AW:

March 8, 2001

Hello Linda,

thanks for your lucid words which have struck some chord within me. I

don't think the Lord Buddha, or the Lord Jesus, or any of the great

ones, ever encouraged their disciples to speak much of their

spiritual attainments, or states of enlightenment. Rather, they

stressed the importance of the practical virtues, plus meditation or

prayer.

Tolstoy wrote this story about a Russian countess who went to see a

tragic opera in a Moscow theater. The play on the stage seemed to

move her deeply, and repeatedly during the performance she was heard

sobbing. When she left the theater the whole set of her silk

handkerchiefs was soaked with tears. Coming out into the street, the

countess looked for her coachman; she found him, slumped down, on the

seat of the coach. After giving him a sharp upbraiding for sleeping in

her presence, she had another servant open the door for her when

suddenly with a thud the coachman fell from his seat onto the

snow-covered sidewalk. While waiting in the icy winter night for the

end of the tragic opera, he had frozen to death.

Michael

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----Von: LC

[jyotish (AT) warwick (DOT) net]Gesendet: Thursday, March 08, 2001

22:54An: Betreff: Re:

Hi Holly,

Yes, some of us do have to get knocked around quite a bit before we

begin to get it. I also agree that loving life no matter what it

brings and acting from this "place" is the best possible service to

Life. However, I understand where Walter is coming from as sometimes

it seems that many speak of lofty ideals and lofty states of mind but

it is just another mask to cover pain. All too often the

"detachment" moves into a detachment from compassion, the theories of

karma and "who is it that is really suffering" provide a ready excuse

for not offering any assistance to others at all. There is a big

difference between action that looks easy coming from the peace of

compassionate enlightenment and the non-action that comes from the

self absorbed ego of the posturing enlightened.

Linda

>Yes. Some of us particularly stubborn folks had to be knocked around

by >several catastrophes before we started to wake up (I mean me, of

>course!). >Your passion is wonderful, Walt, and you are right to

observe that >complacency generates little of value and is often

dull. But there is >also a>quiet, vibrant joy that comes from loving

Life in Its entirety, the peace >that surpasseth all understanding.

It sounds insane, but one really can >sing>joy to the world in the

middle of disaster. In fact, I'll bet acting >from>this "place" is

the best possible service to Life.

Holly/joinAll paths go

somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights, perceptions,

and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside back

into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than

the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of

Awareness. Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. It

is Home. Home is where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the

Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee relishes in the Truth of

Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from within into It Self.

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