The Chinese philosophy of health is very simple: All sickness is because of weakness, and that is caused by something blocking the energy source.
- James Lu
Friday, January 27, 2006
"See why Peak Oil is so great? People have to cut back on everything and entertain themselves with their own bodies and minds. You put an Indian yogi in a completely empty room with just a little piece of string and he can amuse himself for hours! Now, Peak String--THAT would be a problem!"
-ThreadBear
-ThreadBear
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
When, under the instructions of the sarvadhikari, Kunju Swami was serving Bhagavan [Ramana] as an attendant, he noticed Bhagavan's body and head were shaking and faltering and so when there was no-one else present but close disciples he asked Bhagavan, "Bhagavan, although only in middle age, strangely enough has a shaking of the head and of the body necessitating his walking with the aid of a stick; what could be the reason for it?". Bhagavan replied, with a smile, "What is there so strange in it? If a big elephant is tied down in a small hut, what else will happen to that hut except troubles of all sorts? This is the same".
When we concentrate our attention on the origin of thought, the thought process itself comes to an end; there is a hiatus, which is pleasant, and again the process starts. Turning from the external world and enjoying the objectless bliss, the mind feels that the world of objects is not for it. Prior to this experience the un-satiating sense enjoyments constantly challenged the mind to satisfy them, but from the inward turn onwards its interest in them begins to fade. Once the internal bliss is enjoyed, the external happiness loses its charm. One who has tasted the inward bliss is naturally loving and free from envy, contented and happy with others’ prosperity, friendly and innocent and free from deceit. He is full of the mystery and wonder of the bliss. One who has realized the Self can never inflict pain on other.
- Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj
- Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
From the conclusion of “Coma”, novel by Robin Cook
Stark put his hands together and rotated in his chair so that he could see out over the black waters of the harbor. "Tell me if you can think of any other reasons for this fantastic operation you have so cleverly exposed.”
“You mean, other than money?”
“Yes, other than money.”
“Well, it is a good way to get rid of someone you don’t want around.”
Stark laughed inappropriately, or so it seemed to Susan.
“No, I mean a real benefit. Can you think of any benefits other than financial?”
“I guess the recipients of the organs get a certain benefit, if they don’t have to know how the donor organ was obtained.”
“I mean a more general benefit. A benefit for society.”
Susan again tried to think, but her eyes wanted to close. She straightened up again. Benefit? She looked at Stark. The meaning of the conversation was becoming diffuse, strange.
“Dr. Stark, I hardly think this is the time …”
“Come on, Susan. Try. You’ve done such a remarkable job at uncovering this thin. Try to think. It’s important.”
“I can’t. It’s such a horror that I have difficulty even considering the word benefit.” Susan’s arms began to feel heavy. She shook her head. For a second she though she had actually fallen asleep.
“Well, then I’m surprised at you, Susan. From the intelligence that you yhave so amply displayed over the last couple of days, I thought that you would have been one of the few to see the other side.”
“Other side?” Susan closed her eyes tightly, then opened them, hoping they would stay open.
“Exactly.” Stark rotated back toward Susan, leaning forward, arms on the desk. Sometimes there are situations where … what should I say .. the common folk, if you will, cannot be depended upon to make decisions which will provide long-term benefits. The common man thinks only of his short-term needs and selfish requirements.”
Stark got up and wandered over to the corner where the expansive walls of glass joined. He looked out over the great medical complex he had helped to build. Susan felt herself unable to move. She even had difficulty turning her head. She knew she was tired but she never felt so heavy, so languorous. Besides, Stark kept going in and out of focus.
“Susan,” Stark said suddenly, turning around to face her again, “you must realize that medicine is on the brink of probably the biggest breakthrough in all of its long history. The discovery of anesthesia, the discovery of antibiotics … any of the epochal achievements will pale before the next giant step. We are about to crack the mystery of the immunological mechanisms. Soon we’ll be able to transplant all humans organs at will. The fear of most cancer will become a thing of the past. Degenerative disease, trauma… the scope is infinite.
“But such breakthroughs do not come easy, not without hard work and sacrifice. Not without a price. We need first-rate institutions, like the Memorial and its facilities. Next we need people like myself, indeed like Leonardo Da Vinci, willing to step beyond restrictive laws in order to ensure progress. What if Leonardo Da Vinci had not dug up his bodies for dissection? What if Copernicus had knuckled under to the laws and dogma of the church? Where would we be today? What we need for the breakthrough to actually happen is data, hard data. Susan, you have the mind to appreciate that.”
Despite the darkening cloud she felt settling over her brain, Susan began to realize what Stark was saying. She tried to get up, but she found she could not lift her arms. She strained but only succeeded in knocking the remains of her drink to the floor. The ice cubes shattered.
