The sea will be the sea, whatever the drop's philosophy...
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Stephan Bodian - Mystery
“I’m in love with the mystery, and I don’t know what it is,” said Advaita sage HWL Poonja.
We could just as easily substitute “reality” or “truth” or “my very own true self”
for mystery, whatever word has the most resonance.
It’s the not-knowing that gives rise to the love—what we can’t possibly know is endlessly rich
and open and intriguing, an inexhaustible source of wonder.
When we don’t pretend to know, life is ever unfolding in this extraordinary and ungraspable way,
beyond the mind’s ability to understand or control.
Of course, Poonjaji knew that he was (you are, I am) the very mystery that he was in love with
—yet he also knew that we are always at once the admirer and the admired,
the worshiper and the worshiped, ready to prostrate ourselves at the feet of what we really are.
Indeed, this paradoxical dance between personal and universal
is one of the mystery's most fascinating expressions.
Ultimately, the mystery is in love with itself.
We could just as easily substitute “reality” or “truth” or “my very own true self”
for mystery, whatever word has the most resonance.
It’s the not-knowing that gives rise to the love—what we can’t possibly know is endlessly rich
and open and intriguing, an inexhaustible source of wonder.
When we don’t pretend to know, life is ever unfolding in this extraordinary and ungraspable way,
beyond the mind’s ability to understand or control.
Of course, Poonjaji knew that he was (you are, I am) the very mystery that he was in love with
—yet he also knew that we are always at once the admirer and the admired,
the worshiper and the worshiped, ready to prostrate ourselves at the feet of what we really are.
Indeed, this paradoxical dance between personal and universal
is one of the mystery's most fascinating expressions.
Ultimately, the mystery is in love with itself.
Friday, March 30, 2018
St Thomas Aquinas - ‘Ask anything.’
‘Ask anything.’
My Lord said to me.
And my mind and heart thought deeply
for a second,
then replied with just one word,
‘When?’
God’s arms then opened up and I entered Myself.
I entered myself when I entered
Christ.
And having learned compassion
I allowed my soul
to stay.
My Lord said to me.
And my mind and heart thought deeply
for a second,
then replied with just one word,
‘When?’
God’s arms then opened up and I entered Myself.
I entered myself when I entered
Christ.
And having learned compassion
I allowed my soul
to stay.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Yoka daishi - Meaning of the Unborn
The Great Master Ch'en Chui, (Yoka daishi), arrived at Tsao Ch'i carrying a gourd and wearing a bamboo hat. He circumambulated three times the master's seat. Striking his monk's staff down once, he stood proudly before him.
The Sixth Ancestor, (Huineng) said,
"Monks must keep the three thousand deportments and eighty thousand rules of minor conduct. Where does this venerable one come from that he is so proud?"
Ch'en Chui said,
"The matter of Birth and Death is great, impermanence is closing in fast."
The Ancestor said,
"Why don't you experience no-arising and understand that which does not move?"
Ch'en Chui replied,
"Experiencing is the non-arising state, understanding is originally unmoving."
The Ancestor said,
"Right, that's how it is."
After a moment Ch'en Chui moved to leave, and the Ancestor asked,
"Aren't you leaving a bit too fast."
Ch'en Chui answered,
"Originally I am unmoving, how can it be too fast?"
The Ancestor asked,
"Who is it who knows this not-moving?"
Ch'en Chui answered,
"You're the one giving rise to discrimination."
The Ancestor said,
"You understand the meaning of the Unborn. Stay over for one night."
The Sixth Ancestor, (Huineng) said,
"Monks must keep the three thousand deportments and eighty thousand rules of minor conduct. Where does this venerable one come from that he is so proud?"
Ch'en Chui said,
"The matter of Birth and Death is great, impermanence is closing in fast."
The Ancestor said,
"Why don't you experience no-arising and understand that which does not move?"
Ch'en Chui replied,
"Experiencing is the non-arising state, understanding is originally unmoving."
The Ancestor said,
"Right, that's how it is."
After a moment Ch'en Chui moved to leave, and the Ancestor asked,
"Aren't you leaving a bit too fast."
Ch'en Chui answered,
"Originally I am unmoving, how can it be too fast?"
The Ancestor asked,
"Who is it who knows this not-moving?"
Ch'en Chui answered,
"You're the one giving rise to discrimination."
The Ancestor said,
"You understand the meaning of the Unborn. Stay over for one night."
~~~~
excerpt from "The Transmission of the Lamp, the Record of the Lives and
Sayings
of the Great Chan Masters in China", which was made available by
Anzan Hoshin roshi
(Yoka Daishi 665-713)
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Rumi ♡ The man of God
The man of God is drunken without wine,
The man of God is full without meat.
The man of God is distraught and bewildered,
The man of God has no food or sleep.
The man of God is a king beneath a dervish-cloak,
The man of God is a treasure in a ruin.
The man of God is not of air and earth,
The man of God is not of fire and water.
The man of God is a boundless sea,
The man of God rains pearls without a cloud.
The man of God has hundred moons and skies,
The man of God has hundred suns.
