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Old 03-06-2010, 12:23 AM   #326
mudra
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 14 Chakras View Post
Yes ~ that is what I'm suggesting BE it

Or in the spirit of the video just above my post:

VAJRA ~ LET IT BE DONE!

(through those who choose to BE)
Indeed and as Redezra conveyed it on the ego thread :

We have got the concept right now we need the experience

Love from me
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Old 03-06-2010, 12:24 AM   #327
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THE MIRROR OF ESSENTIAL POINTS

A Letter in Praise of Emptiness From Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang
Dorje to his Mother


I pay homage at the lotus feet of Tenpai Nyima,
Who is inseparable from Dharma-lord Longchen Rabjam
And perceives the natural state of emptiness
Of the ocean-like infinity of things.

A letter of advice I offer to you, my noble mother Paldzom;
Listen for a while without distraction.

Staying here without discomfort,
I am at ease and free from worries
In a state of joyful mind.
Are you well yourself, my dear mother?

Here, in a country to the West,
There are many red and white skinned people.
They have all kinds of magic and sights,
Like flying through the skies
And moving like fish in the waters.
Having mastery over the four elements,
They compete in displaying miracles
With thousands of beautiful colours.

There is an endless amount of spectacles,
Like designs of rainbow colours,
But like a mere dream, when examined,
They are the mistaken perceptions of the mind.

All activities are like the games children play;
If done, they can never be finished.
They are only completed once you let be,
Like castles made of sand.

But this not the whole story;
All the dharmas of Samsara and Nirvana,
Though thought to be permanent, they do not last.
When examined, they are but empty forms,
That appear without existence.
Although unreal, they are thought to be real,
And when examined, they are unreal like an illusion.

Look outward at the appearing objects,
And like the water in a mirage,
They are more delusive than delusion.
Unreal like dreams and illusions,
They resemble reflected moon and rainbows.

Look inward at your own mind!
It seems quite exciting, when not examined.
But when examined, there is nothing to it.
Appearing without being, it is nothing but empty.
It cannot be identified saying, "that's it!"
But is evanescent and elusive like mist.

Look at whatever may appear
In any of the ten directions.
No matter how it may appear,
The thing in itself, its very nature,
Is the sky-like nature of mind,
Beyond the projection and dissolution of thought and
concept.

Everything has the nature of being empty.
When the empty looks at the empty,
Who is there to look at something empty?
What is the use of many classifications,
Such as 'being empty' and 'not empty'
As it is illusion looking at illusion,
And delusion watching delusion?

"The effortless and sky-like nature of the mind,
The vast expanse of insight,
Is the natural state of all things.
In it, whatever you do is all right,
However you rest, you are at ease."
This was said by Jetsun Padmasambhava
And the great siddha Saraha.

All the conceptual designs,
Such as "it's two!" or "it's not two!"
Leave them like the waves on a river,
To be spontaneously freed in themselves.

The great demon of ignorant and discursive thought
Causes one to sink in the ocean of samsara.
But when freed from this discursive thought,
There is the indescribable state, beyond conceptual mind.

Besides mere discursive thoughts,
There is not even the words of 'samsara' and 'nirvana'.
The total calming down of discursive thought
Is the suchness of Dharmadhatu.

Not made complex by complex statements,
This unfabricated single bindu
Is emptiness, the natural state of mind.
So it was said by the Sugata.

The essence of whatever may appear,
When simply left to itself,
Is the unfabricated and uncorrupted view,
The Dharmakaya, emptiness mother.

All discursive thought is emptiness,
And the seer of the emptiness is discursive thought.
Emptiness does not destroy discursive thought,
And discursive thought does not block emptiness.

The fourfold emptiness of the mind itself
Is the ultimate of everything.
Profound and tranquil,free from complexity,
Uncompounded luminous clarity,
Beyond the mind of conceptual ideas:
This is the depth of the mind of the Victorious Ones.

