Awareness

[Guest guest]

Yesterday<br>I lived bewildered,<br>In illusion.

<br>But now I am awake, <br>Flawless and serene,

<br>Beyond the world. <br>From my light<br>The body and the

world arise. <br>So all things are mine, <br>Or nothing

is. <br>Now I have given up<br>The body and the

world, <br>I have a special gift. <br>I see the infinite

Self. <br>As a wave, <br>Seething and foaming, <br>Is

only water <br>So all creation, <br>Streaming out of

the Self, <br>Is only the Self. <br>Consider a piece

of cloth.<br>It is only threads! <br>So all

creation, <br>When you look closely, <br>Is only the Self.

<br>Like the sugar<br>In the juice of the sugarcane, <br>I

am the sweetness <br>In everything I have

made.<br>When the Self is unknown <br>The world arises, <br>Not

when it is known. <br>But you mistake <br>The rope for

the snake. <br>When you see the rope,<br>The snake

vanishes. <br>My nature is light, <br>Nothing but light.

<br>When the world arises<br>I alone am shining. <br>When

the world arises in me, <br>It is just an

illusion:<br>Water shimmering in the sun, <br>A vein of silver in

mother-of-pearl, <br>A serpent in a strand of rope. <br>From me

the world streams out <br>And in me it dissolves,

<br>As a bracelet melts into gold, <br>A pot crumbles

into clay, <br>A wave subsides into water. <br>I adore

myself. <br>How wonderful I am! <br>I can never die.

<br>The whole world may perish, <br>From Brahma to a

blade of grass, <br>But I am still here. <br>Indeed how

wonderful!<br>I adore myself. <br>For I have taken form <br>But I

am still one. <br>Neither coming or going, <br>Yet I

am still everywhere. <br>How wonderful, <br>And how

great my powers! <br>For I am without form, <br>Yet

till the end of time <br>I uphold the universe.

<br>Wonderful! <br>For nothing is mine, <br>Yet it is all mine,

<br>Whatever is thought or spoken. <br>I am not the

knower,<br>Nor the known, <br>Nor the knowing. <br>These three

are not real. <br>They only seem to be <br>When I am

not known. <br>For I am flawless. <br>Two from one!

<br>This is the root of suffering. <br>Only perceive

<br>That I am one without two, <br>Pure awareness, pure

joy, <br>And all the world is false. <br>There is no

other remedy! <br>Through ignorance<br>I once imagined

I was bound. <br>But I am pure awareness. <br>I

live beyond all distinctions, <br>In unbroken

meditation. <br>Indeed, <br>I am neither bound nor free.

<br>An end to illusion! <br>It is all groundless.

<br>For the whole of creation, <br>Though it rests in me,

<br>Is without foundation. <br>The body is

nothing.<br>The world is nothing. <br>When you understand this

fully, <br>How can they be invented? <br>For the Self is

pure awareness, <br>Nothing less. <br>The body is

false,<br>And so are its fears, <br>Heaven and hell, freedom

and bondage. <br>It is all invention. <br>What can

they matter to me? <br>I am awareness itself. <br>I

see only one. <br>Many men, <br>One wilderness.

<br>Then to what may I cling? <br>I am not the

body.<br>Nor is the body mine. <br>I am not separate. <br>I am

awareness itself, <br>Bound only by my thirst for life.

<br>I am the infinite ocean.<br>When thoughts spring

up, <br>The wind freshens, and like waves <br>A

thousand worlds arise. <br>But when the wind falls,

<br>The trader sinks with his ship.<br>On the boundless

ocean of my being <br>He founders, <br>And all the

worlds with him. <br>But O how wonderful! <br>I am the

unbounded deep <br>In whom all living things <br>Naturally

arise, <br>Rush against each other playfully, <br>And

then subside.

[Guest guest]

Beautiful.. dksesh.. reminds me of this one.

<br><br>"Father, there is little to tell.. My consciouness has

never associated itself with this temporary body.