The man of God is made wise by the Truth,
The man of God is not learned from book.
The man of God is beyond infidelity and religion,
To the man of God, right and wrong are alike.
The man of God has ridden away from Not-being,
The man of God is gloriously attended.
The man of God is concealed, Shamsi Din;
The man of God do you seek and find!
The man of God is full without meat.
The man of God is distraught and bewildered,
The man of God has no food or sleep.
The man of God is a king beneath a dervish-cloak,
The man of God is a treasure in a ruin.
The man of God is not of air and earth,
The man of God is not of fire and water.
The man of God is a boundless sea,
The man of God rains pearls without a cloud.
The man of God has hundred moons and skies,
The man of God has hundred suns.
The man of God is made wise by the Truth,
The man of God is not learned from book.
The man of God is beyond infidelity and religion,
To the man of God, right and wrong are alike.
The man of God has ridden away from Not-being,
The man of God is gloriously attended.
The man of God is concealed, Shamsi Din;
The man of God do you seek and find!
Monday, March 26, 2018
Rumi - Live in Silence
This silence,
this moment,
every moment,
if it’s genuinely inside you,
brings what you need.
There’s nothing to believe.
Only when I stopped
believing in myself
did I come into this beauty.
Sit quietly,
and listen for a voice
that will say,
‘Be more silent.’
Die and be quiet.
Quietness is the surest sign
that you’ve died.
Your old life
was a frantic running
from silence.
Move outside
the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence.
this moment,
every moment,
if it’s genuinely inside you,
brings what you need.
There’s nothing to believe.
Only when I stopped
believing in myself
did I come into this beauty.
Sit quietly,
and listen for a voice
that will say,
‘Be more silent.’
Die and be quiet.
Quietness is the surest sign
that you’ve died.
Your old life
was a frantic running
from silence.
Move outside
the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence.
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Anita Avent - Glimpsing perfection
art Rassouli
I kiss the lips of oblivion and my name is abyss.
So deeply washed as this mystery I cannot comprehend
or explain how
I've awakened as an endless swoosh of the cosmos through my heart.
The ideas and beliefs conjured as imaginary Anita seem so selfish and small now as seamless emptiness
breathes the body and dances the music of radiant pulsing energies
complete with impersonal thoughts and images for seeing what is here now.
No where and no one to be and no thing to be or do as this imaginary symphony
of lights and sounds and yet
just for this precious moment,
an intimate view of limitless infinity...... and then it's gone......beyond gone
as flow-less flow, as perfection, a whisper of blissful not knowing, not being,
and yet being and knowing this is all there ever is,
or could be, as this appearance dissolves
as the vastness of oblivion.
Beginning and ending finally unite and ignite a flicker as this moment.
A thorn of loving loss as they spark union and disappear as the edgeless edge.
Such sweet sorrow and joy for the momentary gift of unicity when all distinctions are seen
as false and the fullness of aware emptiness is all there is.
Oh sweet sailor of the vastness......lover of tides, winds, and deep oceans.......
let go and surrender your heart and head in personal destruction
So deeply washed as this mystery I cannot comprehend
or explain how
I've awakened as an endless swoosh of the cosmos through my heart.
The ideas and beliefs conjured as imaginary Anita seem so selfish and small now as seamless emptiness
breathes the body and dances the music of radiant pulsing energies
complete with impersonal thoughts and images for seeing what is here now.
No where and no one to be and no thing to be or do as this imaginary symphony
of lights and sounds and yet
just for this precious moment,
an intimate view of limitless infinity...... and then it's gone......beyond gone
as flow-less flow, as perfection, a whisper of blissful not knowing, not being,
and yet being and knowing this is all there ever is,
or could be, as this appearance dissolves
as the vastness of oblivion.
Beginning and ending finally unite and ignite a flicker as this moment.
A thorn of loving loss as they spark union and disappear as the edgeless edge.
Such sweet sorrow and joy for the momentary gift of unicity when all distinctions are seen
as false and the fullness of aware emptiness is all there is.
Oh sweet sailor of the vastness......lover of tides, winds, and deep oceans.......
let go and surrender your heart and head in personal destruction
to the ravages of the deep
and death, to the thin shadows of bravery peering towards dawn
offering herself fully to the sun.
Let go and breathe the last breath of surrender while falling deeply and
swiftly as silent emptiness where fear and suffering await your personal death.
Be still and offer your personal treasures to the dark.
Laugh at your insanity of believing, naming, and charting a personal you apart from infinity.
And as you seek to find what you never lost,
and then see what you have always been,
just let go into death and give thanks for the infinite swirling
edgeless possibilities of appearing
as an instantaneous imaginary being....
beholding the amazing grace of raw wonder
and loss for this tiny glimpse of perfection.
and death, to the thin shadows of bravery peering towards dawn
offering herself fully to the sun.
Let go and breathe the last breath of surrender while falling deeply and
swiftly as silent emptiness where fear and suffering await your personal death.
Be still and offer your personal treasures to the dark.
Laugh at your insanity of believing, naming, and charting a personal you apart from infinity.
