Jiddu Krishnamurti - Freedom from the Known

Throughout theological history we have been assured by religious leaders that if we perform certain rituals, repeat certain prayers or mantras, conform to certain patterns, suppress our desires, control our thoughts, sublimate our passions, limit our appetites and refrain from sexual indulgence, we shall, after sufficient torture of the mind and body, find something beyond this little life. 

And that is what millions of so-called religious people have done through the ages, either in isolation, going off into the desert or into the mountains or a cave or wandering from village to village with a begging bowl, or, in a group, joining a monastery, forcing their minds to conform to an established pattern. 

But a tortured mind, a broken mind, a mind which wants to escape from all turmoil, which has denied the outer world and been made dull through discipline and conformity - such a mind, however long it seeks, will find only according to its own distortion.

PDF HERE

Hafiz - A river understands me

I used to know my name. Now I don’t.
I think a river understands me.
For what does it call itself in that blessed moment when it starts emptying into the Infinite Luminous Sea, and opening every aspect of self wider than it ever thought possible?
Each drop of itself now running to embrace and unite with a million new friends.
And you were there, in my union with All, everyone who will ever see this page.

Siddharameshwar Maharaj - Self and Non-Self

Self and Non-Self

Anxiety accompanies desire. As long as the mind is full of desire,
anxiety will be there. When desire ceases, anxiety is no more. While
walking on the street many things are visible, yet we have no
attachment to them. However, once the sense of "mine" is
conceived, desire arises and one immediately becomes pre-occupied
with objects. To feel that something is "mine" is itself bondage. What
is truly ours in the physical body? For the body, the air that is inside
goes out and the air outside comes in. What belongs to you in this
process? In the area of about two feet around the body, there are
continuous currents of air. One who can see subtly can be aware of
this.

Many special days and festivals are coming and going, and you
think that the things in the world are permanent and yours, but you
do not see that you really exist prior to all of these objective things.
When the perception of objects ends, the desire for the objects also
ends, and it does not matter whether objects are existing or not. If
you think that is only made from dust is yours, you immediately
become worldly. The mind when dwelling on the Self, is desireless,
and when focusing on the physical body as "me" or "mine," is full of
desire.

Strange indeed is this creation consisting of the five elements.
The "One Being" that plays in all bodies is the all-pervading
"Universal Self." Understand that "All is Brahman." The example of
the ring and the gold is commonly used. If you consider the ring as
gold, then only the gold is seen as the substance, but if you look at it
as a ring, it is considered as a separate object. Water is water, both in
the ocean and the pitcher, but water in the pitcher is separate if you
keep the pitcher separate, so do not keep it separate. Know that "All
is Brahman."

Consider all to be your friends so that there is no duality or
dislike in the mind. When you repeat the statement that "All is
Brahman," then why does your attitude not change accordingly? That
is because your thinking is warped by the notions of virtue and vice,
and you adopt a critical or dualistic attitude. One who pleases you is
considered a good person, and the other you consider as bad.
However, are there not many others who call that so-called "bad"
person, as good? Moreover, to what extent are you yourself good?
Are there not some people who take you to be a bad person? Even
God is considered in terms of good or bad by many people.

The wise man says that since all are slaves of circumstances
(living according to the destiny of the body), how can we differentiate
between good and bad people. Circumstances have created the
various castes such as carpenters and cobblers, etc. The labels of
various occupations have made us think of people as separate.
Otherwise, where is the distinction of castes, etc.? Nobody is bad or
good. All bodies are subject to circumstances. The stages of
childhood, youth, and old-age are there for everyone. The young man
will have a black moustache and not a white one, while the old
toothless man cannot gulp down morsels of hard food, etc. In short,
do not ridicule others. All are subject to circumstances. One may
keep long hair on the head, or wear a beard, it is all a matter of one's
preference. Why should you hate anyone because of such things?
Consider the one who criticizes you, or blames you, as a kind person.
Keep an open loving attitude towards those who give you a lot of
trouble, and remain without enmity. Only then, will you be as
Brahman.

Anxiety kills us very early. The one who worries dies with that
worry, and hatred is a very heavy burden to bear. Vishwamitra, who
was a bachelor and had done a great amount of spiritual practice,
became ready even to murder when he went to kill the Sage
Vasishtha out of envy and jealousy. It is said that the bag of saffron
(a precious delicate tasting spice) become Asafoetida (a pungent spice
with strong taste and odor), only because of being in its vicinity.
When pride disappears, the thorn that irritates you drops away. Kill
pride and then you will yourself become the "Divine Sage," or
"Brahmarishi." Prostrate before the one who hates you. If you decide
that someone is bad, then you yourself become bad. One who has no
enmity is himself Brahman. To quarrel indicates misunderstanding.
The duality of differentiating between sense objects must end. Do
not think in terms of hatred or enmity, or good and bad. It is only
then that you become as Brahman. Have no enmity towards anyone.

