tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110777702024-03-06T23:55:51.050-07:00A Far Distant Howl"May we give all sentient beings safe passage through our minds." - Scott Adams (redo)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger970125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-38155358284304615332010-03-30T15:51:00.002-06:002010-03-30T16:14:42.882-06:00<span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">Listen, I've light</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">in my eyes</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">and on my skin</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">the warmth of a star, so strange</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">is this</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">that I</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">can barely comprehend it:</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">I think</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll lift my face to it, and then</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">I lift my face,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">and don't even know how</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">this is done. And</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">everything alive</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">(and everything's</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">alive) is turning</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">into something else</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">as at the heart</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">of some annihilating</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">or is it creating</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">fire</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">that's burning, unseeably, always</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">burning at such speeds</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">as eyes cannot</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">detect, just try</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">to observe your own face</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">growing old</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">in the mirror, or</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">is it beginning</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">to be born?</span><br /><br />~<span style="font-size:x-small;"> Franz Wright ~</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-33970761669610839522009-12-12T16:28:00.002-07:002009-12-12T16:48:06.677-07:00All Things Bright and Beautiful<span style="font-family:verdana;">A postscript excerpt</span> from Richard Dawkins latest book, <em>The Greatest Show on Earth</em>.<br /><br />I have been warned that 'All things bright and beautiful' will not necessarily strike my readers as nostalgically as it does me. It is an Anglican hymn for children written by Mrs. C. F. Alexander in 1848, comfortably extolling the beauties of nature (and, in one verse, the political status quo) with the refrain, 'The Lord Gog made them all'. It is the subject of a splendid parody written by Eric Idle and sung by the Monty Python team:<br /><br />All things dull and ugly<br />All creatures short and squat<br />All things rude and nasty<br />The Lord God made the lot.<br /><br />Each little snake that poisons<br />Each little wasp that stings<br />He made their brutish venom<br />He made their horrid Wings.<br /><br />All things sick and cancerous<br />All evil great and small<br />All things foul and dangerous<br />The Lord God made them all.<br /><br />Each nasty little hornet<br />Each beastly little squid<br />Who made the spiky urchin?<br />Who made the sharks? He did!<br /><br />All Thing scabbed and ulcerous<br />All pox both great and small<br />Putrid, foul and gangrenous<br />The Lord God made them all.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-91912760543780221462009-10-31T02:38:00.001-06:002009-12-12T16:49:18.421-07:00Joseph Campbell, 26 Mar1904 - 31 Oct 1987<span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"All the old bindings are broken. Cosmological centers<br />now are anywhere</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and everywhere. The earth is a heavenly<br />body, most beautiful of all, and</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> all poetry now is archaic<br />that fails to match the wonder of this view."</span><br /><br />- Joseph Campbell, *Myths to Live By*Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-83842663234784391982009-10-10T17:12:00.002-06:002009-10-10T17:13:35.840-06:00And everything comes to One,<span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><strong>As we dance on, dance on, dance on.</strong></span><span style="color:#ff0000;"><br /></span>- Theodore RoethkeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-35791150332898114152009-10-03T10:08:00.000-06:002009-10-03T10:08:43.779-06:00<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">is to survive.</span><br />
<br />
-Albert EinsteinUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-47405887933789369262009-09-27T09:01:00.001-06:002009-10-03T10:16:24.216-06:00Ramesh S. Balsekar 29 May 1917 - 27 Sept 2009<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SfR4_L5xnnI/AAAAAAAADW4/_qMq8FOr2dc/s1600-h/221408440_063388e1c4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329017286008348274" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SfR4_L5xnnI/AAAAAAAADW4/_qMq8FOr2dc/s400/221408440_063388e1c4.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 299px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Dear God,</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">This is my record of eternal gratitude to You.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
You gave me birth in a most respected Hindu family,</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">but not high enough in social status to make me proud.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