“You do understand what I am saying, Susan? I think you do. Our legal system is not geared to handle our needs. My God, they cannot make a decision to terminate a patient even after it is certain that his brain has turned to lifeless Jell-O. How can science proceed under a public policy handicap of that proportion?
“Now Susan, I want you to think carefully. I know it is a little hard for you to think at this moment, but try. I want to say something to you and I want your response. You are a bright, very bright, girl. You’re obviously one of the what should I say? … elite sounds too much like a cliché, but you know what I mean. We need you, people like you. What I want to say is that the people who run the Jefferson Institute are on our side. Do you understand, our side?”
Stark paused, looking Susan. She struggled to keep her eyelids above her pupils. It took all her strength.
“What do you say to that, Susan? Are you willing to dedicate that brain of yours to the good of society, science, and medicine?”
Susan’s mouth formed words but they came out in a whisper. Her face was expressionless. Stark leaned forward to hear. He had to bring his head up to within inches of Susan’s lips.
“Say it again, Susan. I’ll be able to hear if you say it again.”
Susan’s mouth struggled to bring her lower lip against her upper teeth to form the first consonant. It spilled out in a whisper.
“Fuck you, you cra—“ Susan’s head slumped back, her mouth gaping and her respirations coming in regular deep-sounding breaths. Stark looked at Susan’s drugged body for a few moments. Susan’s defiance angered him. But after a few moments of silence his emotion faded into disappointment. “Susan, we could have used the brain of yours.” Stark shook his head slowly. “Well, maybe you can still be useful.”
Stark turned to his phone and called the emergency room. He asked for the admitting resident.
Stark put his hands together and rotated in his chair so that he could see out over the black waters of the harbor. "Tell me if you can think of any other reasons for this fantastic operation you have so cleverly exposed.”
“You mean, other than money?”
“Yes, other than money.”
“Well, it is a good way to get rid of someone you don’t want around.”
Stark laughed inappropriately, or so it seemed to Susan.
“No, I mean a real benefit. Can you think of any benefits other than financial?”
“I guess the recipients of the organs get a certain benefit, if they don’t have to know how the donor organ was obtained.”
“I mean a more general benefit. A benefit for society.”
Susan again tried to think, but her eyes wanted to close. She straightened up again. Benefit? She looked at Stark. The meaning of the conversation was becoming diffuse, strange.
“Dr. Stark, I hardly think this is the time …”
“Come on, Susan. Try. You’ve done such a remarkable job at uncovering this thin. Try to think. It’s important.”
“I can’t. It’s such a horror that I have difficulty even considering the word benefit.” Susan’s arms began to feel heavy. She shook her head. For a second she though she had actually fallen asleep.
“Well, then I’m surprised at you, Susan. From the intelligence that you yhave so amply displayed over the last couple of days, I thought that you would have been one of the few to see the other side.”
“Other side?” Susan closed her eyes tightly, then opened them, hoping they would stay open.
“Exactly.” Stark rotated back toward Susan, leaning forward, arms on the desk. Sometimes there are situations where … what should I say .. the common folk, if you will, cannot be depended upon to make decisions which will provide long-term benefits. The common man thinks only of his short-term needs and selfish requirements.”
Stark got up and wandered over to the corner where the expansive walls of glass joined. He looked out over the great medical complex he had helped to build. Susan felt herself unable to move. She even had difficulty turning her head. She knew she was tired but she never felt so heavy, so languorous. Besides, Stark kept going in and out of focus.
“Susan,” Stark said suddenly, turning around to face her again, “you must realize that medicine is on the brink of probably the biggest breakthrough in all of its long history. The discovery of anesthesia, the discovery of antibiotics … any of the epochal achievements will pale before the next giant step. We are about to crack the mystery of the immunological mechanisms. Soon we’ll be able to transplant all humans organs at will. The fear of most cancer will become a thing of the past. Degenerative disease, trauma… the scope is infinite.
“But such breakthroughs do not come easy, not without hard work and sacrifice. Not without a price. We need first-rate institutions, like the Memorial and its facilities. Next we need people like myself, indeed like Leonardo Da Vinci, willing to step beyond restrictive laws in order to ensure progress. What if Leonardo Da Vinci had not dug up his bodies for dissection? What if Copernicus had knuckled under to the laws and dogma of the church? Where would we be today? What we need for the breakthrough to actually happen is data, hard data. Susan, you have the mind to appreciate that.”
Despite the darkening cloud she felt settling over her brain, Susan began to realize what Stark was saying. She tried to get up, but she found she could not lift her arms. She strained but only succeeded in knocking the remains of her drink to the floor. The ice cubes shattered.
“You do understand what I am saying, Susan? I think you do. Our legal system is not geared to handle our needs. My God, they cannot make a decision to terminate a patient even after it is certain that his brain has turned to lifeless Jell-O. How can science proceed under a public policy handicap of that proportion?
