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Question: I was wondering if you considered the state of clarity that you
describe to be attributable to a functioning of sensory input into the brain.
Answer: When it is seen that all is ONE, it becomes hard to ascribe or not ascribe clarity to anything specific. It is like a piece of music played on a flute. Will one ascribe it to the flute (brain) or to the breath, the lungs, the flute maker, the flute player, the composer, or to the ears that translate the vibrating air into sound? We could go on and say it is the air that makes it all possible, which in turn is made possible by the conditions on our planet, which are possible because of the sun, and so on. It just depends on the angle it is approached from and the context thereby assigned. Of course clarity requires a body/mind/brain to experience/express like this, but THAT which expresses AS all this is not dependent on anything. It is Self-Shining and prior to the temporal and spatial dimensions of this dream we call existence. The real mystery – that there is anything at all- cannot be solved by the brain/mind as the brain/mind is but a part of (or an expression of) that mystery. See what happens when the mind is applied to the mystery of being. We can come up with elegant theories such as biological evolution. Before that we might perceive the formation of stars and galaxies. Still further back we can imagine ‘first light’ the ‘big bang’ and the beginning of time. Here linear logic has to stop. The mind cannot imagine ‘before time’ as before and after are qualities OF time. Paradoxically the mystery is also pure simplicity, or an open secret. It is everything perceived as well as the perceiving itself. It is not something the mind can grasp, but the mind can realize its own limitations here and let go. At this instant it can be understood that there is no one to understand. What remains is simply understanding; not the understanding OF the mystery, but of Being AS the mystery. If or when you have a question you'd like to see answered in this newsletter send it to: author@awakeningtothedream.com Painting by Josephine Wall Title: 'The Enchanted Flute' Found at: http://www.thepiecefits.com/di_fan.htm |
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To talk about silence seems a paradox, as the sound of one's words apparently shatters the silence. Most of us have learned that silence is the polar opposite of sound and that sound can break it; but understanding this differently, we find that silence is to the ear what space is to the eye. When an object is perceived in space, we do not think that space has been broken. In the same way when sound appears in silence, silence has not been broken. Silence contains sound in the same way that space contains objects. When you notice this, each sound is surrounded by silence.
Space and silence are both great pointers to-and arise in-what is even more subtle: the silent space of Pure Awareness. The eye of the cyclone or the heart of the storm is silent. It's like the empty space at the center of a wheel. Seen in this light, emptiness is a potent no-thing-ness; it is that around which the storm revolves and that which allows the wheel to turn around its axel. Or consider the empty heart of a flute, which supplies the resonant space for its tones. This can again be a pointer to the creative emptiness of Pure Awareness, which allows for this whole manifestation to arise. Thirty spokes share the wheels hub;When we try to fathom the living emptiness at our very center, we cannot find its end or edge. It is beyond all dualistic qualifications. It is our true heart and at the same time all around us. In discussing the heart, we often mean the seat of emotion/intuition as opposed or complementary to the intellect. What is important here is to see that both the emotions and the intellect arise from the same single source. We could refer to this as the heart of hearts, the central and true core of being-ness; an absolute and still no-thing-ness, which escapes each and every attempt to grasp it with the mind. See for yourself how absolutely impossible it is to form an idea of this no-thing-ness. Every idea about it is some-thing and therefore not no-thing. When the intellect tries to imagine this, it comes to a screeching halt. This no-thing-ness is an impenetrable brick wall for the mind; but for no-mind it is a warm bath, a coming home to the heart of hearts. * "Tao Te Ching" Translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English. Wildwood House Ltd. ISBN 0-7045-0007-8
From the book: 'Awakening to the Dream'
Painting by Tabora: Echoed Silence. Visit him at: http://www.tabora.com/Island%20Reflections.htm |
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This Nothingness Earth, mountains, rivers - hidden in this nothingness. In this nothingness - earth, mountains, rivers revealed. Spring flowers, winter snows: There's no being or non-being, nor denial itself.
By Saisho
From "Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter" Translated by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto Painting by Zhong-Liang, Li |
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Consciousness is always Self-Consciousness. If you are conscious of anything, you are essentially conscious of yourself. - Ramana Maharshi - |
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How to get to Heaven I was testing the children in my Sunday school class to see if they understood the concept of getting to heaven. I asked them, "If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into Heaven?" "NO!" the children answered. "If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into Heaven?" Again, the answer was, "NO!" By now I was starting to smile. Hey, this was fun! "Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children, and loved my husband, would that get me into Heaven?" I asked them again. Again, they all answered, "NO!" I was just bursting with pride for them. Well, I continued, "then how can I get into Heaven?" A five-year-old boy shouted out, "YOU GOTTA BE DEAD." |
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