In this there is not a thing to be removed,
Nor anything that needs to be added.
It is merely the immaculate
Looking naturally at itself.

In short, when the mind has fully severed
The fetters of clinging to something,
All the points are condensed therein.
This is the tradition of the supreme being Tilopa
And of the great pandita Naropa.

Such a profound natural state as this,
Is among all the kinds of bliss,
The wisdom of great bliss.
Among all kinds of delight
It is the king of supreme delight.
It is the supreme fourth empowerment
Of all the tantric sections of the secret mantras.
It is the ultimate pointing out instruction.

The view of 'Samsara and Nirvana Inseparable',
And that of Mahamudra, of Dzogchen, the Middle Way and
others,
Have many various titles
But only one essential meaning.
This is the view of Lama Mipham.

As an aid to this king of views
One should begin with Bodhicitta,
And conclude with dedication.

In order to cut off through skilful means
The fixation on an ego, the root of Samsara,
The king of all great methods
Is the unsurpassable Bodhicitta.

The king of perfect dedication
Is the means for increasing the roots of virtue.
This is the special teaching of Shakyamuni
Which is not found with other teachers.

To accomplish complete enlightenment
More than this is not necessary
But less than this will be incomplete.
This swift path of the three excellences,
Called the heart, eye and lifeforce,
Is the approach of Longchen Rabjam.

Emptiness, the wish-fulfilling jewel,
Is unattached generosity.
It is uncorrupted discipline.
It is angerless patience.
It is undeluded exertion.
It is undistracted meditation.
It is the essence of prajna.
It is the meaning in the three yanas.

Emptiness is the natural state of mind.
Emptiness is the non-conceptual refuge.
Emptiness is the Absolute Bodhicitta.
Emptiness is the Vajrasattva of absolving evils.
Emptiness is the Mandala of perfect accumulations.
Emptiness is the Guru Yoga of Dharmakaya.

To abide in the natural state of emptiness
Is the 'calm abiding' of shamatha,
And to perceive it vividly clear
Is the 'clear seeing' of vipasyana.

The view of the perfect Development Stage,
The wisdom of bliss and emptiness in the Completion Stage,
The non-dual Great Perfection,
And the single bindu of Dharmakaya,
All these are included within it.

Emptiness purifies the karmas.
Emptiness dispels the obstructing forces.
Emptiness tames the demons.
Emptiness accomplishes the deities.

The profound state of emptiness
Dries up the ocean of passion.
It crumples the mountain of anger.
It illuminates the darkness of stupidity.
It calms down the gale of jealousy.
It defeats the illness of the kleshas.
It is a friend in sorrow.
It destroys conceit in joy.
It conquers in the battle with Samsara.
It annihilates the four Maras.
It turns the eight worldly dharmas into same taste.
It subdues the demon of ego-fixation.
It turns negative conditions into aids.
It turns bad omens into good luck.
It causes to manifest complete enlightenment.
It gives birth to the Buddhas of the three times.
Emptiness is the Dharmakaya mother.

There is no teaching higher than emptiness.
There is no teaching swifter than emptiness.
There is nn teaching more excellent than emptiness.
There is no teaching more profound than emptiness.

Emptiness is the 'knowing of one that frees all.'
Emptiness is the supreme king of medicines.
Emptiness is the nectar of immortality.
Emptiness is spontaneous accomplishment beyond effort.
Emptiness is enlightenment without exertion.

By meditating emptiness
One feels tremendous compassion
Towards the beings obscured, like ourselves,by the belief in
a self,
And Bodhicitta arises without effort.

All qualities of the path and bhumis
Will appear naturally without any effort,
And one will feel a heartfelt conviction
Regarding the law of the infallible effect of actions.

If one has but one moment of certainty
In this kind of emptiness,
The tight chain of ego-clinging
Will shatter into pieces.
This was said by Aryadeva.