You gave me a physical form well-admired for its perfection,</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">but it was small enough to keep me humble.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
You gave me education high enough to be most useful in life,</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">but not high enough to make me proud.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
You gave me success in sports high enough to be satisfied,</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">but not proud.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
You gave me a career in which You took me high enough to be</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">admired, but not high enough to make me arrogant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
You gave me a wife and family for which I have always been</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">eternally grateful, but You did not spare me some grief to remind</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">me not to forget what life is all about, and to be always grateful</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">for what I do have.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
You did not forget to place an adequate number of temptations in</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">my way so that I may not be too critical of others who have to face</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">their own temptations.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
I am now 84, and perhaps the only wish that remains is that the</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">long life You have given me will not carry a burden at the end.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">But in that case, I know You will also give me the necessary</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">courage to go with it.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
You gave me a lot to show me how little is needed to be content</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">and how much could be given away.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
And, undoubtedly, the most important of all - as if the bounty</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You have showered on me were not enough - You crowned Your</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">achievement by using this psychosomatic apparatus to convey to</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">the world the most important message of Advaita. Truly I am</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">blessed. Or, indeed, my Beloved, have You not blessed Yourself?!</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
Finally, it occurs to me, if You were to design for Yourself a life in</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">phenomenality, could it have been much different from this one?</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
And, for this thought, no tears are enough to wash Your</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Noumenal feet.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramesh_Balsekar">Ramesh S. Balsekar</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-6128540752104453722009-09-12T10:18:00.007-06:002009-10-03T10:26:10.354-06:00Balsekar Is Ill<div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="CLEAR: left; FLOAT: left; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em; cssfloat: left" href="http://encefalus.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/consciousness_2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img height="420" src="http://encefalus.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/consciousness_2.jpg" width="279" border="0" mq="true" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;">We are neither different nor separate from</span> </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Consciousness, </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">and for </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">that very </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">reason we cannot 'apprehend' it. Nor can </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">we 'integrate' </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">with it because we </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">have never been other t</span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">han it. Consciousness </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">can never be understood in </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">relative terms. </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Therefore, there is </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">nothing to be 'done' about it. All is </span><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Consciousness and we are That.</span><br /><br />Ramesh S. Balsekar </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-61058412648400746162009-08-27T21:18:00.002-06:002009-08-27T21:26:23.819-06:00Neither Out Far Nor In Deep<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SpdOJ08DjtI/AAAAAAAADsc/ggRbqtqAn7U/s1600-h/businessman_looking_out_to_sea.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 251px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SpdOJ08DjtI/AAAAAAAADsc/ggRbqtqAn7U/s400/businessman_looking_out_to_sea.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374850611026300626" border="0" /></a><br /><p style="font-family: verdana;">The people along the sand </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">All turn and look one way. </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">They turn their back on the land. </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">They look at the sea all day. </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: verdana;">As long as it takes to pass </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">A ship keeps raising its hull; </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">The wetter ground like glass </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">Reflects a standing gull. </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: verdana;">The land may vary more; </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">But wherever the truth may be--- </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">The water comes ashore, </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">And the people look at the sea. </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">They cannot look out far. </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">They cannot look in deep. </p> <p style="font-family: verdana;">But when was that ever a bar </p> <span style="font-family:verdana;">To any watch they keep?