letter shared

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone.

 

"f. maiello" wrote:

> hariH OM!

>

> here's something i'd like to share...

>

> inquirer wrote:

> > .... I know that the myth that

> > suffering is bad is just that,

> > but don't really know the place of happiness.

>

> the place of happiness is within

> the relative world game, inextricably

> intertwined with sorrow--i.e. the

> mechanism in/of Relativity. yet this

> should be looked at as merely sport

> and not taken to Heart.

>

> now, it's the Heart where spirit abides.

> here lies the ineffable domain of bliss.

> and the connection therein lies beyond

> hands-on analytical pursuit [in/of the

> habit of the logical mind].

>

> the way there? there is no way there.

> for we are already quite there! what

> we need do is only remove the instrument

> diverting our awareness: the obsessive

> judgments of the reasonable Mind.

>

> we are automatically innately eternally

> the bliss-consciousness of pure Being.

> always were, always are, always will be...

>

> namaste

 

Thanks Frank it's so good to be reminded.

 

'Some day comes the Great Awakening

when we realize

that this life

is no more than a dream,

yet the foolish go on thinking

they are awake.'

 

Lao Tzu

 

Let's dream .. peace & joy & love,

 

Colette

[Guest guest]

hariH OM!

 

recently i had two people on two consecutive

days approach me for advice on an identical

crisis they were ach having. the response

below, may be of help to anyone experiencing

such approach to the egoic 'endgame' crisis.

 

shaanthiprem

 

____________

 

 

namaste.

 

what you're experiencing, based on what you're

reporting, indicates that you have threatened

the welfare of the ego, which will typically

become fiercely rebellious. this is why the

confusion and racing thoughts are manifesting.

the ego doesn't want to die. and it won't go

down without a fight.

 

yet, who is it fighting? this question--the

Self-enquiry--remains, of course. keep this

on the backburner of your awareness. in the

meantime, however, you must manage getting

through the battle. and it's really a process

of finding out--along the way--that there is

really no 'you' to defend or protect! that is,

no 'you' *as such*. 'you' are the SELF Itself,

and not an exclusive isolated entity, as you

have grown to believe [..in the format we have

*all* grown to believe].

 

vedanta organizes the situation accordingly:

atman::jivatman::jiva or spirit::soul::ego.

it is a process of releasing the exclusivity of

identifying oneself with one's limited body,

which is the definition of jiva or ego. now,

one's true nature is the [universal] atman, and

as it becomes manifest in the world, it comes to

believe, in each case, that it is the exclusive

expression of what in fact amounts to being merely

*symbolic* individualistic expressions [among the

multitudes of souls]. this however is only its

sport or play. this is commonly referred to as

brahman's leela.

 

so the awakening in moksha is to become centered

in the jivatman, the soul. here one never loses

sight of one's true source and SELF-nature: atman;

and proceeds to play one's part in the leela.

 

now, although this all fits together so neatly,

one shouldn't rely on it inordinately. it's only

a temporary palliative, that may serve to get one

through this classical ordeal.

 

so, en route to establishing one's identity in

the center of the total realm of What Is (which

is brahman and It's Eternal Play), there is the

pain associated with the 'second birth.' this is

reference to the very misunderstood [originally

gnostic] utterance, to be "born again," viz.

the birth into soul, which follows after birth

into the body.

 

yes, the physical birth pain is one thing, the

soul birth pain is quite something else, which is

also referred to as the "dark night of the soul."

it far exceeds the trials and tribulations of the

birth into the body or, for that matter, the soul's

departure from the body (death of the body), for,

we're speaking of the death of the ego, a much

deeper and effective death.

 

also be aware that whatever your body-mind complex

(ego) is thinking and doing, is karmic on one hand

and ordained by grace on the other. that virtually

every single thought and emotion is acting out of

impeccable precision, serving to evolve the soul.

often, especially in times like this, the mind

cannot hope to even fathom or approach understanding

what is transpiring. but take heart knowing that

its wisdom is flawless, and will eventually and

*inevitably* lead you to the awakening in moksha.

 

in light of what you are now facing, the immediate

lesson is to be the witness. realize that only the

Appearance is subject to horror and/or any potential

tragedy. the Self remains undaunted and beyond the

concept perfection/imperfection. the truth of what

you are is this very Self.

 

incidentally, you mention experiencing a loss of

meaning, etc. please know that meaning/non-meaning

pertains to the relative world. the same with

pleasure/pain, knowledge/ignorance, good/evil, etc.

these are the parameters in and of Relativity. the

Absolute Self is beyond them. (technically the Self

includes them as well, but its transcendental factor

absorbs them to the degree that they must be regarded

as holistically irrelevant. the buddhic faculty [of

intuition] must be used to comprehend this.)

 

now, there are a number of ways one can deal with this

dark night of the soul. one very effective method is

sitting in zazen, which (as i alluded to in the last

email) entails merely sitting and doing nothing in the

face of what may come to mind. you do not resist in

any way. just watch. do not interfere. watch the

thoughts as you would a cinema. have some popcorn!

(literally! get to the point where you can sit there

eating popcorn! we do this at the movie theater because

we know that the excitement we're witnessing on the

screen is not really happening to us. well, neither

is the excitement we're witnessing in our own personal

mind-theater, really happening to us! (again, it is

in fact technically a part of what we are; we indeed

embrace it; but NOT the exclusive way we believe we do!

and this is the critical point. it is an *infinitesimal

fragment* of our Totality. as such, our Totality renders

each and all of its Particulars inconsequential. that is,

the Oceanic Self absorbs Its manifestations utterly.)

 

this witnessing mode will help reshape our life attitude

and help prepare, in terms of purifying our mind, for

the event of Self-realization...which is a non-event!

in light of this, abandon expectations. why? simply

because, the mind is tricking us like a toreador. where

all we have to do is stop chasing for the prize that we

in fact already possess!

 

nothing positive to accomplish,

only the negative to release.

 

OM shaanthi shaanthi shaanthiH