is nothing to look for.

We have missed it because it is so close that it’s been overlooked as too obvious and simple. It’s rather like trying to look at your eyes without the aid of a mirror, it’s impossible since they are the instrument of seeing, so how can they see themselves?

It’s just the same with Consciousness; it’s only eluded us as an object to find since it is itself the subject. It is already looking out through our eyes and hearing through our ears and sensing through all our senses right now. It was just as present before our search began, we haven’t uncovered it or developed it one iota. All that’s happened is that the search has been exhausted and a recognition has taken place.

We have lived with a consensus view of our identity as a result of identifying with the vehicle of Consciousness rather than with the Consciousness itself. But when we relax into what is looking out through our eyes, at first there is just nothing, it is like a vast still empty spaciousness that is also an immense fullness from which our thoughts, feelings and desires are arising and returning. Happiness arises and returns, fear arises and returns, our entire lives arise and return. All activity is just a ripple on the surface of this vastness. We are all just the waves on a great ocean of stillness. It is formless and without boundary, it is totally ordinary and ever present. Every aspect of our lives without exception, the triumphs as well as the broken dreams are all part of the pathless path, the journey to acknowledge that which was never lost and never found, was never more or less.

You start to no longer see yourself as a separate entity acting on a separate external world, getting frustrated when it doesn’t go the way you think it should. Rather you experience yourself as the witness of an immense drama, where the One Mind plays every part in the drama. Everything is seen to emerge out of this great ocean including your own apparent thoughts, feelings and actions and you are just the great stillness that quietly observes its own play in the same way you might watch a film at the cinema.

The character you are playing will still experience sadness and joy, pain and pleasure, illness and health and whatever your role requires and yet somehow it is all different. It’s like the analogy from zen;

'At first there are just mountains and rivers, then the mountains and river disappear, then in the end there’s just mountains and rivers again.' "

 

      

Only Dance from Paula Marvelly on Vimeo.

Also here is an interview with Philip Jacobs  at Stillness Speaks:

 http://www.stillnessspeaks.com/ssblog/philip-jacobs-the-causeless-cause/

His latest interview on Conscious tv :

Amazon

New set of 10 videos from Philip on 

The Philosophy of the Cosmic Dance

here is part one/you can go to Philip's youtube channel for the following videos

 

Nirmala - In the dream

Radha-Krishna

In the dream I always play the fool
in the dream
my defenses always fail
in the dream
my desires are never fully satisfied
in the dream
my heart is broken over and over

Wide awake
I always play the fool
wide awake
my defenses always fail
wide awake
my desires are never fully satisfied
wide awake
my heart sings its endless joy

~~~~

free PDF  here

Lalleshwari - Through meditation

Shiva - Parvati

The way is difficult and very intricate.
Lalla discarded her books that told
about it, and through meditation
saw the truth that never comes
to anyone from reading words.

~~~

PDF  1OO Poems

Chuck Surface - “What's that on your breath?”

Deep beneath the foundation of his Home,
Mullah Nazrudin discovered a hidden cellar
Filled to overflowing with…

“Something wonderful”.

Amazed, he found
That upon “drinking”,
More simply appeared!

The intoxication was so deep, so sublime,
He feared friends would think him mad,
And mentioned nothing of the secret hoard.

Until one day a friend, a fellow Lover of “something wonderful”,
Became intoxicated, simply from Nazrudin's breath.
And asked what he'd been drinking.

Soon, other Friends became drunk on Nazrudin's breath,
And all were shown the secret cellar, and invited
To “drink” it all up.

But as soon as a drop was tasted,
More simply appeared!
And more… and more.

Some hoped for “benefit”.
Some imagined a lofty “purpose”,
Some sought to discern the why and wherefore.

But whether benefit was accrued,
Lofty purpose discerned,
Or why and wherefore ascertained,

All such things aside…

Whatever it was that was found,
Was simply…
“Something wonderful”.

It is not Nazrudin's cellar alone, Dear One…

“What's that on your breath?”

 ~~~

www.chucksurface.com 

David Godman - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

more infos:  http://batgap.com/david-godman/

Richard Rose - Each man is the Whole

I come to you as a man selling air,
And you will think twice at the offer and price,
And you will argue that nothing is there,
Although we know that it is - everywhere.

I bring a formula largely untold, -
Of forces mixed with between and betwixt.
And only seen when allowed to unfold.
And better felt when the body is cold.

I have a map to the home of the soul,
Beyond the mind is a golden find, -
The paradox is a guide to the goal, -
Though doubt is sacred, each man is the Whole. 

http://www.richardrose.org/

This poem appears in the back of Profound Writings, East & West, compiled by Richard Rose

Jeff Foster - Only the false can die

photo http://hengki24.deviantart.com/

Awakening brings with it two stunning realizations: That there is nothing and nobody to blame for unhappiness, ever – no parent, no boss, no event, no ‘mistake’, no bodily ‘problem’, no government, no authority figure, no substance, no presence or absence of that which is wanted or unwanted. And true joy and contentment are without cause, and never dependent on circumstances. There is no excuse for misery, and no excuse required for joy.

This kind of radical freedom and responsibility (or lack of it) can be dizzying and even terrifying at first, and bring with it profound existential uncertainty. “Nobody to blame anymore? Nothing external can make me happy? Then what’s it all about? Why do I bother? Who the hell am I?”. But stick with the uncertainty, friends. Allow the ground beneath you to open up. Be here. Breathe. Remember that only the false can die. Free fall into wonder.

Taste the delight in life, naked.

http://www.lifewithoutacentre.com/

Jalal ad-Din Rumi - Where Everything Is Music

 Where Everything Is Music

Don't worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn't matter.

We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.

The strumming and the flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world's harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing.

So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.

This singing art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.

Poems reach up like spendthrift and the edge
of driftwood along the beach, wanting!

They derive
from a slow and powerful root
that we can't see.

Stop the words now!
Open the window in the center of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.

Hazrat Inayat Khan - Tuning the heart

"People pursue spirituality with their brain: that is where they are mistaken. Spirituality is attained through the heart. What do I mean by the heart? Is it the nervous center in the midst of the breast, the small piece of flesh that doctors call the heart? No, the definition of the heart is that it is the depth of the mind, the mind being the surface of the heart. That in us which feels is the heart, that which thinks is the mind. It is the same thing which thinks and feels, but the direction is different: feeling comes from the depth, thought from the surface. … The Sufis have therefore considered the development of the heart quality as a spiritual culture, and have called it the culture of the heart. It consists of the tuning of the heart.

Tuning means changing the pitch of the vibrations. Tuning the heart means changing the vibrations, bringing them to a certain pitch which is the natural one where you feel the joy and ecstasy of life, which enables you to give pleasure to others even by your presence because you are tuned. When an instrument is properly tuned you need not play music on it; just by striking it you will feel a great magnetism coming from it. If an instrument well-tuned can have that magnetism, how much greater should be the magnetism of hearts that are tuned. Rumi says, ‘Whether you have loved a human being or whether you have loved God, if you have loved enough you will be brought in the end into the presence of the supreme Love itself’."

the Sufi message of Hazrat Inayat Khan