</span><br /><br />~Robert Frost<br /> <span style="font-size:78%;">Thanks to Andrew Sullivan</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-69170060651128321922009-08-27T16:37:00.000-06:002009-08-25T16:42:16.689-06:00Reality<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SpRoFuKwC_I/AAAAAAAADsU/Vx658C0Cnzo/s1600-h/6a00d8341c562c53ef0115719f707f970b-800wi.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SpRoFuKwC_I/AAAAAAAADsU/Vx658C0Cnzo/s400/6a00d8341c562c53ef0115719f707f970b-800wi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374034702861601778" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">"If you seek reality </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">you must set yourself free </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">of all backgrounds, of all cultures, </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">of all patterns of thinking and feeling. </span></div> <div> </div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">Even the idea of being man or woman, </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">or even human should be discarded.</span></div> <div> </div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">The ocean of life contains all, </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">not only humans. </span></div> <div> </div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">So, first of all abandon all self-identification, </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">stop thinking of yourself as such-and-such </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">or so-and-so, this or that.</span></div> <div> </div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">Abandon all self-concern, </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">worry not about your welfare, </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">material or spiritual.</span></div> <div> </div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">Abandon every desire, gross or subtle, </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">stop thinking of achievement of any kind. </span></div> <div> </div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">You are complete here and now, </span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">you need absolutely nothing." </span></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">--Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-83596128460189589972009-08-25T15:39:00.005-06:002009-08-25T15:53:05.334-06:00WHAT IF EVERYTHING'S ALIVE AND CONSCIOUS?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SpRdNRGyAaI/AAAAAAAADsM/Re0wlyJrITY/s1600-h/351827018_326ac36741.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SpRdNRGyAaI/AAAAAAAADsM/Re0wlyJrITY/s400/351827018_326ac36741.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374022737871372706" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />"If the universe is alive, if solar systems are alive, if galaxies are alive, if</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"> planets are alive, are they conscious? Or are they alive but unconscious,</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"> in the same way that perhaps a worm or a bacterium might be alive but</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"> unconscious? And is the kind of life that may exist in the cosmos more</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"> conscious than ourselves, or do we have to assume it's a great deal less</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"> conscious than ourselves? Are we the smartest beings in the universe?</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"> Now the usual answer of science is yes. I think that's a very improbable</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"> assumption."<br /></span><a href="http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j20/sheldrake.asp">Rupert Sheldrake</a> "Physics of Angels"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-16641847912877694752009-08-23T19:27:00.010-06:002009-08-23T22:42:49.575-06:00Ribhu Gita 10 -33<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SpIIUypO7EI/AAAAAAAADr8/iAfIEYZi-K0/s1600-h/Arunachala+Coolness.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 147px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SpIIUypO7EI/AAAAAAAADr8/iAfIEYZi-K0/s400/Arunachala+Coolness.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373366458691546178" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />10. Then, addressing Nidagha, Ribhu said: I shall tell you<br />about the definition of the Self, which is not available in<br />all the triad of time--past, present, and future-- </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />11. ever the most secret of the secret, by summarizing<br />what has been expounded by Siva. There is nothing that<br />can be talked of as non-Self, neither the mind as the<br />non-Self, nor the world as the non-Self. Be of the certitude<br />that there is nothing that is non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />12. By the absence of all sankalpas, by the elimination<br />of all forms, by the conviction of there being only Brahman,<br />be of the certitude that there is not anything that is non- Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />13. In the absence of mind, there is no thinking; in the<br />absence of the body, there is no aging. With the conviction<br />of there being only Brahman, be of the certitude that there<br />is no non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />14. Because of the absence of feet, there is no walking;<br />because of the absence of hands, there is no work. There<br />being only Brahman alone, be of the certitude that there<br />is no non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />15. Because of the absence of Brahma, the Creator, there is<br />no world; in the absence thereof, there is no Hari, the<br />sustainer. There being only Brahman alone, be of the<br />certitude that there is no non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />16. In the absence of aging, there is no death; nor is there<br />the world or the Vedas or the gods. There being only<br />Brahman alone, be of the certitude that there is no non- Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />17. There is no dharma (righteous conduct), no purity, no<br />[concept of] truth, no fear. There being only Brahman<br />alone, be of the certitude that there is no non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />18. Because there is no decay, there is no movement.