More supreme than offering to the Sugatas and their sons
All the infinite Buddha fields
Filled with the offering of gods and men;
Is to meditate on emptiness.

If the merit of resting evenly
Just for an instant in this natural state
Would take on concrete form,
Space could not contain it.

The peerless Lord of the sages, Sakyamuni,
For the sake of this profound emptiness,
Threw his body into pyres of fire,
Gave away his head and limbs,
And performed hundreds of other austerities.

Although you fill the world with huge mounds
Of presents of gold and jewels,
This profound teaching on emptiness,
Even when searched for, is hard to find.
This is said in the Hundred Thousand Verses of Prajna
Paramita.

To meet this supreme teaching
Is the splendid power of merit
Of many aeons beyond count.

In short, by means of emptiness,
One is, for the benefit of oneself,
Liberated into the expanse of the unborn Dharmakaya,
The manifest complete enlightenment
Of the four Kayas and the five Wisdoms.
The unobstructed display of the Rupakaya
Will then ceaseslessly arise to teach whoever is in need,
By stirring the depths of Samsara for the benefit of others
Through constant, all-pervading spontaneous activity.
In all the Sutras and Tantras this is said
To be the ultimate fruition.

How can someone like me put into words
All the benefits and virtues hereof,
When the Victorious One with his vajra tongue
Cannot exhaust them, even if he speaks for an aeon?

The glorious Lord, the supreme teacher,
Who gives the teachings on emptiness,
Appears in the form of a human being,
But his mind is truly a Buddha.

Without deceit and hypocrisy
Supplicate him from your very heart,
And without needing any other expedient,
You will attain enlightenment in this very life.
This is the manner of the All-Embodying Jewel
Which is taught in the Tantras of the Great Perfection.
When you have this jewel in the palm of your hand,
Do not let it meaninglessly go to waste.

Learning, like the stars in the sky,
Will never come to an end through studies.
What is the use of all the various kinds
Of the many teachings requested and received?
What is the use of any practice which is higher than
emptiness?

Do not aim at having many ascetic costumes,
Such as carrying a staff and wearing braids and animal
skins.
Leaving the elephant back in your house,
Do not go searching for its footprints in the mountains.

Mother, meditate the essence of the mind,
As it is taught by the guru, the Vajra Holder,
And you will have the essence of the essence
Of all the eighty-four thousand teachings.
It is the heart nectar of a billion
Learned and accomplished ones.
It is the ultimate practice.

This advice from the core of the heart
Of the fallen monk Jamyang Dorje,
Is the purest of the pure essence
From the bindu of my life blood.
Therefore keep it in your heart, mother.

These few words of heart advice
Were written in a beautiful country-side,
The city of the spacious blue sky,
Rivaling the splendour of divine realms.

To the devoted Chokyi Nodzom,
My dear and loving mother,
And to my own devoted students,
I offer this letter of advice.


This letter to my students was composed by one who goes by
the name 'Khenpo', the Tibetan Jamyang Dorje, in the
Dordogne Herbal Valley of Great Bliss, in the country of
France beyond the great ocean in the western direction.

May virtue and auspiciousness ensue!


Bodichitta:

In Sanskrit, bodhi means "awakened" and chitta means "mind" or "heart." Bodhichitta -- "awakened heart-mind" -- is the compassionate wish to realize enlightenment for all beings, not just oneself. Through bodhichitta, the desire to attain enlightenment transcends the narrow interests of the individual self.
[/CENTER]

Last edited by mudra; 03-06-2010 at 12:31 AM.
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Old 03-06-2010, 12:28 AM   #328
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Love Always
mudra

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Old 03-06-2010, 12:45 AM   #329
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Thank You Agape .
I enjoyed listening to this

Love Always
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Old 03-07-2010, 10:46 PM   #330
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Good and evil
by Khalil Gibran


You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good,
You are only loitering and sluggard.
Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.
In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.
But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.
And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.
But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, "Wherefore are you slow and halting?"
For the truly good ask not the naked, "Where is your garment?" nor the houseless, "What has befallen your house?"

read full text here:
http://wikilivres.info/wiki/The_Prophet/Good_and_Evil

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Old 03-09-2010, 10:05 PM   #331
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On Freedom
Kahlil Gibran


At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,
Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.
Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.
And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfilment.

