On Being Ordinary

Don't try to understand what I'm saying. These are just pointers. I don't understand what I'm saying either. Pointers point to the state of direct realization but they're not a substitute for it.

~ Eckhart Tolle

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“The nice thing is that when you stop waiting for the mind to stop doing what it does, you start to realize it doesn’t matter how long the mind does what it does. There’s still this direct taste, this sense of being. So waiting is unnecessary. It’s just another concept.”

~ Adyashanti

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To say something meaningful,
Get in the circle of silent ones
And be silent.

~ Rumi

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I felt in need of a great pilgrimage
so I sat still for three
days

and God came
to me.

~ Kabir

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The desire to find the self will be surely fulfilled, provided you want nothing else. But you must be honest with yourself and really want nothing else. If in the meantime you want many other things and are engaged in their pursuit, your main purpose may be delayed until you grow wiser and cease being torn between contradictory urges. Go within, without swerving, without ever looking outward.

~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

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In Master Linji's time, some Buddhist terms were used so often they became meaningless. People chewed on terms like “liberation” and “enlightenment” until they lost their power. It’s no different today.

What is a True Person?

“As I see it, there isn’t so much to do. Just be ordinary—put on your robes, eat your food, and pass the time doing nothing.”

~ Master Linji

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Insight can’t be found in sutras, commentaries, verbal expression, or —isms. Liberation and awakened understanding can’t be found by devoting ourselves to the study of the Buddhist scriptures. This is like trying to find fresh water in dry bones. Returning to the present moment, using our clear mind which exists right here and now, we can be in touch with liberation and enlightenment, as well as with the Buddha and the patriarchs as living realities right in this moment. The person who has nothing to do is sovereign unto herself. She doesn’t need to put on airs or leave any trace behind.

The true person is an active participant, engaged in her environment while remaining unoppressed by it. Although all phenomena are going through the various appearances of birth, abiding, changing, and dying, the true person doesn’t become a victim of sadness, happiness, love, or hate. She lives in awareness as an ordinary person, whether standing, walking, lying down, or sitting. She doesn’t act a part, even the part of a great Zen master. This is what Master Linji means by “being sovereign wherever you are and using that place as your seat of awakening.”

We may wonder, “If a person has no direction, isn’t yearning to realize an ideal, doesn’t have an aim in life, then who will help living beings be liberated, who will rescue those who are drowning in the ocean of suffering?” A Buddha is a person who has no more business to do and isn’t looking for anything. In doing nothing, in simply stopping, we can live freely and true to ourselves and our liberation will contribute to the liberation of all beings.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Simple Enlightenment

Enlightenment is not about words and thoughts and concepts which can be doubted. Enlightenment is always Here.

By "Here" I don't mean this present space. Here is somewhere within where mind cannot reach. Presence is always Here and you are always That. This Here is not the opposite of "there." This Here is nowhere, it is your Heart. When mind is still all comes back to the Heart. All the cosmos is but a speck in your Heart.

Turn mind over into This Here and it is lost. Then only Light, Wisdom and Love remain and This you are not different or apart from.

~ Papaji

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I love Jesus, who said to us:
heaven and earth will pass away.
When heaven and earth have passed away,
my word will still remain.
What was your word, Jesus?
Love? Forgiveness? Affection?
All your words were
one word: Wakeup.

~ Antonio Machado

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Ninth Duino Elegy

Praise the world to the angel: leave the unsayable aside.
Your exalted feelings do not move him.
In the universe, where he feels feelings, you are a beginner.
Therefore show him what is ordinary, what has been
shaped from generation to generation, shaped by hand and eye.
Tell him of things. He will stand still in astonishment,
the way you stood by the ropemaker in Rome
or beside the potter on the Nile.
Show him how happy a thing can be, how innocent and ours,
how even a lament takes pure form,
serves as a thing, dies as a thing,
while the violin, blessing it, fades.

And the things, even as they pass,
understand that we praise them.
Transient, they are trusting us
to save them - us, the most transient of all.
As if they wanted in our invisible hearts
to be transformed
into - oh, endlessly - into us.