<br />Because there is no decay, there is no insentience. There<br />being only Brahman alone, be of the certitude that there is<br />no non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />19. The Guru, indeed, does not exist; truly, there is no<br />disciple. There being only Brahman alone, be of the certitude<br />that there is no non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />20. There being nothing that is the first, there is nothing<br />that is the second; there being no second, there is nothing<br />as the first. If there is the concept of truth, something as<br />nontruth will also arise. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />21. If there be any concept of nontruth, a concept of truth<br />will also arise, with it. If there is inauspiciousness, know<br />that thereis a notion of auspiciousness. Likewise, if there is<br />auspiciousness, there will be inauspiciousness.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />22. If you think of fearlessness, fear is postulated; fear is<br />concomitant with fearlessness. There being only Brahman<br />alone, be of the certitude that there is no non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />23. If there is bondage, there is liberation; in the absence<br />of bondage, there is no liberation. If there is death, there<br />is birth; in the absence of birth, there is no death either.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">24. If there is "you," there is" I;" if there is no "you," there<br />is no "I." If there is "this," there is "that;" in the absence<br />of "that," there is no "this" either. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />25. "If it is there" implies something not being there; "it is<br />not there" implies something being there. If there is an<br />effect, there is some cause; in the absence of effect, there<br />is no cause. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />26. If there is duality, there is (a concept of) nonduality; in<br />the absence of duality, there is no (concept of) nonduality<br />either. If there is something to be "seen," a seer is also<br />there; in the absence of anything to see, there is no seer<br />at all either. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />27. If there is an interior, there surely is an exterior; if<br />there be no interior, there is also no exterior. If there be<br />(a concept of) completeness, it implies something of<br />incompleteness. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />28. If there is a little that can be thought of, it becomes<br />all in no time; if there is not a little--nothing whatsoever<br />of anything at anytime--nothing arises. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />29. Therefore, all this does not exist in the least at any<br />time: neither you nor I, neither this nor that. There being<br />only Brahman alone, be of the certitude that there is no<br />non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />30. There is nothing by way of example in this world, nor<br />is there anything for which an example is to be given. There<br />being only Brahman alone, be of the certitude that there is<br />no non-Self. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />31. There is no mind to think, "I am the Supreme Brahman,"<br />"This universe is only Brahman alone," "You are also only<br />Brahman." </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />32. I am Consciousness, and there is no non-Self. Be of this<br />certitude. Thus, in brief, the definition of the Self has been<br />told to you. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />33. By hearing this once, one becomes Brahman oneself. </span><br /><br />- Excerpt from the Ribhu Gita, translated from the original Sanskrit<br />by Dr. H. Ramamoorthy and Master NomeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-79735367334401113922009-08-21T02:14:00.004-06:002009-08-21T02:50:18.945-06:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/So5fuZ-lYDI/AAAAAAAADr0/J-MHwg-Xftg/s1600-h/martiansunset.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/So5fuZ-lYDI/AAAAAAAADr0/J-MHwg-Xftg/s400/martiansunset.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372336656351584306" border="0" /></a><br /><div>The momentum for this cosmic Game is created whenever<br />you pretend that what isn't, somehow, is far superior to what<br />is. Although this belief keeps you focused on a never-ending<br />journey towards happiness, enlightenment, etc., it also<br />guarantees that you will never reach a point of permanent<br />satisfaction and peace. Why? Because this whole notion of<br />being on a `journey-to-fulfillment' is actually the secret<br />method that the desperate ego uses in order to survive in<br />the face of personal annihilation by Consciousness. </div> <div> </div> <div>In other words, as long as the ego stays more focused on<br />making the `journey,' it can continue to avoid disappearing<br />entirely in the blinding realization of the true identity of the<br />mystic `traveler.' This frenzied activity around pursuing<br />enlightenment helps the ego to maintain a sense of personal<br />doership. When what is not present is perceived as better<br />than what is present, the precious reality contained in this<br />very moment is inwardly resisted. However, Consciousness<br />has no opposite, it's the only thing that's present, and it can<br />never really change into `what isn't.' </div> <div> </div> <div>It just is what it is. However, by pretending that `something<br />else is better,' the ego hopes to survive by enthusiastically<br />pursuing the disowned `other.' Of course, the cosmic joke, is<br />that the ego is caught on a selfgenerated treadmill because it<br />already `is' what it is looking for. </div> <div> </div> <div>The valiant struggle to be enlightened secretly protects the ego<br />from being exposed as the phantom it truly is. As long as the<br />search continues unabated, the searcher is validated as being<br />separate from the very thing that he is searching for. </div> <div> </div> <div>But, in Truth, we can never really run away from ourselves<br />because we already are who we are running from, and we<br />already are where we are running to.