Jiddu Krishnamurti On Observing Ourselves

 

Henri Le Saux - That-Which-Is

In this annihilating experience [of advaita] one is no longer able to
project in front of oneself anything whatsoever, to recognize any other “pole” to which to refer oneself and to give the name of God. 

Once one has reached that innermost center, one is so forcibly seized by the mystery that one can no longer utter a “Thou” or an “I.” 

Engulfed in the abyss, we disappear to our own eyes, to our own consciousness. 

The proximity of that mystery which the prophetic traditions name “God” burns us so completely that there is no longer any question of discovering it in the depths of oneself or oneself in the depths of it. 

 In the very engulfing, the gulf has vanished.

 If a cry was still possible—at the moment perhaps of disappearing into the abyss—it would be paradoxically: 

“but there is no abyss, no gulf, no distance!” There is no face-to-face, for there is only That-Which-Is, and no other to name it.

Swami Abhishiktananda aka Henri Le Saux (1910 - 1973) was a French monk who, having moved to India in 1948 in search of a more radical form of spiritual life, adopted sannyasa in accordance with the Advaita tradition and became one of the pioneers of Hindu-Christian dialogue.

The Ribhu Gita - Be steeped in serenity

I, indeed, am the substratum of everything.
I, indeed, manifest as all.
I, indeed, am the One devoid of anything else.
I, indeed, am the Self of all.
I, indeed, am the undivided Supreme Brahman.
I, indeed, am the nature of the nondual.
I, indeed, exist as just myself.
By such conviction (bhava) of being the one Brahman, be steeped in serenity.

I, indeed, am of the nature of Knowledge.
I, indeed, am of the nature of Bliss.
I, indeed, am of the nature of the imperishable.
I, indeed, am of the nature of the undivided Absolute.
I, indeed, am of the nature of the one Absolute.
I, indeed, am of the nature devoid of anything else.
I, indeed, am of the nature of myself.
By such conviction (bhava) of being the one Absolute, be steeped in serenity.

I, indeed, am the sublime form of the Supreme Shiva.
I, indeed, am the worship of the Supreme Shiva as well.
I, indeed, am of the form of Vishnu.
I, indeed, am the worship of that Vishnu also.
I, indeed, am of the grand form of Brahma.
I, indeed, am all the variegated things.
I am the Supreme Brahman without a second.
By such conviction (bhava) of being the one Absolute, be steeped in serenity.

I, indeed, am the gods, the demons and the humans.
I, indeed, am the wandering animals.
I, indeed, am all the dissolving worlds.
I, indeed, am all the millions of universes.
I, indeed, am all the moving and motionless entities.
I, indeed, am the world, the individual (jiva), and the Supreme (Para).
I, indeed, am the Supreme Brahman without a second.
By such conviction (bhava) of being the one Absolute, be steeped in serenity.

I, indeed, am also what appears as this.
I, indeed, am also what appears as "I" and "you".
I, indeed, am also what appears as That.
I, indeed, am also what appears as something else.
I, indeed, am also whatever appears as whatever.
I, indeed, am all at anytime.
I, indeed, am the wonderful Supreme Brahman.
By such conviction (bhava) of the undivided Absolute, be steeped in serenity.

I, indeed, am the thought and the seen.
I, indeed, am of the nature of the seer that is all Consciousness.
I, indeed, am all the activities of the mind.
I, indeed, am all the thoughts that are embedded therein.
I, indeed, am all this difference of duality.
I, indeed, am what constitutes "is" and what "is not".
I, indeed, am the nondual Supreme Brahman.
By such conviction (bhava) of the undivided Absolute, be steeped in serenity.

Nothing was ever born.
Where can the never-born be?
How can there be any growth of things unborn and non-existent?
Noble one! there is, therefore, nothing at all apart from the undivided Brahman.
All is Brahman,
And That am I -
By such tireless conviction (bhava),
Be steeped in serenity.
From: The song of Ribhu, translated from the original Tamil version of the Ribhu Gita, Society of Abidance in Truth, 2003

 

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Thayumanavar - Prayer to Being - Let Us Contemplate

Eternal, Pure, Groundless, Death and Birth Free
Pervasive, ever Immaculate
Distant, Near, Enveloping Effulgence of Void,
The Support of all, the Fullness of Bliss.