 Spiritual Discourses of His Holiness
Shri Sadguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj
Recorded by Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Download "Master of Self Realization" HERE

Bob O’Hearn - Fate or Free Will

Are we ruled by some pre-determined destiny, or are we endowed with the capacity for the exercise of free will? This question has been the source of ceaseless debate among philosophers, religious pundits, and expounders of every persuasion through the ages, and convincing arguments have been made by believers in both camps, as well as those who have thoughtfully proposed some sort of middle way.

Rather than merely re-hashing positions that have already been staked out at length by better minds and more articulate voices than mine, I would simply like to suggest that the crux of the whole issue invariably depends upon one’s level of awareness, or interpretation on perception, which is in turn conditioned by factors such as belief and experience, but more often than not, by second-hand information.

In brief, depending one’s angle of vision, it may appear that we as human individuals are “programmed” prior to our first breath, and that everything that is to happen to us is indeed pre-determined. I will refrain from speculation at this time on the mechanics of such programming — whether it is performed by us ourselves, or in collusion with some “life-between-life” guides, or even by some higher powers who are directing our “soul” evolution.

From another (and perhaps more pragmatic) point of view, it may appear that we do indeed have the power to make changes in the quality of our life, whether in positive or negative ways, and so can indeed transcend our apparent fate by the application of will. This viewpoint can lead to a circular argument, however, since it could be noted that this supposed power is itself pre-determined, or “down-loaded” into the entity like software into an operating system in order to fulfill a destiny.

In and of themselves, both views (and/or some variation of the two) are provisionally true, but all such views are based on the assumed concrete reality of the “person”. However, the presumption of such a reality is not borne out by thorough deeper inquiry, and that is the salient point of this brief consideration. Indeed, the more we investigate, “To whom does fate or free will apply?”, the more we will discover that the so-called “person” is nothing but a bundle of dependently arising thoughts, sensations, memories, and perceptions, all strung together on an imaginary clothes-line called “I”, and in fact no such independent and enduring person has ever really existed, except in the realm of narrative fiction. That is, the persistent sense we have of some individual person (“me”) is based on a story – a fiction which is comprised of all that we may yet take ourselves to be in our ignorance, or amnesia.

Upon awakening, we realize that both destiny and free will ultimately do not apply. How could they? After all, if there is no concrete and independent person, than there is no place for the concepts themselves to land. Nevertheless, as long as we are occupying these human vehicles, there are two truths that constitute our experience of this realm — the relative and the absolute.

On the absolute level, with the liberating recognition that there is no substantial person, opposing notions of fate and free will are de facto rendered moot. However, since we are currently incarnating in the objective world, and in the sphere of our everyday relations here, we certainly have the power to direct our human hosts towards better behavior and an increasingly more conscious and loving response to life. Conversely, we can refrain from taking responsibility, thereby allowing the “animal” to have its way, with the consequent violence and selfishness that is characteristic of the species when left to its own uncontrolled nature.

In other words, there is choice and there is choicelessness, depending upon one’s relative level of awareness, while in Reality, there is neither. As the great sage Ramana Maharshi noted:

“Find out to whom free will or destiny matters. Find out where they come from, and abide in their source. If you do this, both of them are transcended. That is the only purpose of discussing these questions. To whom do these questions arise? Find out and be at peace.”

Bob O’Hearn 's site:  here

Vicki Woodyard - Here is where I am….

Here is where I am. At home.

Here is who I am. Alone.
Here is what I do. I type.
Forget the rest, for it’s all hype.

For some, a few, I speak to you
and cast the pearls onto the dew.
Here is who I am. Alone.
Trying not to cast a stone.

Hear is who I am and what I do.
But I am not listening to you.
And certainly not to me, a thing
as bird is in the sky, a wing.

I listen to the silence now
and then I write a word or two.
Perhaps to you.
But anyone will do.

Her site http://www.vickiwoodyard.com/

Shabistari - Tavern Haunters

The tavern is the abode of lovers, 

The place where the bird of the soul nests, 

The rest-house that has no existence 

In a world that has no form. 

The tavern-haunter is desolate in a lonely desert, 

Where he sees the world as a mirage. 

The desert is limitless and endless, 

For no man has seen its beginning or ending. 

Though you feverishly wander for a hundred years 

You will be always alone. 

For the dwellers there are headless and footless, 

Neither the faithful nor infidels, 

They have renounced both good and evil, 

And have cast away name and fame, 

From drinking the cup of selflessness;

Without lips or mouth, 

And are beyond traditions, visions, and states, 

Beyond dreaming of secret rooms, of lights and miracles.