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,
But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.


And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?
In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle your eyes.


And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free?
If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.
You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them.
And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.
For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride?
And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.
And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.
These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling.
And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.
And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.

Love Always
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Old 03-09-2010, 11:02 PM   #332
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Perfection
By Kahlil Gibran


You ask me, my brother, when will man reach
perfection. Hear my answer:
Man approaches perfection when he
feels that he is an infinite space and a sea
without a shore,
An everlasting fire, an unquenchable
light,
A calm wind or a raging tempest, a thundering
sky or a rainy heaven,
A singing brook or a wailing rivulet, a tree abloom
in Spring, or a naked sapling
in Autumn.
A rising mountain or a descending valley,
A fertile plain or a desert.

When man feels all these, he has already
reached halfway to perfection. To attain his goal
he must then perceive
that he is a child dependent upon his mother,
a father responsible for his family,
A youth lost in love,
An ancient wrestling against his past,
A worshipper in his temple, a criminal in
his prison,
A scholar amidst his parchments,
An ignorant soul stumbling between the darkness of his
night and the obscurity of his day,
A nun suffering between the flowers of her faith and
the thistles of her loneliness,
A prostitute caught between the fangs of her
weakness and the claws of her needs,
A poor man trapped between his bitterness and his
submission,
A rich man between his greed and his conscience,
A poet between the mist of his twilight and the
rays of his dawn.

Who can experience, see, and understand
these things can reach perfection and
become a shadow of God’s Shadow.


Love Always
mudra

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Old 03-09-2010, 11:56 PM   #333
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thank you, for a little Kahlil Gibran

one of my most favourite poets
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Old 03-10-2010, 03:21 PM   #334
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Quote:
Originally Posted by THE eXchanger View Post
thank you, for a little Kahlil Gibran

one of my most favourite poets
Indeed Susan...and a wise soul too

Love Always
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Old 03-10-2010, 03:21 PM   #335
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On Pain
Kahlil Gibran


Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.


Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.

Love Always
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Old 03-11-2010, 04:09 AM   #336
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A Sanctuary Within Marriage?

Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
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Old 03-12-2010, 12:23 AM   #337
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Thank You Gnosis
Always nice to see your presence here .

Love from me
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Old 03-12-2010, 12:24 AM   #338
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Joy And Sorrow
Khalil Gibran


Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow."

And he answered:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.


Love Always
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Old 03-13-2010, 12:53 AM   #339
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The entire journey is about the arrival into the Now and the taking

back of our sovereign state: I AM.

All the rest at the periphery are just games taking place in the field of the mind.

To play them we need opponents . That perfect dichotomy is what keeps the games going.

We can be inside the box or choose to step out of it . That's what our free will is really about .

The interesting part of us is us : the soul.

We have been very clever at hiding ourselves from ourselves all along .

Going from " All Knowing " in the Now to " not Know " in illusion.

The image is one of the Torus : cycles which fold into themselves, in a sort of circular fashion,

around a center which is void of 'matter'...in constant motion. The center is where we truly exist in the Now,

while navigating the circles as solitary beings, in illusion, of course.


Regaining your center is where true peace can be found .

This is then when you no longer look at things through your eyes but you see them and feel them through your heart as the observer.


My work in Avalon has come to an end .
I always said I would remain here until PA closed it's doors.
It seems that the time for this is now.
It has been a great honor for me to be part of Avalon's community.
I thank you all for the Love that we shared .
You are my brothers and sisters forever in my heart .
I bless each one of you on his journey .