The Cit-Form beyond thought and speech,
That which thus stood,
The Expanse Vast that generates Bliss
Let us contemplate.

As the Thought behind whatever thought the mind thinks,
Filling all things in undifferentiated accord
As their Life of Life;
Gushing forth the ambrosial waters of Divine Bliss
For the devotees true,
Revealing of Itself by giving Itself
As Formless and Attributeless,
That Great Siddhanta Light
That is the Benevolent ParaParam
Let us contemplate.

As expanse vast,
As the source of elements five
As the origin of the silentness vast,
As the Bliss that is beyond the reach
Of mind and categories rest,
As that which when revealed by Grace of Guru
Envelopes them in purity and yet recedes from them afar,
That which thus is immanent in all
That Substance
Let us contemplate.

The Life of Life of this world and that;
The kindred of them
That have lost the sense of I and mine;
The unattached perception
That is the Eternal Perfect Bliss.
The life that is void,
The matter that flows within the heart,
The triple-fruit delicious,
The candy sweet,
The ambrosia divine.
Let us seek that Substance
And with eyes streaming pearls of tears
And hands clasped in adoration
Let us contemplate.

No caste, no family, no birth, no death
No bondage, no liberation,
No form, no formlessness,
No name --
With name of all these,
The Light that moves all and everywhere
Immanent and pervasive,
The Pure Expanse Vast,
The Experience filled with turiya
Consciousness bereft of mentation
The Benevolent Substance that is the Finite Param,
In unalloyed Grace abounding
Let us contemplate.

"This world is but an Indrajal, a dream, a mirage.
And so realizing
May thou live eternally close to the Tatpara
That is not overwhelmed by Chitpara.
May the waters of Bliss flood your thoughts
Uninterrupted day after day" --

Thus did he the Guru Mauni bless me --
Those hallowed feet of his, day and night,
Let us contemplate.

As the Primal Substance of all
That are known as substances;
As the consciousness behind them.
As the nectar rich,
When bibed, end the miseries
Of the loving devotees that gain the perception lucid.
As the Perfect Bliss that makes no distinction

As existing within the Self and without.
As the Substance that shines
Dispelling darkness entire;
That Substance,
Let us in meekness adore.

As the crowning meaning of Vedas rare;
As the perfection beyond the perception of celestials;
Of munis great, siddhas pure and the rest.
As the treasure that transcends cause;
As the immanence of fragrance
In flower, oil in sesamum seed and life within.
As the great Substance
Ever abiding in the center of turiya consciousness of purity --
That Substance,
Let us adore.

As the Empty Spaces Vast
That contained within it
The sky and the rest of elements five;
As the Sea of Bliss
In the vision of those
Who saw with the eyes of jnana
As He who in compassion makes me
His own Self;
Lest I think of anything else,
For that God,
Whose benevolent Grace cherishing at heart
Let us raise our hands in adoration deep.

The Infinite Expanse that filled the heavens;
The Delicious Ambrosia that filled at once
The expanse of my mind and the expanse of nana;
Oh! Thou the Great One that is Bliss Perpetual.

With heart surging in love and melting within;
With words faltering in joyous confusion;
With eyes streaming tears
And hands folded in meekness,
Let us Thy Grace contemplate.

The Being Primal that has neither beginning nor end,
The foster mother that in endearment excessive reared me,
The righteous Guru that blesses,
The Certainty beyond thought
The Purity unalloyed,
The Holy of Holies,
The Object beyond the reach of contending faiths,
The Effulgences that stood as Void for the munis of silentness,
My life's dear support --

That I seek and adore
With tears gushing
And hands in reverence folded.

