ShivAllahSita sutra 38

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The true person of God rises and eats...

and sleeps and marries and buys and sells...

and never forgets the Infinite for a single moment.~Abu Sa'id

 

I am not the image you have of me --that is what disappears when what

I am is seen to be exactlywhat you are, moment to moment,and it is

so, for inevitablyyou must see that there isno divisibility, even

among these transitory forms and imagesto which we so poignantly

cling, and which become our poignant suffering as we do so.

~b

When you see through this one instant,you see through the one who sees.~Wu-men (1183-1260)

 

I set out late at night to converse with the onewho spreads the sky

table with a fresh cloth of dawn. Within each tear I shed for the

spread are athousand peacocks with no time to mourn.When they open

their mouths and cry to heaven,the night flies away on the wings of

dawn.Standing mid-stream in the river's caress,all names are washed

clean in the solvent of dawn.Before time began all the warriors were

dead,curled up in blue caskets on the altar of dawn.The blissful

serenity of the late-night campfireholds no torch to the blaze at

dawn.People in love with the fragrance of babieswill trade all their

stars for the bright kiss of dawn.I rise up to daybreak like a lover

of night, climb into star shoes and go out with the dawn.

~b

 

Let go of longing and aversionand all will become perfectly

clear.~Seng-Ts'an, 3rd founder of Zen (6th century)

 

I have been drunkfor as long as I can remember.I stagger through these

dreamy realms,clouds and sun alternating,unnoticed, unbidden.There is

no impedimentfor the mayflies swarmingaround my dizziness, drunk asI

am, drunk as they are on theintoxication of this Mystery.You might

ask a question nowfor which I have no answer.Whoever I think I am

–whatever I thought I was --that is what disappears.It is not happy,

not sad.There is a fine line where the sky touches the ocean.It

appears to be a line.There really is no line.This doesn't belong to

anyone,it doesn't occur to anyone.This Love floods out of

nowhere,sweeping the little leaves of belief and identity along in

acurrent of cool forgetfulness,a gentle drowning in the

swirlingfluidity of Love's watery simplicityOne can stop pretending

to be other than What Is – This Love --naked and innocent,Happy

without anyreason for Happiness.Lately all these costumes seem to

slip off of their own accord.Heart-pierced. Aimless.All is getting

done,mysteriously.Like melting snow in warmingSpring stream swooning,

the fascination with any destinydissolves in the flow – gradually,

timed to a perfection beyond mind's comprehension.In the letting go,

somethingapproaches a transparency.The dreamy sense of

independence,the perfume of some separate self-sense,sifts, wafts,

and weaves within thefull embrace of awareness, of limitless space

–changing perpetually, in harmony with ordinary circumstance,white

clouds vanishing in an immensity of blue.The need for meaningdrops

away in the bliss ofRemembrance, Remembranceprior to the arising of

anything at all,of any being, bird, or blessedness.The search for God

isconsumed by the God Whocannot be sought, cannot be found.Who Is. I

Am. This. Alone. Here is where we always meet –in this Silence.Here

is whereThis Love is real.

~b

 

Whether or not it is clear to you,the universe is unfolding as it should.~Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

 

"It is only from unimpeded activity, that the condition of rest can

ensue."*When the reins are finally released,the horse will run on its

own.In the high pasture near Cold Mountainhe has come to rest, grazing

in white fields of a wilder windwillowing down the canyon, binding

straps of the rider forgotten.

~b & *Lao Tzu

 

This is not an experience. This is me.I am awake. Finally, I am

awake.Nothing has changed, but I am awake.Before I tasted the root

many times and felt, how delicious.Today I became the root. How

ordinary.

~Adyashanti

Bewildering as this parade of forms may be, nothing we can do will

stop it,even if we try.We don't even have tolook the other way –it

winds around us.

~b

 

By ceasing to follow the mind's tendency to always want 'more',

'different', or 'better', one encounters the opportunity to be still.

In being still, a perspective is revealed which is free from all

ignorance and bondage to suffering. From that perspective, eternal

Self is realized. The eternal Self, the Seer, is recognized to be

one's true nature, one's very own Self.

This is an invitation to let all seeking end, all striving end, all

efforting end, all past identity end, all hopes end, and to discover

That which has no beginning or end. This is an invitation to discover

eternal, unborn, undying Truth of Being. The Truth of your Being, your

own Self. Let the entire movement of becoming end, and discover That

which has always been present at the core of your Being.