Earth, isn't this what you want? To arise in us, invisible?
Is it not your dream, to enter us so wholly
there's nothing left outside us to see?
What, if not transformation,
is your deepest purpose? Earth, my love,
I want that too. Believe me,
no more of your springtimes are needed
to win me over - even one flower
is more than enough. Before I was named
I belonged to you. I seek no other law
but yours, and know I can trust
the death you will bring.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

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I clean my teeth in water drawn from a cold well;
And while I brush my clothes, I purify my mind;
Then, slowly turning pages in the Tree-Leaf Book,
I recite, along the path to the eastern shelter.
...The world has forgotten the true fountain of this teaching
And people enslave themselves to miracles and fables.
Under the given words I want the essential meaning,
I look for the simplest way to sow and reap my nature.
Here in the quiet of the priest's temple courtyard,
Mosses add their climbing colour to the thick bamboo;
And now comes the sun, out of mist and fog,
And pines that seem to be new-bathed;
And everything is gone from me, speech goes, and reading,
Leaving the single unison.

Liu Zongyuan
773–819

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The Art of Seeking

"Time is ticking. Fast, hurry, seek what you are trying to find!"

That is what I said to myself when my seeking hit the roof. I had to do something in order to achieve enlightenment.

It all started when I was 18 years. I started doing meditation after listening to a new age program on the Dutch radio station. I am 33 now and I did not know anything about enlightenment or spirituality or whatever you want to name it. So there I was, meditating for 5 minutes each day. Thoughts were all over the place, scattered as if they came from a bombshell. I read about Buddhism online and I did not understand anything about what they said.

I didn't know anything about God/Brahman/ Life itself. I was never a believer in the catholic God and thought going to church was kind of ignorance.
Going to heaven after I die? Was it my fault that I was born?
So I turned on the TV one night and Osho (an Indian mystic) said the following words 'you are not the doer, you are a watcher'. This trying to figure out who the doer was started right there that night.

So time flew but enlightenment and Self realization did not make any sense. When I was 27 or so, I typed the question on Google "who am I?" I came to an advaita site of Ramana Maharshi. It sounded good to me. As I went to YouTube, I found other advaita/non- duality teachers talk about it. When I listened to Tony Parsons saying 'everything just happens for no one', something clicked. Surely, hearing, smelling and feeling were happening on their own accord. If ever enlightenment was that easy! I couldn't believe it. I thought I had it. I thought that it happened to someone.

Darkness, separation and no Brahman/Source/ Life to be found anywhere!

Help! I saw myself as a separate doer, doing stuff in life, not knowing that that very thought of being a doer also was just perfectly happening on its own accord. SO I believed in this whole seeking mind game and all of its diverse thoughts. One day the mind started to talk in the 'you' form. So I wondered. Are there two separate selves?

But very recently things started to change. I had glimpses. They went away as fast as they came. I should be happy knowing that I was enlightened. I had it in my hands! I finally arrived.

Reality check!

Who is it that becomes enlightened?

Who is it that wants to get rid of the doer?

Who is it that seeks?

Isn't it so that all of these divine things are also happening perfectly?

So yes, writing this post is happening on by itself. And there is something still 'knowing' that it happens that doesn't require effort and pain. It is there.

This/Life itself is a knowing which knows:

- itching sensation on my left leg
- deep inhalation
- sounds
- tapping
- legs crossed on the ground
- coldness on the nose
- a thought saying ' if there is no one, who or better say what knows that this very thought is happening'
- smile
- humming of the PC
- moistening of lips
- blinking
- another thought saying why I wasn't aware of the blinking before
- laughter
- another thought saying that there is a noticing/ knowing that knows that I wasn't aware if there is an I!

So all of these things seem to happen and the 'you' cannot figure out this doership. You cannot surrender either or let go. It happens or not. In my case seeking was an obsession, like a day-job. The pre-thought 'I am going to wiggle my toe whenever I want' was my seeking experiment for 2 years but step by step in the story of Javier (if there is a step by step), there was an understanding that subtle actions were happening too, including concentration, sending imaginary signals to the toe, closing the eyes and forcing it to move the toe. Hilarious really but just OK. So there seems to be a process here NOW of dismantling subtle layers of belief and subtle thoughts of identification. So self inquiry into the doership can be the way. Or more correctly, there is no way ... there is only 'waying' by no one.

Life is living you. You are not having a Life. Of course, don't say this to an apparent anyone who believes they are separate. 'You' might end up in a separate isolation room!

It couldn't have happened in another way. So trust what you know or don't know. It is one big paradox!

~ Javier

http://beyond- advaita.blogspot .com/2011/ 04/art-of- seeking-by- javier.html

No Thoughts, No Words - Benjamin Smythe

Find your mute button. Ben calls it "find the thinker". Others might call it something else. Does it really matter? When thinking ends, all that is left is the One looking at itself in the mirror, laughing. And then the mind starts up with a discussion about the proper word to use to describe it. Too funny! Enjoy these two videos, Ben really simplifies the whole business of awakening to its primary, primordial components. It ain't rocket science, folks!

