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How its deafening that silence within THE SILENCE Tis the deaf that hears..

Of course its possible! And if you knew how possibly close it is, when you next post, i suggest you type a little faster.. Time is precious!

So calm next to mind. On life's roller-coaster ride its hard not to be..

Did you mean to say the 'subjective' inner Self, MH? Thanks for the reminder anyway! Nice one! ...................... Hey Lucky.. love your sense of serious humor man.. love it! Wish i had some of it..

Love this quote from Ken Wilber: "We babyboomers have to be on guard against the belief that we are the only ones who ever got it right. The truth is that we are just another group of nutcases." A life manifests like fragrant vapors from a cup of hot tea. Smell the aroma quickly, before it disappears back into itself. Too much contemplation, and we miss the fragrance altogether..

Moonglow and petals little wood chime that rattles one made with metal..

Zen is simply a voice crying, "WAKE UP, WAKE UP!" - Maha Sthavira Sangharakshita Studying about Zen should not be confused with practicing Zen, just as studying aesthetics should not be confused with being an artist. - T.P. Kasulis Zen has no business with ideas. - D. T. Suzuki In life as well as in art, Zen never wastes energy in stopping to explain; it only points. - Alan Watts Zen functions in non-duality. The process of thought or reasoning, takes place in the field of duality. It follows that no thinking will achieve Zen. - Christmas Humphreys Zen is not some kind of excitement, but mindfulness of our usual everyday routine. - Shunryu Suzuki Zen cannot be defined. It is not a *thing* to be surrounded or reflected by words, When the last word is trawled into the prison it escapes and laughs away on the horizon. - David Brandon The only Zen you find on top of the mountain is the Zen you bring up there. - Robert Pirsig The aim of Zen is enlightenment: the immediate, unreflected grasp on reality, without affective contamination and intellectualization, the simple realization of the relation of myself to the universe. - Erich Fromm Zen is consciousness unstructured by any particular form or particular system, a trans-cultural, trans-religious, transformed consciousness. - Thomas Merton (There are hundreds more by the way) See these quotes? They all say one thing. And they all represent only one school of thought. If we search some of the other schools of thought, (the real ones) most, if not all, reflect similar notions. They are not dogmas. They simply point to direct awakening, this very moment. Now, if these pointing-outs are taken on board, there is not much else to do, but then, there are some who come along and say, hey look! this is the taste of awakening, and you have to do steps 1 2 3 4 5 before you can get the real thing.. and it costs 300 dollars for step 1, 400 for step 2, and 500 for step 3 - and steps 4 and 5 are for graduates of steps 1, 2 and 3, and they are refresher courses, and we then take you to some island retreat and go back thru steps 1, 2 and 3., and thereafter, you 'graduate', and will receive the lineage transmission which qualifies you to be an instructor for new level one students. Then if you want to teach level 2, you need to attend an advanced instructors' program, costing 2000 bucks where you will receive the mahaguru's initiation and etc. Oh, there's more: After 5 years, you will have gathered enough experience and technical know-how, and for another 2000 bucks, we will then certify you to be a Mahaguru yourself - now isnt that sweet? (I too have seen all this 'game' before... and was playing for a while, until i woke up). Is this cheating? Of course its not, as long as there are suckers who wants to be duped into taking the long road home, and there are tons of these folks out there! Oh, all kinds of systems, and promises of freedom and abundance - but underneath it all, they all say one thing, you, the individual, have to wake up from your dreams, which is what the above quotes are hinting at. Did they cost anything to read, other than a little eye strain and minimal electricity costs? And these are not some esoterica mumbo-jumbo by the way. The funniest thing is people do not want to see how easy it really is. They cannot, because people are simply too 'smart' nowadays. The materialism aspect has to play a part in the exchange, otherwise its worthless, all talk, and no action. Well, if that is what you want to hang on to, by all means, pay. In twenty years, assuming you do attain *Liberation*, you will look back and see how really stupid you have been to have wasted all the time, energy and MONEY to arrive back at the place you have never left!! Aint that slightly humorous? On the other hand, if its energy work or martial arts that you are teaching, by all means charge. Its totally and absolutely fair. But if it boils down to awakening, its a different story altogether. And please dont justify on behalf of teachers, for there are hundreds, if not thousands of Zen centers that teaches the basics of awakening absolutely free of charge, not to mention all the other Buddhist schools around. Unfortunately,modern folks prefer the more sophisticated systems. Why? It feels better, and offers more distractions, and there's always plenty of warm brotherly/sisterly LURVE available to those who have paid their fees/subscriptions!!

