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Question: I heard some scandal stories about Ramesh Balsekar, and I am confused.
What I understand is that when a sage has no desire, so why does he manifest desires about sex and money?
Answer: Yes, I heard the stories too and was surprised by the indignant responses of some erstwhile Ramesh devotees. When writing this, a bible quote comes to mind: "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone." What actually happened, I don't know. As far as I understand, the real trouble started about physical intimacy between consenting adults, which later on turned sour. It is not something that concerns me, nor something that I want to pass judgment on. If there is one central point to Ramesh Balsekar's expression, it's got to be that of non-doership. Now, something seen by some as unbecoming of a Guru figure has occurred, and suddenly Ramesh is seen as the doer. Of course, Ramesh also said that although there is no doership, there are still consequences; and the truth of that can be clearly seen in this upheaval. The upshot of all this may be that many who proclaimed to accept non-doership as reality, will find out that it is just a concept to them. Certainly, the ones 'throwing the first stones' are not the doer either. As Ramesh says; "Consciousness is all there is. All there is, is Consciousness." and this includes the appearance of Ramesh, of the ones that feel victimized, and of the ones responding to the apparent situation. The body/mind Ramesh has its programming and this may include certain traits one is not comfortable with. However, fixed ideas about how a 'sage' should act or be, are a conceptual blindfold that continues the 'disciple-guru' duality. This 'disciple-guru' duality is a myth. There is only the One, appearing as the 'teacher' and as the 'disciple'. Oneness is all there is... and all there is not. It is the Isness-That-Is; prior to the duality of is and is-not. There's no need to concern yourself with judging Ramesh, and no need to accept the limiting concepts as to how a 'guru' should act. Look beyond the Ramesh character and find out if the pointers that come from 'there' resonate. That is all that counts. As Rumi said: "Do not look at my outward shape, but take what is in my hand." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the book "Awakening to the Dream" I dedicated a chapter to the concepts that float around about 'gurus' and 'masters.' As an illustration I included the following quote from Nisargadatta Maharaj's book "I Am That": Seeker: ‘I was told that a realized person will never do anything unseemly. That they will behave in an exemplary way.’ Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj: ‘Who sets the example? Why should a liberated one necessarily follow conventions? The moment one becomes predictable, one cannot be free.’
If or when you have a question you'd like to see answered in this newsletter send it to:
author@awakeningtothedream.com Art by: Sheema Kalbasi Title: 'Stoning' Found at: http://www.iranian.com/SheemaKalbasi/2003/June/Art/ Fair Use Notice |
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Awareness is the source. The rest is fleeting. In the question "Who am I?" attention is aimed at the questioner.
What aims? What is attention? Awareness aims at awareness; wakefulness aims at wakefulness. But, whatever happens in this wakefulness is recognised as nothing more than fleeting shadows on a screen. You see that awareness has always been what it is even when you were a Baby, and nothing has changed since. It is the most intimate experience. It is the only thing you know. It is without condition. Everything else is conditioned. Without awareness and that which is aware, (which can never be known), there would be nothing to be aware of. As awareness, you must always be there first. It is only afterwards, that situations and circumstances occur. Awareness is equally complete in deep sleep: even when there's nothing to be aware of, and you realise that in this awareness your birth happened as well. In this awareness, your body came, and it will go again. Awareness was prior to this and will be there afterwards. You realise that awareness is unborn and every idea of birth and death appears within it. Awareness itself was never born and will never die. You are the eternally unborn, the immortal, the source itself.
From: Karl Renz's book "The Myth of Enlightenment"
Visit him at: www.karlrenz.com Art by: Karl Renz. Title: 'Spring Quake' Found at: www.karlrenz.de Fair Use Notice |
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Too Many Names Mondays are meshed with Tuesdays and the week with the whole year. Time cannot be cut with your weary scissors, and all the names of the day are washed out by the waters of night. No one can claim the name of Pedro, nobody is Rosa or Maria, all of us are dust or sand, all of us are rain under rain. They have spoken to me of Venezuelas, of Chiles and of Paraguays; I have no idea what they are saying. I know only the skin of the earth and I know it is without a name. When I lived amongst the roots they pleased me more than flowers did, and when I spoke to a stone it rang like a bell. It is so long, the spring which goes on all winter. Time lost its shoes. A year is four centuries. When I sleep every night, what am I called or not called? And when I wake, who am I if I was not while I slept? This means to say that scarcely have we landed into life than we come as if new-born; let us not fill our mouths with so many faltering names, with so many sad formallities, with so many pompous letters, with so much of yours and mine, with so much of signing of papers. I have a mind to confuse things, unite them, bring them to birth, mix them up, undress them, until the light of the world has the oneness of the ocean, a generous, vast wholeness, a crepitant fragrance.
~ Pablo Neruda ~
Found at: The Poetry Chaikhana Art by: Shirley Reade. Title: 'The Timeless Sea' Found at: http://www.emeraldartcenter.org/artwork/Reade_Shirley/Reade.html Fair Use Notice |
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The whales do not sing because they have an answer. They sing because they have a song. ~ Ashesh and Snow ~ Art by: Gregory Colbert Found at: http://www.ashesandsnow.org/ Do yourself a favor and visit this unique website! Fair Use Notice |
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Of Mice, Man and other Animals A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured, you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose." So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house. It was the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. The wife's sickness continued and friends and neighbors came to sit with her. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife eventually died. So many people came to her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered for provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon this all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. From The NDH news letter: NDhighlights@yahoogroups.com Clip-art found at: http://abkldesigns.com/ Fair Use Notice |
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