</div> <div> </div> <div>-Chuck Hillig </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-12453758189241779292009-08-18T23:27:00.006-06:002009-08-19T00:45:21.667-06:00Twigs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SouPMlsY7vI/AAAAAAAADrk/W4h_e4RAZKQ/s1600-h/13046-twigs-f56.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SouPMlsY7vI/AAAAAAAADrk/W4h_e4RAZKQ/s400/13046-twigs-f56.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371544427008945906" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >(excerpt)</span></div> <div align="center"> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >And so </span></div> <div> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >it has taken me </span></div> <div> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >all of sixty years </span></div> <div> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >to understand </span></div> <div> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >that water is the finest drink, </span></div> <div> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >and bread the most delicious food, </span></div> <div> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >and that art is worthless </span></div> <div> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >unless it plants </span></div> <div> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" >a measure of splendor in people's hearts.<br /></span><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:130%;" ><br />~ Taha Muhammad Ali ~</span><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-16567208759753024372009-07-31T20:02:00.002-06:002009-07-31T20:06:44.434-06:00The Path<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SnOjKT1J7pI/AAAAAAAADiY/PySlbdtVPfE/s1600-h/cinder_firecloud.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SnOjKT1J7pI/AAAAAAAADiY/PySlbdtVPfE/s400/cinder_firecloud.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364810978645634706" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">All of us are apprenticed to the same teacher<br />that the religious institutions originally worked<br />with: reality. Reality-insight says ... master<br />the twenty-four hours. Do it well, without self-<br />pity. It is as hard to get the children herded<br />into the car pool and down the road to the bus<br />as it is to chant sutras in the Buddha-hall on<br />a cold morning. One move is not better than the<br />other, each can be quite boring, and they both<br />have the virtuous quality of repetition.<br /><br />Repetition and ritual and their good results<br />come in many forms. Changing the filter, wiping<br />noses, going to meetings, picking up around the<br />house, washing dishes, checking the dipstick-don't<br />let yourself think these are distracting you from<br />your more serious pursuits. Such a round of chores<br />is not a set of difficulties we hope to escape<br />from so that we may do our "practice" which will<br />put us on a "path"-it is our path.<br /><br />- GARY SNYDER, 'The Practice of the Wild'</span><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-77671083425824808292009-07-25T21:50:00.000-06:002009-07-10T21:59:13.383-06:00I Am That<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SlgN0XnOCMI/AAAAAAAADho/7FgoDj9hnUY/s1600-h/catseye-749258.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SlgN0XnOCMI/AAAAAAAADho/7FgoDj9hnUY/s400/catseye-749258.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357046950100076738" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:large;"><br /><br />“<em>What you are looking for is what is looking</em>.” </span><br /><span style=";font-family:";" >Saint Francis of Assisi</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-11710883514879715072009-07-21T02:51:00.002-06:002009-07-21T02:55:53.562-06:00Now is the Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SmWCUu95HLI/AAAAAAAADiQ/-LP-TrL76v0/s1600-h/6639153-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SmWCUu95HLI/AAAAAAAADiQ/-LP-TrL76v0/s400/6639153-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360834224171064498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(57, 30, 35);font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;" ><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Now is the time to know<br />That all that you do is sacred.<br /><br />Now, why not consider<br />A lasting truce with yourself and God.<br /><br />Now is the time to understand<br />That all your ideas of right and wrong<br />Were just a child's training wheels<br />To be laid aside<br />When you finally live<br />With veracity<br />And love.<br /><br />Hafiz is a divine envoy<br />Whom the Beloved<br />Has written a holy message upon.<br /><br />My dear, please tell me,<br />Why do you still<br />Throw sticks at your heart<br />And God?<br /><br />What is it in that sweet voice inside<br />That incites you to fear?<br /><br />Now is the time for the world to know<br />That every thought and action is sacred.<br /><br />This is the time<br />For you to compute the impossibility<br />That there is anything<br />But Grace.<br /><br />Now is the season to know<br />That everything you do<br />Is sacred. </span></span></div> <div align="center"> </div> <div align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">~ Hafiz ~</span></span></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-69080383787766774062009-07-15T00:19:00.003-06:002009-07-15T00:23:08.481-06:00sheeple<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/Sl11RogKXkI/AAAAAAAADhw/u5Dm9EI_QII/s1600-h/sheeple.