The practicality is in the integration Glooper. That seems to be the key to wholeness, if you really think about it. Assuming one is in the process of discovering what it is to imbibe one's being with spiritual meaning, then the key would be integration, or else only the choice of fragmentation remains. I think if one were to dig deep enough, at the very apex of integration, there is what is known as Union, or enjoining, meaning to be One. Does this make any sense, from a 'spiritual path' point of view? On a mundane level, since you are a guitarist, to understand how music is made, you could say that it 'happens' only when integration is engaged, so the more refined the integration, the sweeter and more sublime the harmony.. correct? Have a good day!

Buddha of silents... No words are necessary to see the essence..

Ken Wilber observes: "At every single moment, there can be a spontaneous awareness of whatever happens to be present, and that simple, spontaneous, effortless awareness is Spirit itself. Even if you think you do not see it, that very awareness is It. And thus the ultimate state of consciousness - intrinsic Spirit itself - is not hard to reach, and impossible to avoid." And if we think for one minute that money have to be exchanged to simply wake up to this realization above, then i am afraid we are only fooling ourselves. If we are to find a teacher, one who is sincere about pointing out this, IMO, the true essence of spirituality, we will see that whatever the teacher does can be summed up in two words: WAKE UP! Open the 'eyes' and be totally present now, and for this simple direction, no payment is necessary - no price is necessary - both from the student or from the teacher. But human beings cannot accept that it can be that simple, so there arises the notions that there must be tremendous hard work involved if one is to sweep away all the accumulated negativities so that the ground can be fertile again, and one will then replant new seeds on this ground. If this is to be true, then the possibility of an experience of sudden realization is to be thrown out the window, and yet, if you really think about it, where is the real difference between one who 'arrives' at sudden realization after 20 years of hard work, and one who decides, right this moment, that one is already present, already 'here'? For 'here' is where you really want to get to after 20 years of searching.. or not? When one pays for something, it creates expectations, needs, pressures - and standards have to be met, both by the payee and the service provider. These are measures. The question that begs to be asked is, can the essence of spirituality be truly measured in any way? And please do not bring 'energy' into the equation, for it is not, and never has been, the true purpose of spiritual cultivation, for to open one's eyes hardly requires any infusion of super-energy in any form.

- a child is crying lollipop's just gone missin' Buster is laughing!

Ah shit, still here, damn. Hastily the door is found Unhinged, unhindered..

Hello Glooper welcome to The Bums' Crib! May your time here be fruitful! Duality.. Hmm.. Consider this: Actually it is more of a triality, shocking though as it may sound! Lets assume you begin looking at the moon - and you start an intellectual conversation with yourself about the experience. Then what transpires is that you have the moon, there's you, and the thought process. It actually feels as if there are 3 distinct things happening at once. But if you simply observe the moon without any attempts to intellectualize the experience, you will see and feel that what remains is only the seeing, and at that juncture, having dropped the thoughts, the moon and the observer becomes inseparable, like the illusion of separation having been disbanded by the removal of said intellectual involvement. The same analogy can be applied to all other situations you may come across that presents themselves as if there is you the subject, and that which seems outside of you, as object, and the thought process that creates this sense of separation. Very often, when the thoughts subside, either by will, or by incidence, this sense of separation dissolves like mist in the morning sun. Duality simply means two, and this two does not necessarily have to be in the context of opposites, like the examples you have cited. Take reading, one of the points you raised. Duality in this case means there is you, the reader, and there is the book, and there is the thought that you are reading the book. So the distinction arises that the book is somehow outside yourself. But this only happens when you begin to focus on the object of the book as a separate entity. But when you lose that focus, say when you are concentrating on the contents, reading intently, do you still see the book as an object at that point? You dont. What happens then? Pick up a book now and try this out for yourself, and reflect on the experience. You may arrive at a clearer understanding of non-duality then. Not sure if you are familiar with the works of a contemporary thinker called Ken Wilber. He has some very good insights on this matter. I'd like to end by including one of his observations here for you consideration: "But, we ask, what will happen to our drive for progress if we see all opposites are one? Well, with any luck, it will stop -- and with that peculiar discontent that thrives on the illusion that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. But we should be clear about this. I do not mean that we will cease to make advancements of a sort in medicine, agriculture, and technology. We will only cease to harbor the illusion that our happiness depends on that. For when we see through the illusions of our boundaries, we will see, here and now, the universe as Adam saw it before the Fall: an organic unity, a harmony of opposites, a melody of positive and negative, delight with the play of our vibratory existence. When the opposites are realized to be one, discord melts into accord, battles become dances, and old enemies become lovers. We are then in a position to make friends with all of our universe, and not just one half of it." All the best to you on your path!