And as you seek to find what you never lost,
and then see what you have always been,
just let go into death and give thanks for the infinite swirling
edgeless possibilities of appearing
as an instantaneous imaginary being....
beholding the amazing grace of raw wonder
and loss for this tiny glimpse of perfection.
Copyright (c) 2012-2018 - All rights Reserved - Nonduality/Anita Avent - Raleigh, NC, USA
Friday, March 23, 2018
Mark Nepo - The mystery of the moment
art Gun Legler
The mystery of the moment is that it opens all moments. I know this in a felt way because of the brief and total feelings of Oneness I have fallen into during my life. This can be affirmed but never verified. It is something to be experienced, not proved. Life presents itself constantly through the miracle of the smallest part containing the whole while the Infinite Whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. It is we who fall in and out of our awareness and experience of Oneness. In the same way the eye dilates and constricts, our sense of being opens and closes. It is the way the soul breathes on Earth. These openings and closings are not to be judged or censured, any more than we would censure exhaling over inhaling. We need both to live.
Most of the practices extolled by the spiritual traditions are aimed at restoring our openness of being, so we might fall into the mystery of the moment. Repeatedly, we chance to experience the eternal perspective animated by entering any moment completely enough that it reveals the vibrant pulse of all life. Even when blessed to experience this, we often don’t know what to do with this blessing. Do we quit our job? Sometimes. Do we stop denying the love we feel? Hopefully. Do we deny the undeniable fragility of life that is never far from us? Often. Mostly thought we are simply asked to be awake, to stay awake, to live more compassionately, to be more aware.
Once we are exposed to the power of being in the moment, it is easy to want to stay there. But what does this really mean? I can only speak from my own experience. The life-force waiting in the moment helped me survive cancer. It was only in the moment that I was free of fear, because fear lives in the future and calls us to it. Between the fear of trying to anticipate where cancer was leading me and the exhausted peace of collapsing in the moment, I came to understand that I couldn’t think my way out of cancer. But from the eternal perspective opened to me in each moment, I could inhabit the inner resources to meet the journey as it was unfolding. What has stayed with me all these years is that I experience the moment with my heart and the future with my mind.
It’s common to get distracted by working to stay in the moment above all else, but these blessings of complete immersion will happen. We don’t have to work at them. I’m learning that when present in the moment, I view life more deeply. I meet life through an awakened sensibility, and I make more peaceful decisions. From the experience of Oneness that the moment opens, I am engaged with my heart and consider life choices from that felt, eternal perspective. When tripping along the gravel of circumstance, not able to to enter any moment, I am engaged with my mind, trying to stay alert, trying to negotiate the obstacles of life without falling.
From the press of isolated experience, the mind feeling out of control tries to control everything. From the felt knowledge of the web of life, the heart tries to participate in the rush of life of which it is a part. Like all of us, I struggle with both: trying to control what happens and trying to participate in what happens. Today I feel clear enough to share these reflections. But if this makes sense to you, please remind me when you find me next week stirring my coffee nervously, staring off into the future, biting my lip.
Most of the practices extolled by the spiritual traditions are aimed at restoring our openness of being, so we might fall into the mystery of the moment. Repeatedly, we chance to experience the eternal perspective animated by entering any moment completely enough that it reveals the vibrant pulse of all life. Even when blessed to experience this, we often don’t know what to do with this blessing. Do we quit our job? Sometimes. Do we stop denying the love we feel? Hopefully. Do we deny the undeniable fragility of life that is never far from us? Often. Mostly thought we are simply asked to be awake, to stay awake, to live more compassionately, to be more aware.
Once we are exposed to the power of being in the moment, it is easy to want to stay there. But what does this really mean? I can only speak from my own experience. The life-force waiting in the moment helped me survive cancer. It was only in the moment that I was free of fear, because fear lives in the future and calls us to it. Between the fear of trying to anticipate where cancer was leading me and the exhausted peace of collapsing in the moment, I came to understand that I couldn’t think my way out of cancer. But from the eternal perspective opened to me in each moment, I could inhabit the inner resources to meet the journey as it was unfolding. What has stayed with me all these years is that I experience the moment with my heart and the future with my mind.
It’s common to get distracted by working to stay in the moment above all else, but these blessings of complete immersion will happen. We don’t have to work at them. I’m learning that when present in the moment, I view life more deeply. I meet life through an awakened sensibility, and I make more peaceful decisions. From the experience of Oneness that the moment opens, I am engaged with my heart and consider life choices from that felt, eternal perspective. When tripping along the gravel of circumstance, not able to to enter any moment, I am engaged with my mind, trying to stay alert, trying to negotiate the obstacles of life without falling.
From the press of isolated experience, the mind feeling out of control tries to control everything. From the felt knowledge of the web of life, the heart tries to participate in the rush of life of which it is a part. Like all of us, I struggle with both: trying to control what happens and trying to participate in what happens. Today I feel clear enough to share these reflections. But if this makes sense to you, please remind me when you find me next week stirring my coffee nervously, staring off into the future, biting my lip.
from "Seven Thousand Ways to Listen"
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