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 375px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/Sl11RogKXkI/AAAAAAAADhw/u5Dm9EI_QII/s400/sheeple.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358568077431299650" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://xkcd.com/610/"><br />XKCD</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-19234303091661070582009-07-12T19:56:00.000-06:002009-07-10T20:28:46.797-06:00Sunday Sermon VI<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/Slf0OMUt4EI/AAAAAAAADhY/bd4G1Foeoaw/s1600-h/meister-eckhart-712106.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 167px; height: 204px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/Slf0OMUt4EI/AAAAAAAADhY/bd4G1Foeoaw/s400/meister-eckhart-712106.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357018806443958338" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The teachings of Advaita have resonated with me for some time. When I hear the words, "I am that", something in me knows that it's true. I know on a cellular level that I am not <span style="font-style: italic;">this</span>. I'm not what I think I am. Neither are you. We've bought into this incredibly convincing story about ourselves, and the illusion is so real that we believe it without question. We cling to our stories, we <span style="font-style: italic;">become</span> our stories, and seemingly there's no alternative to the attachment. Pain, joy, jealousy, lust - we're caught in a web of emotions, and the only escape is to numb ourselves with painkillers or to take ourselves out of the game completely. Or so it would seem.<br /><br />But there's another way out. Recognize the illusion. See the emotions and the circumstances of your life for what they are - persuasive stories. Notice who's at the center of each story, and who's always "right". That in itself should tell you that something is amiss. We should be so tired of spinning our stories, but we go right on doing it, and thus the pain persists.<br /><br />Advaita teaches that there is only a nondual universe, and everything is made from the same soup, and that soup is God (or Brahman, or <span style="font-style: italic;">That</span>). So instead of being an independent ego that runs around making itself the center of every story, you're actually <span style="font-style: italic;">That</span>. It's the most mind- and ego-blowing piece of information that you'll ever receive, and something inside you resonates when you hear it. Advaita shows up in Christianity as well: Saint Francis (pictured above) said, "What you are looking for is what is looking." And Meister Eckhart: <span>"The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me." All the enlightened ones knew it, embodied it, and tried to show us that we too are <span style="font-style: italic;">it</span>. You <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> it. There's nothing that you have to do. Running around and trying to find it would be like searching hither and thither for your own nose. Just relax, take a deep breath, let go of all effort, and there it is - you've found your nose. Awakening to your true nature is like this. It's so simple that almost everyone misses it.<br /><br />I love the simplicity of Advaita. It's so counterintuitive to our culture. We think we need to work hard to gain anything, and in most cases that's true enough. But not when it comes to enlightenment. There's nothing to achieve. Just a simple recognition of what is, and that's </span><span style="font-style: italic;">That</span><span>.</span></div> <div style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><span></span> </div> <div style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><span>-Meg Hitchcock</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-62364918799987361212009-07-06T20:01:00.002-06:002009-07-06T20:15:03.132-06:00Caretake This Moment<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SlKvnhvPxPI/AAAAAAAADek/N0t9jjAu6v8/s1600-h/temple_of_hephaistos-7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 371px; height: 278px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SlKvnhvPxPI/AAAAAAAADek/N0t9jjAu6v8/s400/temple_of_hephaistos-7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355536000503235826" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >Immerse yourself in its particulars.<br />Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed.<br /><br />Quit the evasions.<br />Stop giving yourself needless trouble.<br />It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now.<br />You are not some disinterested bystander.<br />Exert yourself.<br /><br />Respect your partnership with providence.<br />Ask yourself often, How may I perform this particular deed<br />such that it would be consistent with and acceptable to the divine will?<br />Heed the answer and get to work.<br /><br />When your doors are shut and your room is dark you are not alone.<br />The will of nature is within you as your natural genius is within.<br />Listen to its importunings.<br />Follow its directives.<br /><br />As concerns the art of living, the material is your own life.<br />No great thing is created suddenly.<br />There must be time.<br /><br />Give your best and always be kind.</span> <br /><br />~ <a href="http://www.answers.com/Epictetus?gwp=11&ver=2.4.0.651&method=3">Epictetus</a> ~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-67682350406025635892009-07-04T07:15:00.000-06:002009-06-05T17:54:50.939-06:00Parade<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SimtGezMQeI/AAAAAAAADaw/2UnYqdynhZY/s1600-h/1+PARADE+%28Doughboys%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SimtGezMQeI/AAAAAAAADaw/2UnYqdynhZY/s400/1+PARADE+%28Doughboys%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343992759710400994" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >Peter says if you’re going to talk about suffering<br />you have to mention pleasure too.</span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >Like the way, on the day of the parade, on Forbes Avenue,<br />one hundred parking tickets flutter<br />under the windshield wipers of one hundred parked cars.