They are lying drunken through the smell of the wine-dregs, 

And have given as ransom 

Pilgrim's staff and cruse, 

Dentifrice and rosary.

Sometimes rising to the world of bliss, 

With necks exalted as racers, 

Or with blackened faces turned to the wall, 

Sometimes with reddened faces tied to the stake.

Now in the mystic dance of joy in the Beloved, 

Losing head and foot like the revolving heavens. 

In every strain which they hear from the minstrel 

Comes to them rapture from the unseen world.

For within the mere words and sounds 

Of the mystic song 

Lies a precious mystery.
 From drinking one cup of the pure wine,
From sweeping the dust of dung-hills from their souls,
From grasping the skirts of drunkards,
They have become Sufis.

PDF

Kirtana - “If I could give you anything”

Is there something I can offer you
As a token of my gratitude?
Every gesture seems so small
Still I’d like to try,
I could bring you flowers
Flowers would be sweet
I could find your favorite kind
And lay them at your feet

But flowers fade and die . . .

I would rather be the ground
In which a flower’s grown
Through which your feet must pass
From which all seeds are sown

If I could give you anything
I would be the ground

Is there some place that you’d like to see?
Some corner of the Galaxy…

Name it and I’ll take you there
For I have learned to Fly.
I could show you azure skies
Or multi-colored Orbs of Light
Glittering before your eyes
Like jewels in the Night.
And they would make you sigh…

But I would rather be the space
In which our lives are hung
The silent, unseen thread
Through which these Stars are strung
If I could take you anywhere
I would be the Sky

If I could only find a way
To tell you what my Heart would say
I could finally sing this Love
And it would make you cry
But I have never found the words
That can speak this grace
That is why I must rely
On a gestureless embrace
Even so I try

But I would rather be the Love
From which attempts arise
The origin of Poetry
And of these Tears that flood my eyes

If I could tell you anything
I would be the Love

If I could give you anything
If I could take you anywhere…

I would be the Ground
I would be the Sky
I would be the Love

I am the Ground
I am the Sky
I am the Love.

http://www.kirtana.com/

Jianzhi Sengcan - Verses on The Mind of Absolute Trust

Satisfying the deepest longing

at the heart isn’t difficult – 

just practice letting go

of grasping and avoiding,

and recognize what remains

as your own native happiness.

When we cling to differences,

heart and mind conflict.

If you want to end the inner war,

don’t be for or against.

The argument with oneself

is the primal disease of the mind.

 

Relentless suffering.

Not awake to the deeper principle,

we persist in disturbing our natural harmony. 

Luminous spaciousness, empty and full --

that's the mind of least resistance,

the mind of carefree humility.

Habitually craving and avoiding,

we can’t allow mind’s true nature,

Clear Light, to reveal itself.

Don’t get bewildered by things;

don’t lose yourself in what changes.

Be at peace in the immaculate

transparency of all arising;

stop trying to be

a knower.

When we don’t live as Tao Itself,

boundless and non-dwelling,

we part ways with our natural happiness,

confusing ourselves with borrowed

schemes and dogmas, claims

and superstitions.

Believing the world is real, we're

ignorant of its deeper reality.

Denying the world is real, we're

blind to the selfless innocence

of all forthcoming things.

Open those eyes!

The more we think about it all,

the farther we are from the truth.

Dropping off both body and mind,

there’s nowhere we can’t go.

Returning to the heart, we’re welcomed home;

chasing appearances,we lose their source.

In one moment of unbiased clear seeing,

we can transcend both form and emptiness.

Don’t keep searching for truth;

just let go of all opinions,

and truth will find you.

For the mind surrendered,

all selfishness dissolves.

Free of doubt, fearless in love,

we can trust the universe

completely.

Nothing to gain, nothing

to lose - all is empty,

brilliant, perfect

in itself.

In the world of all-as-is,

there is no self, no non-self.

If we want to speak plainly,

the best we can point to is

"not-two." 

At the heart of surrender

there’s no separation,

nothing to add

nor subtract:

no lost nor found,

no bondage nor liberation,

no here nor there,

no this nor that -- 

the awakened awaken

to this truth, as

this truth.

The tiny is as large as the vast

when conceptual distinctions vanish.

The vast is as small as the tiny,

when mental limitations dissolve.

Being is an expression of non-being,

non-being is no different from being.

Until we understand this truth,

we won’t see anything clearly.

One is all, all is one -- 

when this becomes self-evident,

what interest in stages or categories

can occupy one's attention any longer?

Preachers become obsolete.

The mind of absolute trust is beyond

all thought, all striving, all motive

to know, to cling, or to turn away.

It is non-dwelling mind,

perfectly at home, at peace,

for within it there is no past,

no future, no present --

only what is.