Guest guest Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 "In 1999, I was working in New Jersey, directing the natural & organic foods division of a prominent nationwide wholesale distributor. After several decades in this business, I had achieved a level of success within my field that had brought me all the material and social blessings that I could have hoped for. Moreover, I was relatively free from illusions about any of it -- almost 3 decades of zen practice had disabused me of the notion that any of it amounted to anything. It was simply service, and I also recognized intuitively that none of it was my doing, that I was simply being used. This had always been my "prayer" -- that I might be an unobstructed instrument -- "not my will, but Thine". Nevertheless, even after many "kensho", which repeatedly had granted the confirming gift of "clear seeing", a certain dryness had crept into my soul, something I could never quite "put my finger on", but there regardless, patiently gnawing at my heart. Perhaps those who have delved deeply into Advaita might relate. At any rate, our office had just been wired for the internet, and I was naturally curious about this new capacity. I began by browsing into "spiritual" topics, and was amazed by what was available for perusal. One late morning, in between spreadsheets and store designs, I happened upon a site that featured a picture of Mother Meera. I had recently come across an article in a magazine about her, but I was unprepared for what followed. As her murti photo slowly opened on my screen, I fell into a stunned silence, and over an hour passed by before I was even able to inhale. I then rose, shaken, from my desk, informed my secretary that I was going out for lunch, and drove to a near-by pond to walk along the banks and let what had just "happened" sort itself out. Within moments, I found my gaze lifted towards the sky, and as I glimpsed the brilliant sun above my head, it felt as if Meera reached in and squeezed my heart till it simply burst from the pressure. A waterfalling cascade of deep sobbing tears erupted from my core, searing me like volcanic lava. I fell down on my knees, utterly overwhelmed and engulfed in Mercy. This was like nothing I could have ever imagined! I was devastated by the experience, as if a totally new organ had spontaneously developed in my chest, and I could not cease from weeping constantly over the coming months. All my previous experiences could not touch this -- it was a totally vulnerable openess to the slightest appearance of anything, coupled with a tender rawness that found me broken open and flooded by a love I had no name for. Although I had toyed with poetry back in college, I hadn't written a word for 30 years, but now I suddenly could not stop -- it was as if something urgently wanted to communicate itself, and I was merely the vehicle for this lovingness that wanted to express itself through me. After several months of this "communion", I received an interior guidance from Meera, turning me over to an odd character I had never heard of -- Nisargadatta Maharaj. I had never been attracted to Hinduism, especially with my zen background, but a woman friend who was undergoing cancer surgery told me during a hospital visit with her that she had no idea why, but she felt compelled to offer me a book that had come into her possession. It was a book of dialogues with Sri Niz. Every day at lunch I read several paragraphs, and then spent the rest of the time allowing Niz's words to penetrate. When Niz took over the steering wheel, I was of course a "goner", and it was "Mr. Natural" who also referred me to Ramana. Ramana then kindly led me to Mazie. Isn't life interesting?" LoveAlways Mazie & b Get a FREE online virus check for your PC here, from McAfee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 Dearest Mazie thank you for sharing with me this wonderful story. I loved it and it reminded me on grace I experienced. B u t sorry I might be very stupid at the moment w h o is telling this story? Bob who Murti-Version? Glance? and who is the woman on the picture' Please let me know! Tku so much love michael bindel >"Mazie Lane" > >To: > Bob's Murti-Version of Grace by Glance >Fri, 16 Jan 2004 07:18:52 -0800 > MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* Bcc: "Mazie Lane" sraddha54 Mailing-List: list ; contact -owner Fri, 16 Jan 2004 07:18:52 -0800 Bob's Murti-Version of Grace by Glance Dearest Friends, an offering from my Beloved Bob of Grace by Glance... "In 1999, I was working in New Jersey, directing the natural & organic foods division of a prominent nationwide wholesale distributor. After several decades in this business, I had achieved a level of success within my field that had brought me all the material and social blessings that I could have hoped for. Moreover, I was relatively free from illusions about any of it -- almost 3 decades of zen practice had disabused me of the notion that any of it amounted to anything. It was simply service, and I also recognized intuitively that none of it was my doing, that I was simply being used. This had always been my "prayer" -- that I might be an unobstructed instrument -- "not my will, but Thine". Nevertheless, even after many "kensho", which repeatedly had granted the confirming gift of "clear seeing", a certain dryness had crept into my soul, something I could never quite "put my finger