</span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >The accordion band will be along soon,<br />and the famous Flying Pittsburgettes,<br />and it’s summer and the sun is shining on the inevitable flags—</span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >Something weird to admire this week on TV:<br />the handsome face of the white supremacist on trial.<br />How he looks right back at the lawyers, day after day<br />—never objecting, never making an apology.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">I look at his calm, untroubled face<br />and think, <em>That</em> <em>motherfucker is going to die white and right,</em></span><em><br /></em><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" > disappointing everyone like me<br />who thinks that punishment should be a kind of education.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">My attitude is like what God says in the Bible:<br /> <em>Love your brother, or be destroyed.</em></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Then Moses or somebody says back to God,<br /> <em>If I love you,</em></span><em><br /><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><em> will you destroy my enemies?</em><br /></span></em><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">and God says—this is in translation—, <em>No Problemo. </em></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >Here, everyone is talking about the price of freedom,<br />and about how we as a people are united in our down payment.<br />about how we will fight to the very bottom of our bank account.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">And the sky is so blue it looks like it may last forever<br />and the skinny tuba player goes <em>oompahpah</em></span><em><br /></em><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >and everybody cheers.</span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >In the big store window of the travel agency downtown,<br />a ten-foot sign says, WE WILL NEVER FORGET.</span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >The letters have been cut with scissors out of blue construction paper<br />and pasted carefully to the sign by someone’s hand.</span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >What I want to know is, who will issue the ticket<br /> for improper use of the collective pronoun?</span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >What I want to know is, who will find and punish the maker<br /> of these impossible promises?</span></p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" >Tony Hoagland</span><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="color:white;"></span><em style="">from What Narcissism Means to Me; Greywolf Press, 2003</em></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-34233424812103508152009-07-04T03:03:00.001-06:002009-07-03T00:01:29.807-06:00Kris Johnson July 4, 1951 - January 5, 1985TOO MANY NAMES<br /><br />Mondays are meshed with Tuesdays<br />and the week with the whole year.<br />Time cannot be cut<br />with your weary scissors,<br />and all the names of the day<br />are washed out by the waters of night.<br /><br />No one can claim the name of Pedro,<br />nobody is Rosa or Maria,<br />all of us are dust or sand,<br />all of us are rain under rain.<br />They have spoken to me of Venezuelas,<br />of Chiles and of Paraguays;<br />I have no idea what they are saying.<br />I know only the skin of the earth<br />and I know it is without a name.<br /><br />When I lived amongst the roots<br />they pleased me more than flowers did,<br />and when I spoke to a stone<br />it rang like a bell.<br /><br />It is so long, the spring<br />which goes on all winter.<br />Time lost its shoes.<br />A year is four centuries.<br /><br />When I sleep every night,<br />what am I called or not called?<br />And when I wake, who am I<br />if I was not while I slept?<br /><br />This means to say that scarcely<br />have we landed into life<br />than we come as if new-born;<br />let us not fill our mouths<br />with so many faltering names,<br />with so many sad formalities,<br />with so many pompous letters,<br />with so much of yours and mine,<br />with so much of signing of papers.<br /><br />I have a mind to confuse things,<br />unite them, bring them to birth,<br />mix them up, undress them,<br />until the light of the world<br />has the oneness of the ocean,<br />a generous, vast wholeness,<br />a crepitant fragrance.<br /><a href="http://www.answers.com/Pablo+Neruda?gwp=11&ver=2.4.0.651&method=3"><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:100%;" >Pablo Neruda</span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-48057403437301347512009-07-01T14:35:00.007-06:002009-07-31T20:12:01.585-06:00Tarantulas on the Lifebuoy<div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SkvJ1TO7CtI/AAAAAAAADeE/h5qvFAKNWJw/s1600-h/Tarantula.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 350px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/SkvJ1TO7CtI/AAAAAAAADeE/h5qvFAKNWJw/s400/Tarantula.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353594499593079506" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_JustifyLeft" title="Align Left" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 10);ButtonMouseDown(this);"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Align Left" class="gl_align_left" border="0" /></span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif';font-size:12pt;" ><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif';font-size:12pt;" ><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />For some semitropical reason<br />when the rains fall<br />relentlessly they fall<br /><br />into swimming pools, these otherwise<br />bright and scary<br />arachnids. They can swim<br />a little, but not for long<br /><br />and they can't climb the ladder out.<br />They usually drown - but<br />if you want their favor,<br />if you believe there is justice,<br />a reward for not loving<br /><br />the death of ugly<br />and even dangerous (the eel, hog snake,<br />rats) creatures, if<br /><br />you believe these things, then<br />you would leave a lifebuoy<br />or two in your swimming pool at night.