Love from me Always
mudra
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Old 03-13-2010, 01:38 AM   #340
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Hello Mudra, the wise ones know when it is time to exteriorize. I will follow your lead and end off here too.

Gnosis equals wisdom.
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Old 03-13-2010, 06:30 AM   #341
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mudra View Post
The entire journey is about the arrival into the Now and the taking

back of our sovereign state: I AM.

All the rest at the periphery are just games taking place in the field of the mind.



My work in Avalon has come to an end .

You are my brothers and sisters forever in my heart .
I bless each one of you on his journey .


Love from me Always
mudra

Oh Mother

Heart of Avalon


Who will we now look to

for the soothing of our souls


lost in the mists of memories

as elusive as the unicorn



Love Always Dear Mudra


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Old 03-16-2010, 02:37 PM   #342
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I am still here Redezra torn apart between my divided children
And yet my Heart is with you all .

Love Always
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Old 03-16-2010, 02:38 PM   #343
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Crime And Punishment
Khalil Gibran


Then one of the judges of the city stood forth and said, "Speak to us of Crime and Punishment."

And he answered saying:

It is when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind,

That you, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore unto yourself.

And for that wrong committed must you knock and wait a while unheeded at the gate of the blessed.

Like the ocean is your god-self;

It remains for ever undefiled.

And like the ether it lifts but the winged.

Even like the sun is your god-self;

It knows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent.

But your god-self does not dwell alone in your being.

Much in you is still man, and much in you is not yet man,

But a shapeless pigmy that walks asleep in the mist searching for its own awakening.

And of the man in you would I now speak.

For it is he and not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist, that knows crime and the punishment of crime.

Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.

But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,

So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.

And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,

So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.

Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.

You are the way and the wayfarers.

And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone.

Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.

And this also, though the word lie heavy upon your hearts:

The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder,

And the robbed is not blameless in being robbed.

The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked,

And the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon.

Yea, the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured,

And still more often the condemned is the burden-bearer for the guiltless and unblamed.

You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked;

For they stand together before the face of the sun even as the black thread and the white are woven together.

And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth, and he shall examine the loom also.

If any of you would bring judgment the unfaithful wife,

Let him also weight the heart of her husband in scales, and measure his soul with measurements.

And let him who would lash the offender look unto the spirit of the offended.

And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the ax unto the evil tree, let him see to its roots;

And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth.

And you judges who would be just,

What judgment pronounce you upon him who though honest in the flesh yet is a thief in spirit?

What penalty lay you upon him who slays in the flesh yet is himself slain in the spirit?

And how prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor,

Yet who also is aggrieved and outraged?

And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds?

Is not remorse the justice which is administered by that very law which you would fain serve?

Yet you cannot lay remorse upon the innocent nor lift it from the heart of the guilty.

Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze upon themselves.

And you who would understand justice, how shall you unless you look upon all deeds in the fullness of light?

Only then shall you know that the erect and the fallen are but one man standing in twilight between the night of his pigmy-self and the day of his god-self,

And that the corner-stone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in its foundation.

Love Always
mudra
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Old 03-16-2010, 02:47 PM   #344
greybeard
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Thought Id pop by for something of real importance.
As usual I find it here.
Thanks Mudra.
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Old 03-16-2010, 03:35 PM   #345
aloha
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"Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep.
They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up.
They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence.
You know, all mystics - Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, no matter what their theology, no matter what their religion - are unanimous on one thing: that all is well, all is well.
Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to be sure.
But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep.
They are having a nightmare. "

A.d.M.
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Old 03-19-2010, 05:18 PM   #346
mudra
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Thank you Aloha
Indeed we dream the world..