on", but there regardless, patiently gnawing at my heart. Perhaps those who have delved deeply into Advaita might relate. At any rate, our office had just been wired for the internet, and I was naturally curious about this new capacity. I began by browsing into "spiritual" topics, and was amazed by what was available for perusal. One late morning, in between spreadsheets and store designs, I happened upon a site that featured a picture of Mother Meera. I had recently come across an article in a magazine about her, but I was unprepared for what followed. As her murti photo slowly opened on my screen, I fell into a stunned silence, and over an hour passed by before I was even able to inhale. I then rose, shaken, from my desk, informed my secretary that I was going out for lunch, and drove to a near-by pond to walk along the banks and let what had just "happened" sort itself out. Within moments, I found my gaze lifted towards the sky, and as I glimpsed the brilliant sun above my head, it felt as if Meera reached in and squeezed my heart till it simply burst from the pressure. A waterfalling cascade of deep sobbing tears erupted from my core, searing me like volcanic lava. I fell down on my knees, utterly overwhelmed and engulfed in Mercy. This was like nothing I could have ever imagined! I was devastated by the experience, as if a totally new organ had spontaneously developed in my chest, and I could not cease from weeping constantly over the coming months. All my previous experiences could not touch this -- it was a totally vulnerable openess to the slightest appearance of anything, coupled with a tender rawness that found me broken open and flooded by a love I had no name for. Although I had toyed with poetry back in college, I hadn't written a word for 30 years, but now I suddenly could not stop -- it was as if something urgently wanted to communicate itself, and I was merely the vehicle for this lovingness that wanted to express itself through me. After several months of this "communion", I received an interior guidance from Meera, turning me over to an odd character I had never heard of -- Nisargadatta Maharaj. I had never been attracted to Hinduism, especially with my zen background, but a woman friend who was undergoing cancer surgery told me during a hospital visit with her that she had no idea why, but she felt compelled to offer me a book that had come into her possession. It was a book of dialogues with Sri Niz. Every day at lunch I read several paragraphs, and then spent the rest of the time allowing Niz's words to penetrate. When Niz took over the steering wheel, I was of course a "goner", and it was "Mr. Natural" who also referred me to Ramana. Ramana then kindly led me to Mazie. Isn't life interesting?" LoveAlways Mazie & b Get a FREE online virus check for your PC here, from McAfee. /join "Love itself is the actual form of God." Sri Ramana In "Letters from Sri Ramanasramam" by Suri Nagamma/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2004 Report Share Posted January 17, 2004 , "MICHAEL BINDEL" <michael_bindel@h...> wrote: >Dearest Mazie thank you for sharing with me this wonderful story. I loved it and it reminded me on grace I experienced. B u t sorry I might be very stupid at the moment w h o is telling this story? Bob who Murti-Version? Glance? and who is the woman on the picture' Please let me know! Tku so much love michael bindel Hello and Good Day Michael, This story was told by my Sigoth...(I just made that up, Michael, for significent otter, er other) Bob OHearn, my Mashuq (Hafiz's word for SweetHeart) wrote the story. Murti-version was used because the pictures and statues of sages, saints and deities are sometimes called "Murtis." Grace by Glance is something that Sri Ramana is often attributed as having done to those who see his picture or his form. Grace by Glance, and how! The photograph is of Mother Meera. LoveToYou, Michael, Mazie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2004 Report Share Posted January 18, 2004 Wonderful Sunday Mazie thanks for helping me Grace by Glance this I do experience so often looking at the pictures of Ramana tku for sharing! Mother Meera picture touched me! please explain Sigoth....... be embraced michael bindel difficult with so many michaels around to distinguish who is who?! >"mazie_l" > >To: > Re: Bob's Murti-Version of Grace by Glance >Sat, 17 Jan 2004 14:55:49 -0000 > >, "MICHAEL BINDEL" > wrote: > > >Dearest Mazie > >thank you for sharing with me this wonderful story. >I loved it and it reminded me on grace I experienced. >B u t >sorry I might be very stupid at the moment > >w h o is telling this story? >Bob who >Murti-Version? >Glance? >and who is the woman on the picture' >Please let me know! >Tku so much >love >michael bindel > >Hello and Good Day Michael, > >This story was told by my Sigoth...(I just made that up, Michael, for >significent otter, er other) Bob OHearn, my Mashuq (Hafiz's word for >SweetHeart) wrote the story. Murti-version was used because the >pictures and statues of sages, saints and deities are sometimes >called "Murtis." Grace by Glance is something that Sri Ramana is >often attributed as having done to those who see his picture or his >form. Grace by Glance, and how! > >The photograph is of Mother Meera. > >LoveToYou, Michael, > >Mazie > Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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