<br /><br />And in the morning<br />you would haul ashore<br />the huddled, hairy survivors<br /><br />and escort them<br />back to the bush, and know,<br />be assured that at least these saved,<br />as individuals, would not turn up<br /><br />again someday<br />in your hat, drawer,<br />or the tangled underworld<br /><br />of your socks, and that even -<br />when your belief in justice<br />merges with your belief in dreams -<br />they may tell the others<br /><br />in a sign language<br />four times as subtle<br />and complicated as man's<br /><br />that you are good,<br />that you love them,<br />that you would save them again<br /></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Lux"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif';font-size:12pt;" ><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Thomas Lux</span></span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-49244742192776035522009-06-29T23:29:00.002-06:002009-06-29T23:38:38.787-06:00Classification Is A Human Achievement<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">To see and feel nature from within means not asking what the world is. Classification is a human achievement which separates the human from nature--and separation always means conflict and unhappiness.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Continuous change and ultimate destruction after a certain duration is the very nature of all phenomena. Adversity and prosperity, happiness and misery, birth and death are inescapable aspects of the natural process of causality, but it is only anxiety and nothing else that is the root cause of suffering in this world. The man of wisdom, divorced from his senses, wants nothing, grieves for nothing, and fears nothing, and thus he lives in total freedom from anxiety.<br /></span>Ramesh S. BalsekarUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-34821087467641388692009-06-28T12:12:00.003-06:002009-06-28T12:24:37.846-06:00Sunday Sermon VI invite you to listen really deeply and with your whole body, every cell, to the wordless invisible Aliveness that is here. Say yes to being no one. Yes to resting in Nothing. Yes to open palmed, emptied-out pockets, open-hearted clueless offering of your whole being to just right here. Good-bye cleverness, good-bye being right, good-bye getting ahead, good-bye being on top. Welcome to nowhere.<br /><br />Let everything die here. Let everything be washed away here. Let yourself be made so new, bathed in your own Innocent being. Giving over everything else to the Ocean and letting it dissolve like salt.<br /><br />We must be emptied over and over and over. We must empty as the Holy, before the Holy, humbled, nothing, offered, waiting on nothing, listening deeply to nothing.<br /><br />We are much vaster than our minds can conceive. We must be charmed, tricked, invited, welcomed, kept company with, to drop out of our everyday social reality, into right here.<br /><br />We want to be moved by something other than fear. We have to let the winds come and the rains come and the storms come and be pushed to the ground. We must cling to It, beg Its mercy for every foolish moment that we thought that we were someone and could get somewhere without This.<br /><br />Dare to say the dangerous prayer: Holy Nothing, take everything that's not You and leave me here, naked, stripped of every pretending and striving. Only in the Nothing, only as Nothing, only as No One, will I ever find what I'm looking for. So take my quest for enlightenment and take my fears that I'm a schmuck and just leave me here without a clue, completely open. No idea what I am or where I'm going. Just here, the quiet open, waiting for your Breath to play me.<br /><br />We don't need any improvement. We don't need anything more. We just need to stop and notice. And let be whatever's here, meet it. Until we have the kind of heart that's so empty for having kissed everything in it, that it can kiss anything and call it Beloved.<br /><br />There are a few kinds of peace. There's one that can be shattered because it's based on quiet music and having things just the way we feel comfortable having them. There's that kind of peace, which is a relative peace. And then there's the peace that is always here, if we check, as this content-less awareness looking out of our eyes. That content-less awareness that all of our freak-outs arise in, is never freaked out.<br /><br />To be a sensitive squishy being in a loud world hurts sometimes. To witness cruelty, or to have it aimed at us, hurts. That's not a mistake. It's not a shortcoming. This is the nature of being alive and in the raw moment, is that things that are delusion, hurt.<br /><br />We think when our hearts start to melt that there's something wrong. When the heart starts to ache we start to become so sensitive to the smallest hatred, whether at us or someone hating themselves. We think that's all wrong, that we're supposed to transcend all that and just smile. The only true transcendence, truly embodied transcendence, happens by meeting everything and kissing it right on the face. Anything else is an escape.<br /><br />We are here for the Holy to unfold through us. There is not a single one left out of that. Not a single one in whom the process of unfolding is not happening, just perfectly.<br /><br />- Jeannie Zandi.<a href="http://jeanniezandi.com/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> http://jeanniezandi.com/</span></a> .Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11077770.post-658656791524081322009-06-28T11:13:00.007-06:002009-07-02T23:50:57.554-06:00Stonewall June 28, 1969 - June 28, 2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/Skeoy0xSj1I/AAAAAAAADdk/SDuydZ1fvJc/s1600-h/ChaeroniaMemorial.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F5IqafUNxqc/Skeoy0xSj1I/AAAAAAAADdk/SDuydZ1fvJc/s400/ChaeroniaMemorial.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352432273265430354" border="0" /></a><br /><i><br /><br /><br /><br />"Perish miserably they who think that these men did or suffered aught disgraceful."<br /></i>Philip II of Macedon<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><br /><br />Statue erected at the mass grave of The Sacred<br />Band of Thebes, 300 male lovers annihilated by<br />Alexander at the Battle of Chaeronea, 338 BC</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0