Dream Life and Reality

Student:
In your books you say this world is like a dream.
Srila Prabhupada:
Yes. It is a dream.
Student:
How is it a dream?
Srila Prabhupada:
For example, last night you had some dream, but now it has no value. It is gone. And again, tonight when you sleep you’ll dream and forget all these things. You won’t remember, when you are dreaming tonight, “I’ve got my house; I’ve got my wife.” You’ll forget it all. So, all of this is a dream.
Student:
Is it true, or is it not true?
Srila Prabhupada:
How could it be true? At night you forget it. Do you remember when you sleep that you’ve got your wife and you’re sleeping on a bed? When you have gone some three thousand miles away and seen something totally different in your dream, do you remember that you’ve got a place to reside in?
Student:
No.
Srila Prabhupada:
So this is a dream. Tonight, what you are seeing now will become only a dream, just as what you saw last night-now you know it was only a dream. So, both are dreams. You are simply a visitor, that’s all. You are seeing this dream and that dream. You, the spirit soul, are factual. But your material body and the material surroundings you are seeing- this is a dream.
Student:
But I have the impression that this experience is true and my dream is not true. What is the difference?
Srila Prabhupada:
No. This experience is all untrue! How could it be true? If it were true, how could you forget it at night? How could you forget it, if it were true? At night do you remember all this?
Student:
No. I don’t remember.
Srila Prabhupada:
Then how could it be true? Just as you don’t remember the dream you saw last night and so you call it a “dream”, similarly this experience- because you forget it at night- this is also a dream…
Student:
But I have the impression-
Srila Prabhupada:
This is a daydream; that is a night dream. That’s all. When you dream at night, then you perceive that as being real. It is a dream, but you are crying, “There is a tiger! Tiger! Tiger!” Where is the tiger? But you are seeing it as fact- a tiger. “I’m being killed by a tiger.” But where is the tiger? Or you dream you are embracing some beautiful girl. Where is that beautiful girl? But actually it is happening.
Student:
It is happening?
Srila Prabhupada:
In one sense it is happening, because there is discharge of semen. Nocturnal emission. But where is that girl? Is it not a dream? But similarly, this so-called real-life experience is also a dream. You are getting the impression of factuality, but it is a dream. Therefore it is called maya-sukhaya, illusory happiness. Your nighttime happiness and your daytime happiness are the same thing. At night you are dreaming you are embracing a nice beautiful girl, and there is no such thing. Similarly, in the daytime also, whatever “advancement” you are making- this is also like that. Illusion you are dreaming, “This process will make me happy” or “That process will make me happy“, but the whole process is only a dream. You are taking this daydream as reality because the duration is long. At night when you dream, the duration is just half an hour. But this daydream lasts for twelve hours or more. That is difference. This is a twelve-hour dream, and that is half-hour dream- but actually both of them are dreams. Because one is a twelve-hour dream, you are accepting it as real. That is called illusion.
Student:
Illusion.
Srila Prabhupada:
Yes. You are making a distinction between an animal and yourself, but you are forgetting that just as the animal will die, you will also die. So where is your advancement? Will you remain forever? You will also die. So where is your advancement over an animal? That is stated in the Vedic literatures: Ahara-nidrabhaya-maithunam ca smanam etat pasubhir naranam: this business-eating, sleeping, sex, and defending- this is also the animal’s business, and you are doing the same. So how are you distinct from an animal? You will die; the animal will die. But if you say, “I will die after one hundred years, and this ant will die after one hour”, that does not mean that you are in reality. It is a question of time.
Or take this huge universe- it will all be destroyed. As your body will be destroyed, this universe will also be destroyed. Annihilation. Dissollution. Nature’s way- the whole thing will be dissolved. Therefor, it is a dream. It is a long- duration dream, that’s all. Nothing else. But the advantage of having this human body is that in this dream you can realize the reality-God. That is the advantage. So if you don’t take advantage of this dream, then you are missing everything.
Student:
So I’m half-asleep?
Srila Prabhupada:
Yes. This is the situation. Therefore, the Vedic literature says, uttistha: “Get up! Get up! Get up!” Hagrata:”Become awakened!” Prapya varan nibodhata: “Now you’ve got the opportunity, use it.” Tamasi ma jyotir gama:” Don’t stay in darkness, come to the light. “There are Vedic injunctions. And we are teaching the same thing. “Reality is here-God. Don’t remain in this dark place. Come to this higher consciousness.”