Eric Whitacre - Sleep (Virtual Choir 2011)

This is beautiful...astonishing...amazing!

Be uplifted and enjoy!

Dear Woman - by Consciousmen

On one level we are all responsible for everything that has ever happened on this planet, either by collusion, delusion, or confusion, whether we have played the part of victim or perpetrator.

"I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
Thank you."
~ Ho'oponopono Prayer

Maybe now we can co-create a planet of harmony and balance, with love and respect for all Beings regardless of gender or form.

Not For The Faint Of Heart - From the Council of 12

An excerpt from http://lightworkers.org/channeling/127630/not-faint-heart

"...We come to You today with this Message because it is time for the Truth and it is time that You awaken to the world of darkness You have created. There are dark forces of energy at work, playing in the realms of Your mind, and because You have allowed this to be so for so long, You have forgotten that You are only dreaming. There was a time, long ago, when most of You knew You were only dreaming this dream so that God could experience Itself as Love… but over time, corruption has happened, and so many of You have fallen into a deep, deep slumber.

The dark energies of this earth are being called into the Truth of The Light. They are being held accountable for what they have created. And now this can be seen as many of You are waking up to what has really been allowed to go on in Your world. You are all being held accountable. This is what karma is. You are not being punished, no, that is never a word a Being of Love would use. You are simply being held accountable, on every level, for every unloving thought You CHOOSE TO HOLD. This is the reality of what is happening on Your earth, in truth. There is nothing more or less going on here. You can sugar-coat this all You like, but the truth of the matter is this: what You are experiencing is as a direct result of the thoughts and feelings each and every one of You has individually and collectively chosen to hold in place of love. Plain and simple.

When You talk about Gaia and “Her” transition and “Her” shedding You take the heat and accountability off of Yourselves. You displace all of that and act once again as though You have no part in this. You seem to either look at this as being detached from Mother earth and what ‘She’ is going through… or You seem to feel You are being violently punished because ‘She’ is angry for what You have done to the earth. The truth is, neither of these are actually what is happening. You have created this all by Yourselves, and now when everything is coming back in reflection for You – in such a way You cannot run and hide—You all want to blame someone else. ‘It’s the Gov’t. It’s the greedy corporate people, it’s the people who don’t care about the environment.’

Let Us say now, there is not one of You who is completely innocent from what has now become of Mother earth. Why? Because all of You have feelings of negativity to overcome. That is why You came to the earth. You have created martyrs of Yourselves in many ways, rather than stopping to look at how You played a role in creating the current state of affairs.

Do not mistake Our speaking to You about dark energies as [if] We are blaming or judging. This is not true. We are pointing the finger at each and every person on the planet who has not taken a personal account of what he or she may have put out in terms of thoughts, words, and actions to create this state of destruction and chaos. And this finger isn’t an angry and condemning finger, it is simply to say, before You spend one more moment looking around Yourself for someone to cast blame and throw stones at, perhaps You should look at how You think and speak every day.

Because this is truly it, Dear Ones. This is where You are powerful and have given up Your power to the dark energies of which We speak. Every word You utter out of anger is an energy that strengthens the forces that seek to destroy this planet. You have the choice right here and now to make a change. You do not need to change the world, in fact, You shouldn’t even be focused on changing ANYTHING other than Your own thoughts. We mean this most seriously. The life of this planet and every living thing upon it is in a state of peril, let Us help You by illuminating, without question, where the real problem lies…within You-YOUR mind. The world You see is a world You have co-created. God, the Loving Being of Graciousness and Free Will has given all of You the ability to use the very gift of thought to create. It is with this thought You paint upon the canvas of Your individual and collective lives what You truly want to see.

Your thoughts, not aligned with God, produce hell on earth. Your thoughts, aligned with God and Love, create Heaven on earth. And all of this starts WITHIN. No one should be focused on any other living soul’s change until they have fully and completely mastered their own mind. If You are focused on Your brother’s negativity, and have not yet mastered Your own, then You are a hypocrite and nothing more. We want to release You all to Love, knowing that You ARE powerful enough to make this happen for the world, as a Whole. But, You must understand that You are sitting with the keys and do not know what to use them for. You have the power, but are just giving it away out of ignorance.