Before I came on this earth, Father, 'I was the same'. I

grew into woman hood, still 'I was the same'. When the

family in which I was born made arrangemewnts to have

ths body married, 'I was still the same'. And Father,

in front of you 'I am still the same'. Even

afterwards, though the the dance of creation changes around

me, in the hall of eternity, 'I shall be the

same'."<br><br>Anondo Moi Ma .. when she first met Paramahansa

Yoganandaji<br>--------------<br><br>Tat Twam Asi<br>UMA

[Guest guest]

You may also want to buy the book Living with the

Himalayan Masters by Swami Rama. <br>Its too good as well.

Infact its my all favourite and more or less my

bible.<br><br>Link for it in the amazon.co.uk is

given.<br><br><a

href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0893891568/o/qid=989942124/sr=2-4/\

202-5478049-0520641

target=new>http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0893891568/o/qid=989942124/s\

r=2-4/202-5

478049-0520641</a><br><br>- Seshadri.

[Guest guest]

Thanks sesh .. it's my looong term favorite. Have

learnt a lot from his journey. I love his works. I'm

quite closely associated with his student Swami

Usharbudh Arya books, as well as the institutes general

activites in Delhi.<br> <br>Nice to see you resonate with

some of the same teachings. Will you share with us

some of the highlights of his teachings?<br><br>Tat

Twam Asi<br><br>UMA

[Guest guest]

>>Yesterday<br>I lived bewildered,<br>In

illusion. <br>But now I am awake, >><br><br>To get

from 'yesterday' to 'now' one may have to go through

this ...<br><br>"The grapes of my body can only become

wine <br>After the winemaker tramples me.<br>I

surrender my spirit like the grapes to his trampling<br>So

my innermost heart can blaze and dance with

joy.<br>Although the grapes go on weeping blood and sobbing<br>" I

cannot bear any more anguish, any more crulety"<br>The

trampler stuffs cotton in his ears: "I am not working in

ignorance<br>You can deny me if you want, you can have every

excuse,<br>But it is I who am the Master of the Work.<br>And

when through my Passion you reach Perfection,<br>You

will never be done praising my

name.""<br><br>RUMI<br>-----------------<br><br>Tat Twam Asi<br>UMA

[Guest guest]

The grape cries because of its attachment for its

body and shape. Now, if the grape trusted its master

and said, do what you want, I will be an observer and

watch, then pain wouldn't touch it.<br><br>Sometimes

sadhakas go through intense emotional pain. This breaks

down ego and leaves the man free to imbibe more truth

and after that take responsibility, without the ego

coming in.<br><br>The ways of lord are great. If the

mind is tuneed to him, we will know what is happening.

If not, its mysterious.<br><br>:-)<br><br>-

Seshadri.

[Guest guest]

Ditto sesh!<br><br>The journey from total

oblivious ignorance, deliberate ignorance to livingt in

total realization is what sadhna is all about. To me at

least. I find myself at the moment with a foot in both

worlds. lol The grapes cry ouch when it is trampled, then

it stands back and hears the voice of GOD in the

trampler. The journey of living the truths we learn is

awesome! But, obviously as long as I find it awesome I am

stuck. I need to get to where it is common place.

Practice my gurus tell me. Constant vigilant practice.

<br><br>Here is a question I am often asked. What should

society do to criminals and those who 'trample' hard?

After all they are tat twam asi too? Aren't they? Any

thoughts?<br><br>Much love<br><br>Tat twam asi<br>UMA

[Guest guest]

Quarentine them. In their safe cells teach them essence of meditation an slowly

we get reformed people. :-)<br><br>Hope this answers the

question.<br><br>Regards,<br>Seshadri.

[Guest guest]

Quarantine them. ahhh!! I wonder if we have

enough cells!! <br><br>Did you read the latest on the

success of Kiran Bedis program in Delhi's Tihar Jail?

<br><br>I'm trying to find some web sources for more

information. Will post if I find it.<br><br>Thanks seshadri..

for taking the time to reply.<br><br>Dear members..

is acting up a lot and messages aren't visible on

home page. If you go to 'view all' on right corner of

home page you can see the latest messages.<br><br>Love

<br><br>Tat Twam Asi<br>UMA