When the mind contemplates the inert objects for a considerable time, it assumes the characteristic of such inertness. When the same mind is devoted to enquiry and wisdom, it shakes off all conditioning and returns to its original nature as pure consciousness. Mind takes the very form of that which one contemplates... Therefore resolutely but intelligently contemplate the state beyond sorrow, free from all doubts. ~Vasishtha's Yoga
I Am So Glad Start seeing everything as God, But keep it a secret. Become like a man who is awestruck And Nourished Listening to a Golden Nightingale sing in a beautiful foreign language While God invisibly nests Upon its tongue. Hafiz, Who can you tell in this world that when a dog runs up to you Wagging its ecstatic tail, You lean down and whisper in its ear, "Beloved, I am so glad YOU are happy to see me. Beloved, I am so glad, So very glad You have come." - Hafiz trans. Daniel Ladinsky
I swear that ever since the first day You brought me back to life, The day You became my Friend, I have not slept -- And even if You drive me from your door, I swear again that we will never be separated-- Because You are alive in my heart. ~Rabia
The Gospel of Thomas Translated by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer 77. Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."
"I am only the house of your beloved, not the beloved herself: true love is for the treasure, not for the coffer that contains it." The real beloved is that one who is unique, who is your beginning and your end. When you find that one, you'll no longer expect anything else: that is both the manifest and the mystery. That one is the lord of states of feeling, dependent on none; month and year are slaves to that moon. When he bids the "state," it does His bidding; when that one wills, bodies become spirit. ~Rumi - Mathnawi III, 1417-1424 Trans E. H. Whinfield
Child, Child Sara Teasdale CHILD, child, love while you can The voice and the eyes and the soul of a man; Never fear though it break your heart -- Out of the wound new joy will start; Only love proudly and gladly and well, Though love be heaven or love be hell. Child, child, love while you may, For life is short as a happy day; Never fear the thing you feel -- Only by love is life made real; Love, for the deadly sins are seven, Only through love will you enter heaven.
The Story of Ribhu This is a lovely story told by Ramana Maharshi when a visitor asked him to explain: A Puranic story of Sage Ribhu and his disciple Nidagha, is particularly instructive. Although Ribhu taught his disciple the supreme Truth of the One Brahman without a second, Nidagha, in spite of his erudition and understanding, did not get sufficient conviction to adopt and follow the path of Jnana (Wisdom), but settled down in his native town to lead a life devoted to the observance of ceremonial religion. But the Sage loved his disciple as deeply as the latter venerated his Master. In spite of his age, Ribhu would himself go to his disciple in the town, just to see how far the latter had outgrown, his ritualism. At times the Sage went in disguise, so that he might observe how Nidagha would act when he, did not know that he was being observed by his Master. On one such occasion Ribhu, who had put on the disguise of a village rustic, found Nidagha intently watching a royal procession. Unrecognized by the town-dweller Nidagha, the village rustic enquired what the bustle was all about, and was told that the king was going in procession. "Oh! it is the king. He goes in procession! But where is he?" asked the rustic. "There, on the elephant," said Nidagha. "You say the king is on the elephant. Yes, I see the two," said the rustic, "but which is the king and which is the elephant?" "What!" exclaimed Nidagha. "You see the two, but do not know that the man above is the king and the animal below is the elephant? What is the use of talking to a man like you?" "Pray, be not impatient with an ignorant man like me," begged the rustic. "But 'you said 'above' and 'below' -- what do they mean?" Nidagha could stand it no more. "You see the king and the elephant, the one above and the other below. Yet ' you want to know what is meant by 'above' and 'below''' burst out Nidagha. "If things seen and words spoken can convey so little to you, action alone can teach you. Bend forward, and ' you will know it all ' too well". The rustic did as he was told. Nidagha got on his shoulders and said: "Know it now. I am above as the king, you are below as the elephant. Is that clear enough?" "No, not yet," was the rustic's quiet reply. "You say you are above like the king, and I am below like the elephant. The 'king', the 'elephant', 'above' and 'below' -- so far it is clear. But pray, tell me what you mean by 'I' and 'you'?" When Nidagha was thus confronted all of a sudden with. the mighty problem of defining a 'you' apart from an 'I', light dawned on his mind. At once he jumped down and fell at his Master's feet saying: "Who else but . my venerable Master, .Ribhu, could have thus drawn my mind from the superficialities of physical existence to the true Being of the Self? Oh! benign Master, I crave thy blessings".
When the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten. When the belt fits, the belly is forgotten. When the heart is right, "for" and "against" are forgotten. No drives, no compulsions, no needs, no attractions: Then your affairs are under control. You are a free man. ~ Chuang Tzu
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first; Be not discouraged-- keep on-- there are divine things, well envelop'd; I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell. ~Walt Whitman 'Song of The Open Road'
Enter each day with the expectation that the happenings of the day may contain a clandestine message addressed to you personally. Expect omens, epiphanies, casual blessings, and teachers who unknowingly speak to your condition. ~ Sam Keen, Hymns to an Unknown God
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