~Adyashanti

The winter snow melts and pours icy waterDown Cold Mountain.Falling

towards some destination,Some directionIt has no name for,The stream

becomes a riverAnd the river becomes the sea.The spring sky

liftsMoisture from the sea,Carrying it over rivers,Into streams,into

pools mirroring the skyOn the top of Cold Mountain.Stilling, spilling

and falling,Directionless, with no urgePrior to mind,Everything

appears To change from formTo formlessTo formTo formless.Endless,

timeless, spaceless –The Nameless never changes."These essences of

the truth enfold, immutably the same as of old.From the Old until

Now, its name remains unchanged."*~b & *Lao Tzu

 

Ramana Maharshi's gift to the world was not that he realized the Self.

Many people have had a deep realization of the Self. Ramana's real

gift was that he embodied that realization so thoroughly. It is one

thing to realize the Self; it is something else altogether to embody

that realization to the extent that there is no gap between inner

revelation and its outer expression. Many have glimpsed the

realization of Oneness; few consistently express that realization

through their humanness. It is one thing to touch a flame and know it

is hot, but quite another to jump into that flame and be consumed by

it.

~Adyashanti

 

Let's just let it march by, and throw streamers in the air, andlaugh

and clap at the clowns and scary costumed animals, and stare in

innocent wonder at the floats of flowers, woven into shapes so

strange with vague familiarity, and sweetly inhale the lingering

perfume of those bright blossoms, which we must realize are even now

wilting into dust and scattered petals along the boulevards once

filled with such a wonderful parade!

~b

 

Muki or liberation is our nature. It is another name for us.Our

wanting mukti is a very funny thing. It is like a man whois in the

shade, voluntarily leaving the shade, going into the sun,feeling the

severity of the heat there, making great efforts to getback to the

shade and then rejoicing, "How sweet is the shade!I have reached the

shade at last!" We are all doing exactly thesame. We are not

different from the reality. We imagine we aredifferent, that is we

create the bheda bhava [the feeling ofdifference] and then undergo

great sadhana [spiritual practices]to get rid of the bheda bhava and

realise the oneness. Whyimagine or create bheda bhava and then

destroy it?~Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

How do I know the Real?It's right before my eyes!It looks out at

itself throughthese sockets and then,absent-mindedly, as ifthey were

merely momentarily-regarded stones, lays them aside, somewhere along

the ridge that runs Cold Mountain, now irresistibly drawn to a view

that has no boundary in space, nolimit of visibility.I see what I

am.Manifest and Unmanifestare not different.The conflict has ended.

~b

Pass beyond form, escape from names!Flee titles and names toward meaning!~Rumi

 

What care have Ifor praise or blame?In the morningI wash in a clear

cool stream.At night, I rock amidst the stars, a babein the arms of

my Mother.The Spirit in the Vastness blossoms endlessly.It mothers

the childrencalled space and time."Ceaselessly, ceaselessly, It

nourishes and preserves: Inexhaustible, without effort."*~b & * Lao

Tzu

The person is a very small thing. Actually it is a composite,it cannot

be said to exist by itself. Unperceived, it is just notthere. It is

but the shadow of the mind, the sum total ofmemories. Pure being is

reflected in the mirror of the mind, asknowing. What is known takes

the shape of a person, based onmemory and habit. It is but a shadow,

or a projection of theknower onto the screen of the

mind.~Nisargadatta Maharaj

 

Free of distraction, unboundby the world's expectations, behold the

unfathomable One at playin forms of light and shadow,birth and death,

seen and unseen -- in essence identical, mysteriously the same andyet

unique. Primordial peace in a sea of gratitude,Its body is the

ancient.Yelp of a baby fresh from the womb, Its breath is the

ever-new.At the root of all creation,Its secret remains hidden,yet

never out of view.In the land of the lightlessIt abides as light.In

the realm of lightIt abides as darkness.Who can say It?When I offer

this poem to the fire,the smoke will wreath Cold Mountain. ~b

Four Questions:Who is awake and who asleep?What is this lake that is

continuallyoozing back into the earth?What can a human being offer to

God?What do we most deeply want?The Answers:The mind is what

sleeps.What recognizes itselfas God is awake.This always-disappearing

lakeis made of our appetites,these movings-about,this talking and

listening.The only offering you can make to Godis your increasing

awareness.And the last desire isto be God in human form.~Lalla

 