(This conversation between Swami Prabhupada and a student took place in Los Angeles in 1974.)

Love Always
mudra
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Old 03-19-2010, 05:22 PM   #347
mudra
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If only I could throw away the urge to trace my patterns in your heart, I could really see you.

David Brandon

Love Always
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Old 03-19-2010, 07:15 PM   #348
aloha
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"When it comes to it, we're very simple; we're born, we live and we die
While we're in the process of being born, living and dying, we have an opportunity to exercise our peaceful nature
If we don't exercise that, we never find out what we came here for."

C. O'D.
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Old 03-20-2010, 07:13 PM   #349
mudra
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I have been looking for you, World Honored One,
since I was a little child.
With my first breath, I heard your call,
and began to look for you, Blessed One.
I've walked so many perilous paths,
confronted so many dangers,
endured despair, fear, hopes, and memories.
I've trekked to the farthest regions, immense and wild,
sailed the vast oceans,
traversed the highest summits, lost among the clouds.
I've lain dead, utterly alone,
on the sands of ancient deserts.
I've held in my heart so many tears of stone.


Blessed One, I've dreamed of drinking dewdrops
that sparkle with the light of far-off galaxies.
I've left footprints on celestial mountains
and screamed from the depths of Avici Hell, exhausted, crazed with despair
because I was so hungry, so thirsty.
For millions of lifetimes,
I've longed to see you,
but didn't know where to look.
Yet, I've always felt your presence with a mysterious certainty.

I know that for thousands of lifetimes,
you and I have been one,
and the distance between us is only a flash of though.
Just yesterday while walking alone,
I saw the old path strewn with Autumn leaves,
and the brilliant moon, hanging over the gate,
suddenly appeared like the image of an old friend.
And all the stars confirmed that you were there!
All night, the rain of compassion continued to fall,
while lightning flashed through my window
and a great storm arose,
as if Earth and Sky were in battle.
Finally in me the rain stopped, the clouds parted.
The moon returned,
shining peacefully, calming Earth and Sky.
Looking into the mirror of the moon, suddenly
I saw myself,
and I saw you smiling, Blessed One.
How strange!

The moon of freedom has returned to me,
everything I thought I had lost.
From that moment on,
and in each moment that followed,
I saw that nothing had gone.
There is nothing that should be restored.
Every flower, every stone, and every leaf recognize me.
Wherever I turn, I see you smiling
the smile of no-birth and no-death.
The smile I received while looking at the mirror of the moon.
I see you sitting there, solid as Mount Meru,
calm as my own breath,
sitting as though no raging fire storm ever occurred,
sitting in complete peace and freedom.
At last I have found you, Blessed One,
and I have found myself.
There I sit.

The deep blue sky,
the snow-capped mountains painted against the horizon,
and the shining red sun sing with joy.
You, Blessed One, are my first love.
The love that is always present, always pure, and freshly new.
And I shall never need a love that will be called “last.”
You are the source of well-being flowing through numberless troubled lives,
the water from you spiritual stream always pure, as it was in the beginning.
You are the source of peace,
solidity, and inner freedom.
You are the Buddha, the Tathagata.
With my one-pointed mind
I vow to nourish your solidity and freedom in myself
so I can offer solidity and freedom to countless others,
now and forever.

- Thich Naht Hahn

Love Always
mudra
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Old 03-20-2010, 07:48 PM   #350
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When the heart grieves what is lost,
the spirit rejoices over what is left.

-Sufi saying


In Love,
Bushycat
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