As (all that is denoted by) the alphabet entire beginning with "A",
And different from them too,
As (all that has form) the universe vast;
As all that bears description any
And (all that which) does not bear too;
As Param (the Pervasive);
And as beyond speech;
As Nana pure, untouched by doubts and changes;
As Purity:
As the peerless Pasu-Pati --

That Substance we seek.
And sighing deep in love exceeding
We contemplate.

 English version by Himalayan Academy Original Language Tamil

Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - Joy of Silence

Suppose you can recite a thousand holy
verses from memory.
What are you going to do
with your ego self, the true
mark of the heretic?
Every time your head touches
the ground in prayers, remember,
this was to teach you to
put down that load of ego
which bars you from entering
the chamber of the Beloved.

To your mind feed understanding,
to your heart, tolerance and compassion.
The simpler your life, the more meaningful.
The less you desire of the world,
the more room you will have in it
to fill with the Beloved.

The best use of your tongue
is to repeat the Beloved's Name in devotion.
The best prayers are those in
the solitude of the night.
The shortest way to the Friend
is through selfless service and
generosity to His creatures.

Those with no sense of honor and dignity are best avoided.
Those who change colors constantly
are best forgotten.
The best way to be with those
bereft of the Beloved's qualities,
is to forget them in the
joy of silence in one's corner of solitude.

     Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody"

 

Mooji - the Sage' s abode

The mind is apparently making someone's life hell and you call this someone you.
And this ‘you’ who is suffering from the mind is now trying to go beyond the mind.
It says ‘ Help me Mooji, to make this leap.’
But to make this leap is just another thought arising in That which is already beyond the mind.
Become aware of that Power now which is unaffected by the mind-play.
Don't miss my pointing.
Go directly to this Awareness space for right there is where all the mind's cunning plays are exposed as mere imagination.
Feel the power of sacred presence.
Just be there.
It does not suffer, nor can it be attacked by thoughts.
It is immaculate - untouched.
Yourself and It are one.
Confirm this.
It is the Sage' s abode.

Jean Klein - Don't live in restriction!

Q. "When you are no longer identified with the person, how is life affected?" 

A. The first thing you notice is how much richer and deeper your perceptions are. Communication becomes so much more varied. Generally, we are fixed in patterns of communication but when we live in openness a great sensitivity arises, a sensitivity we never dreamed of.
When we approach our surroundings from wholeness our whole structure comes alive. We do not hear mucic with our ears only. When the ears cease to grasp sound for themselves we feel music with the whole body, the colour, the form, the vibration. It no longer belongs to a specific organ. It belongs to our whole being. This creates a deep humilty, an innocence.
Only in humility is true communication possible. Then one lives in a completely new dimension. To live as a personality is to live in restriction. Don't live in restriction! Let the personality live in you. In living in the environment without separation there is a great, great beauty"

Jean Klein - "Who am I?" page 3-4

PDF 

Mary Oliver - Why I Wake Early

Hello, sun in my face. 
Hello, you who made the morning 
and spread it over the fields 
and into the faces of the tulips 
and the nodding morning glories, 
and into the windows of, even, the 
miserable and the crotchety –

best preacher that ever was, 
dear star, that just happens 
to be where you are in the universe 
to keep us from ever-darkness, 
to ease us with warm touching, 
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning. 

Watch, now, how I start the day  in happiness, in kindness. 

 

Chuck Surface - Love

 What is Love,
But the desire that the Beloved be Blessed,
That the Light of their Own Pure Being
Shine within them, Filling their Heart,
And flooding the Experience of Being.

That they, as formless Shiva,
Embrace themselves as Shakti,
And in that Union, give rise to Pure…
Unalloyed…
Ecstasy.

That they breathe Peace that Transcends Understanding,
And, abiding as Fullness and Completion,
Remain unmoved and untouched,
Within,
By the vicissitudes of Life.

That wherever they are,
In whatever circumstance,
They are always and forever…
Home,
Having become Home Itself.

Then is the Only Desire of Love Fulfilled,
And Heaven and Earth
Lover and Beloved,
Are One.

And only Love remains.

http://gardenofthebeloved.com/

Rumi - Lost in the wind

I start out on this road, call it love or emptiness.
I only know what’s not here.