There doesn’t need to be any violence or protest, that again, re-enforces the power of the dark. So many of You do not get this. You think if You go out, highly charged with emotion You will create change. You are creating NOTHING more than more of the same. Do You hear Us? You are empowering what You do not want and giving Your energy over to the darkness You want so much to vanquish. That which You resist persists. If You say “NO!” the Universe doesn’t hear this. It just hears I want more of this please because I haven’t learned how to control my mind.

The greatest power You all have is stillness and turning within. If You were to stop the mental chatter for just one hour a day, Your world would change dramatically, if not over night. But instead, You chatter, chatter, chatter, feeding the ‘beast’ more of Your energy by sharing negative dreams all around the internet. This is not true for all of You, for We cannot make a blanket statement, but, for the most part, in an act to wake people from the dream, You are only empowering it. This is what We wish to illuminate here to day."

Click HERE to continue...

Openhand: "Five Gateways"

Beautifully done guided tour through the stages of awakening and enlightenment.

More info at: http://www.openhandweb.org

The Wayseer Manifesto - ROCK ON!

Just in case you've forgotten....

and have been taking your role in the cosmic drama a little too seriously....

Relax!

It's OK to just sit back and enjoy the show!

The whole thing's on automatic anyway, remember?

Some End Game Thoughts - Dr. Stewart Bitkoff

By cosmic design, we are living in an age of tremendous social upheaval, technological change and abundance of destructive natural phenomena. Many are concerned that this is the end of days; an ever present fear of death grips their daily life.

Travelers forget that in every moment we live and die. This moment is here and then it is gone. Is this not a small death? The secret is to make each moment a celebration.

The celebratory journey begins by changing your world view and realizing we came here to experience this hour. On a journey, we are spiritual travelers who have come to this realm to experience it all, and help those we can. Embrace each moment. Use each opportunity to rise higher.

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Let us suppose for a moment, everything we see about us is an illusion; and the things we come in contact with will no longer be there when we awake from our dream like state.

What will we do? Will we cry or laugh? Will we be happy for this experience or will we want more? Will we have sweet or bitter memories? How will this multi-level experience prepare us for our real lives?

O traveler, give thought to this proposition; it is not very far from the Truth.

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As the hour glass drains
What is important to you?
Each grain is a precious moment
That cannot be reclaimed.

What have you left undone?
What else do you wish to accomplish?
Who have you forgotten to embrace?

Consider your answer well.
We are not promised another day.

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O the pain of death. The moment of bitterness as the soul separates from the body. What parent wants this for their child?

Yet, while the death of a loved one is a heart rending experience, we are not thinking in the proper way. In many respects, this life is a prison term for the soul and the moment of physical release is a joyous one. The soul is returning home. Also, learn to think of this release as a return to a greater freedom. For a moment, forget the worldly consciousness and focus on the transcendent.

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O traveler, of what are you Created? Flesh and bone is only part of the answer. Remember you are a child of Spirit and will wake-up one day to find you have joined the morning sun- shinning across the universe.

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Did you think this world of takers could go on forever? Governments and takers- lying to and stealing from the most helpless; takers filling their pockets with their neighbor's gold.

O spiritual traveler, you are on a journey; a grand adventure of sorts. Prepare for the next phase with its magnificent ports of call.

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When the potter is forming a bowl and it has a defect which cannot be repaired: what does the potter do? Keeping the clay, the potter starts anew.

O traveler, the hour of change is upon us. That which will be kept is essential to the new form.

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When the child cries, why must it be so? I have not been given the opportunity to reach my full potential. Answer with kindness. This destruction is necessary to the new form and that which you will be given will far exceed that which you lost.

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And so the Prophecy must be fulfilled. You did not create this world and are not responsible for its decay. Yet, you are a child of flesh and have participated in the pain.

And as you chose this life so have you wished for this cup. Drink deep, my fellow travelers, we helped press the grapes.

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You ask: why must it be so? I tell you our mind cannot understand. We must experience the answer; which is all part of the Creator's Plan.

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The book of your life is filled with many blank pages. You are free to write on them whatever you choose.

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Sit down and number all the things you are concerned about. Make a list and leave nothing out. These things, which make-up your list, are your gods. They are the things and people that fill your mind- instead of the Beloved.

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The hour of a traveler's death is fixed. What is not fixed is how we spend our life. Use these hours well. They are as precious as any treasure you will ever find.

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What bit of advice to offer your children? Love God and serve your fellow travelers.

~ Dr. Stewart Bitkoff - http://stewartbitkoff.com/

Another Great Video from Benjamin Smythe