For everyone there is an obvious way --no need to imitateanyone

else.It is the easy path which appears most attractive,no serious

work at all!Effort can obscure the way, butso can lack of effort.Our

own way is always shiningbright before us.Each of us walks at a

certain speed,neither hurrying nor tarrying. All ways are excellent

--without the slightest deviationeach one takes each one home.~b

You are the Space which never moves and never travels.Inner and outer

space is due only to name and form.Remove this form from mind by

removing attachmentto any object, thought, or action.~Papaji

 

When my mind finally rested at peace,the world finally rested at

peace.There's nothing needed, sincenothing's missing.Neither lost in

things norfascinated by emptiness, neither saint nor sinner, I`m just

a simple foolcontent in my own laziness.

~b

Every man is where he is by the law of his being; thethoughts which he

has built into his character have broughthim there, and in the

arrangement of his life there is noelement of chance, but all is the

result of a law whichcannot err. This is just as true of those who

feel "out ofharmony" with their surroundings as of those who

arecontented with them.~As a Man ThinkthJames Allen

 

My days of compromise with the worldhave resolved in the same way

waterresolves, once frozen and unyielding on some snowy slope, now

slipping, splashing down the sides of Cold Mountain, melting in the

warming rays of springtime blooming in my heart.Oh look, my Friend,

and you will see:everywhere are rivers running earnestly to sea! ~b

To take appearance for reality is grievous and thecause of all

calamities. You are the all-pervading, eternaland infinitely creative

awareness - consciousness. All elseis local and temporary. Don't

forget what you are.~Nisargadatta Maharaj

 

Returning to the Source is not difficult.Believing one has even left

is that which clouds the way.Then a search is undertaken,confirming

its own necessity.For the lover, no obstacle istoo great on the path

to the beloved.Be a lover of truth andand open your heart toyour own

true way, shiningalways right before you.When that within andthat

without no longerclash in conflict, Source returns to itselfas you,

resolved of anydream of absence.

~b

 

What is not stable and permanent, let go.There is only one thing

left.Worlds and gods will disappear, but This will not.When you are

reminded of this keep your eye on it,not with the intention of having

it, but just to BE it!All the things you want are in the "let go"

category:House, wife, body, parents, gods, let go.What is left? What

cannot go? That you ARE!You cannot go because you have never comeand

anything that comes must go.Find out what it is.~Papaji

 

My mother cleaned the houseand cooked my meals, dressed meand taught

me about the death of all things,and about that which is eternal.She

always said:"Every day is a good day!"Last night I traveled to the

villagefor her burial, and as I wept, remembered her words.

~b

 

Realisation is nothing to be gained afresh; it is alreadythere. All

that is necessary is to get rid of the thought 'Ihave not

realised'.Stillness or peace is realisation. There is no momentwhen

the Self is not. So long as there is doubt or the feelingof

non-realisation, the attempt should be made to rid oneselfof these

thoughts. They are due to the identification of theSelf with the

not-Self. When the not-Self disappears, theSelf alone remains. To

make room, it is enough that objectsbe removed. Room is not brought

in from elsewhere.~Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Knowledge is a burden --the more the heavier --why do we feel the need

to carry it around as if it werea bag of birds struggling to

bereleased?When the noose is undone,something flies out andbreathes

easier.Our work is finished.The rest is for the birds.

~b

Ah Marge! When I learn new stuff it just pushes out

all the old stuff. Remember when I took that home

wine-making course and forgot how to drive!

~Homer Simpson

When we are softened and opened enough toaccept things as they

actually are, toaccept ourselves as we actually are,the old conflict,

the wantingit all to be something other thanit is, subsides.There is

great mercy here.One can allow the anxious animals tomove closer and

huddle next to us --all searching creatures of the daylight, yearning

for the welcoming embrace of an eternal night.Vastness pumps

itselfthrough every bloodstream,circling an oasis namedthe heart.The

heart is the Abode of Bliss,it has no boundary of flesh,thought,

feeling.This bloodstream originatesin the same source asanxious

animals,lovers, sense ofself.The energy required to resistand oppose

is the same thatpowers the contraption of clinging.I left that

rusting machine at the base ofCold Mountain, near the riverbank with

my uniform of reason, and now I float, naked on the currents, dazzled

by the glinting streambed stones passing swiftly beneath me.

~b

 

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