Resentment seeds, backscratching greed,
worrying about outcome, fear of people.

When a bird gets free,
it does not go back for remnants
left on the bottom of the cage.

Close by, I’m rain. Far off,
a cloud of fire. I seem restless,
but I am deeply at ease.

Branches tremble. The roots are still.
I am a universe in a handful of dirt,
whole when totally demolished.

Talk about choices does not apply to me.
While intelligence considers options,
I am somewhere lost in the wind.

Sarojini Naidu - Eternal Peace

In Salutation to the Eternal Peace


Men say the world is full of fear and hate,
And all life's ripening harvest-fields await
The restless sickle of relentless fate.

But I, sweet Soul, rejoice that I was born,
When from the climbing terraces of corn
I watch the golden orioles of Thy morn.

What care I for the world's desire and pride,
Who know the silver wings that gleam and glide,
The homing pigeons of Thine eventide?

What care I for the world's loud weariness,
Who dream in twilight granaries Thou dost bless
With delicate sheaves of mellow silences?

Say, shall I heed dull presages of doom,
Or dread the rumoured loneliness and gloom,
The mute and mythic terror of the tomb?

For my glad heart is drunk and drenched with Thee,
O inmost wind of living ecstasy!
O intimate essence of eternity!

Sarojini Naidu 's poems PDF

Meister Eckhart - Forget yourself.

Begin therefore with yourself and forget yourself. 

Truly, if you do not begin by getting away from yourself, then wherever you flee to, you will find obstacles and trouble no matter where it is. 

If people seek peace in outward things, whether in places or in methods or in people or in deeds or in banishment or in poverty or in humiliation, however great or of whatever kind all this may be, this is all in vain and brings them no peace. 

Those who seek thus seek wrongly; the further they go the less they find what they are seeking. 

They are like a man who has taken a wrong turning: the further he goes, the more he goes astray. But what should he do? He should resign himself to begin with, and then he has abandoned all things. 

In truth, if a man gave up a kingdom or the whole world and did not give up self, he would have given up nothing. But if a man gives up himself, then whatever he keeps, wealth, honour or whatever it may be, still he has given up everything.

Rumi - Burning

Moses heard a shepherd on the road praying:
‘God, where are you? I want to help you, to fix your shoes
and comb your hair. I want to wash your clothes
and pick the lice off. I want to bring you milk
to kiss your little hands and feet when it’s time
for you to go to bed. I want to sweep your room
and keep it neat. God, my sheep and goats
are yours. All I can say, remembering you,
is ayyyy and ahhhhhhhhh.’

Moses could stand it no longer.
‘Who are you talking to? -
the one who made us,
and made the earth and made the sky.
Don’t talk about shoes and socks with God!
And what’s this with your little hands and feet?
Such blasphemous familiarity sounds like
you’re chatting with your uncles.
Only something that grows
needs milk. Only someone with feet needs shoes.
Not God…!
Use appropriate terms. Fatima is a fine name
for a woman, but if you call a man Fatima,
it’s an insult. Body-and-birth language
are right for us on this side of the river,
but not for addressing the origin, not for Allah.’
The shepherd repented and tore his clothes and sighed
and wandered out into the desert.

A sudden revelation
came then to Moses. God’s voice:
You have separated me
from one of my own. Did you come as a Prophet
to unite, or to sever?
I have given each being a separate and unique way of seeing
and knowing and saying that knowledge.
What seems wrong to you is right for them.
What is poison to one is honey to someone else….
I don’t hear the words they say.
I look inside at the humility.
That broken-open lowliness is the reality,
not the language! Forget phraseology.
I want burning, burning.
Be friends with your burning. Burn up your thinking
and your forms of expression!
Moses, those who pay attention to ways of behaving
and speaking are one sort.
Lovers who burn are another….
Don’t scold the Lover.
The ‘wrong’ way he talks is better than a hundred
‘right’ ways of others.
Inside the Kaaba it doesn’t matter
which direction you point your prayer rug…!
The love religion has no code or doctrine.
Only God.