uncommonly ordinary

[Guest guest]

It is common: claiming enlightenment;

less common: to die while alive.

 

It is usual: to claim the truth;

less usual: to be claimed by truth.

 

It is easy: to be as meaningful as others;

less easy: resting in that which is prior to meaning.

 

Found often: passing the time;

less often: being time.

 

Frequently seen: lacking time for others;

seen less often: timeless and alone.

 

It is typical: to want to be special

less typical: the perfection of the ordinary

[Guest guest]

At 10:37 AM 4/3/2000 -0400, you wrote:

 

>It is common: claiming enlightenment;

> less common: to die while alive.

 

" To die while alive " is a commonly used phrase; it means only to stop

identifying awareness with the body and the mind, to undo the confusion.

Nisargadatta likes to use the analogy of cinema; the light of pure

awareness passes through the " filmstrip " of the mind. The movement of the

mind creates the various colorations and movements seen as " the world - "

the light itself does not move. The screen against which the pictures are

projected is the witness - that part of ourselves ever detached and

observing phenomena.

 

To sum up:

 

* The light - awareness

* The movie - the person

* The screen - the witness (consciousness)

* The audience deeply involved in the picture - ignorance

 

>Found often: passing the time;

> less often: being time.

 

I would rather put it... being beyond time. Awareness is not eternity - it

transcends the concept of time altogether. Time is a concept intimately

connected with memory, a phenomena observable clearly upon waking up from

sleep. When memory is suspended, time does not pass. Those in a coma

usually awaken thinking it is still the year they fell into the coma. Time

is entirely unreal, a product of mistaking memory for reality.

 

An interesting observation: In those suffering from post-encephalitic

parkinson's syndrome (the subject of the movie " Awakenings " ), doctors have

observed a curious lack of aging of the body. Typically, the bodies of

those " suspended " in the timeless matrix of no-thought look at least half

their age. Even the aging of the body is an illusion brought about simply

through memory and thought.

 

It is claimed that there are yogis in India over a thousand years old. I'm

inclined to believe this. As time is imagination, it can easily be altered

by those with the proper training. Yet I see no reason to do so. Why

desire embodied existence? It seems a burden and nothing more.

 

>Frequently seen: lacking time for others;

> seen less often: timeless and alone.

 

Nothing to add to that :-)

 

>It is typical: to want to be special

> less typical: the perfection of the ordinary

 

Perfect! ;-)

 

With Love,

 

Tim

 

-----

The past is memory, the future imaginary. Be Here Now.

 

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