Mid-summer shadow Cast not thy gaze on the Bright Ye are unready..

"Many scientists believe that there might indeed be intelligent life on other planets; many others believe we are still trying to find intelligent life on this planet. But few believe there are enough aliens that are visiting us in droves - unless we are the Zoo of the Universe, and aliens love to bring their kids by to gape at the primitive beasts: "Now, little Zordac, watch what happens when we take this stick and push it up..." The narcissism is the giveaway, says Carlton. The comedian Dennis Miller got it just right - "Only man is a narcissistic enough species to think that a highly evolved alien life force would travel across billions and billions of light years - a group of beings so intelligent, so insouciant, so utterly above it all - would they really feel the need to equip their crafts with windows so they can gaze out on all the celestial wonder, but then, immediately upon landing on earth, their first impulse is to look at some punk's ass with a flashlight?!!" ---- Ken Wilber

a joint congratulatory note then, from Beavis and myself... wishing you continued progress lino!

Dry wind stirs the dust Only to settle once more when the rains arrive..

Clever reply ShaktiMama I guess you wont assume this 'name' without some sort of cleverness! You would make a great sales trainer too you know that?

_/\_

"But with the non-dual state, suddenly... there is nothing outside of you to smash into you, bruise you, torment you. Suddenly, you do not HAVE an experience, you ARE every experience that arises, and so you are instantly released into all space: you and the entire Kosmos are one hand, one experience, one display, one gesture of great perfection. There is nothing outside of you you can want, or desire, or seek, or grasp - your soul expands to the corners of the universe and embraces all with infinite delight. You are utterly Full, utterly Saturated, so full and saturated that the boundaries to the Kosmos completely explodes and leave you without date or duration, time or location, awash in an ocean of infinite care. You are released into the All, as the All - you are the Self-seen radiant Kosmos, you are the universe of one-taste, and the taste is utterly infinite... See the sunlight on the mountains? Feel the cool breeze? What is NOT utterly obvious? Who is NOT already enlightened? As a Zen master put it, "When i heard the sound of a bell ringing, there was no 'I' and no bell, just the sound". There is no twiceness, no twoness, in immediate experience! No inside and no outside, no subject and no object - just immediate awareness itself, the sound of one hand clapping... This state is not something you can 'bring about'. This non-dual state, this state of One Taste, is the very nature of every experience BEFORE you slice it up (with thoughts, or ideas, or perception). This One Taste is not some experience you bring about through effort; rather it is the actual condition of all experience BEFORE you do anything to it. This uncontrived state is prior to effort, prior to grasping, prior to avoiding. It is the real world before you do anything to it, including before the *effort to see it non-dually*." -- Ken Wilber

Hello ShaktiMama, If what you say here is what i understand, recollecting previous exchanges between Santi and GIH, would it be right to assume then that Santi actually tried to 'outrage the modesty' of GIH on a few occasions by inferring that his energy was off-balanced? I mean, as far as i know, GIH did not actually ask for any 'reading' as such?

Lino, Dont mean to pierce the bubble here, but the truth of what IS is simply that which IS. No amount of practice will establish you closer to that which IS - if anything, it actually removes one further away from what IS. All one needs to know what IS is to simply see directly into each moment, without the thought that 'I am seeing..' Short definition, tall order! And by the way, what IS is not a truth... it simply IS what is.. truth is a figment of your imagination, reflected against that which you have perceived to be false.. however, there may be others who share the very same perceptions as you, if that is any consolation. Delusion can be individualized, or en massed. Its still delusion.

Three quotes. "Everything that rises must converge." "Science, philosophy and religion must converge as they draw nearer to the Whole." "We are one, after all, you and I. Together we suffer, together we exist, and forever will recreate each other." (Teilhard deChardin) ................ Without the principle of dependent origination, do you realize that you will not even be able to play your guitar, nor will it even emit a single sound. Think about it.

If rebirth (a more appropriate label) were to be an untruth, it would be difficult to reconcile how all things are changing every moment. Yes we can simply call it change, but some concepts would demand a degree of precision, hence the dogmas. But they are not really significant in the final analysis. I hope you reflected on the link posted. Its well elaborated there, to a point. (edit) PS. "Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.." -- Teilhard deChardin

nice one there artform!