“Now Susan, I want you to think carefully. I know it is a little hard for you to think at this moment, but try. I want to say something to you and I want your response. You are a bright, very bright, girl. You’re obviously one of the what should I say? … elite sounds too much like a cliché, but you know what I mean. We need you, people like you. What I want to say is that the people who run the Jefferson Institute are on our side. Do you understand, our side?”
Stark paused, looking Susan. She struggled to keep her eyelids above her pupils. It took all her strength.
“What do you say to that, Susan? Are you willing to dedicate that brain of yours to the good of society, science, and medicine?”
Susan’s mouth formed words but they came out in a whisper. Her face was expressionless. Stark leaned forward to hear. He had to bring his head up to within inches of Susan’s lips.
“Say it again, Susan. I’ll be able to hear if you say it again.”
Susan’s mouth struggled to bring her lower lip against her upper teeth to form the first consonant. It spilled out in a whisper.
“Fuck you, you cra—“ Susan’s head slumped back, her mouth gaping and her respirations coming in regular deep-sounding breaths. Stark looked at Susan’s drugged body for a few moments. Susan’s defiance angered him. But after a few moments of silence his emotion faded into disappointment. “Susan, we could have used the brain of yours.” Stark shook his head slowly. “Well, maybe you can still be useful.”
Stark turned to his phone and called the emergency room. He asked for the admitting resident.
Thank you for your post, Avril. You say:
"There is nothing which is not an expression of that-which-is. There is no actioning, which is not an expression of that-which-is. There is no consequences of that actioning,which is not an expression of that-which-is. Each and every character, both the "demons" and the "angels", the "heros" and the "villans", the "saints" and the "sinners" in your last night sleep-dream, is just you, you as expressed as so. Each and every eventings, each and every nuance of the ado of the last night-sleep-dream drama, both the sublime and the ridiculous, both the profound and the profane, both the good and the evil, constituting your last night-sleep dream, is just you, as your infinite expressionings".
Roy Whenary replies:
It is true that there is nothing which is not an expression of that which is ... everything is as it is because that is the way it is - quite simple really. However, to say that the demons, the good and the bad, etc are you, I feel is wandering off the mark really. This view is often used by so called non-dualists to explain away their immature behaviour and inability to deal with the real issues in their lives. So they say that "my anger is what I am, here and now, so I must not deny it", etc, etc ... when in reality they mean that they have not looked deep enough to see where and how it arises. These demons are not you ... they are what you accept and think you are, they are what you identify with and believe are the true expressions of your individuated existence ... 'your' story. What lies beyond this? What is the true ground of your Being? I am not talking about ideas here ... my true Being does not lie in the details of this 'person' through which this is being written now. However, I would stop short of actually spelling out exactly where it lies, because words really cannot go there. If I have misunderstood the meaning behind what you wrote ... apologies!
I would also like to add that ... yes, things are as they are ... of this there is no denying. But acceptance and action towards changing situations can quite happily work together. I accept things exactly as they are .... but, for human life, I don't condone living in a violent and abusive society, so maybe I work towards changing it ... all the while accepting that it is as it is right now. This is normal, and this is also what is ... because 'what is' does not deny the impetus for change. Thus was born 'Engaged Buddhism' and now perhaps is the time for 'Engaged Advaita'?
with warm regards
Roy Whenary
**********
Avril:Is there a one who awakens?
Can there be an inappropriate way of responding?
Within a phenomenal context, there is eventing(s), in which notionally, there appears to be a cause and a separate to that cause, a consequential effect.
But is there any linear cause-effect continuum, within the phenomenal context?
Or is every cause the effect of every other causes and every effect the result of all effects,thereby indicating a holographic wholeness as the essence of the phenomenal context?
If the phenomenal context is a holographic whole, complete, as the moment,
moment to moment to moment,
is there any one awakened, in contrast to any one un-awakened?
As a holographic whole, is there anything as inappropriate, such that there can be something as an appropriate responding?
*********
Dear Avril,
If there is no differentiation between what is real and what is imagined in the mind ... if everything is homogenised into one vast and meaningless whole ... anything goes, any action is OK ... any thought or behaviour pattern is fine, no matter how much pain and sorrow it arouses in either subject or objects surrounding it. According to this view ... which I would say is cut off from truly feeling life in the present ... in the presence ... none of the subjects, objects or pain exist anyway. Life is meaningless, according to this view, as there is no differentiation between existing and not existing.
So what is the point of discussion, if there is always escape into this non-differentiation? I have come across this view a lot in recent times. There are certain 'teachers' who promote it heavily. It is quite convenient, because there is never any need to take responsibility for actions ... never any need to look any closer at what is really going on ... and ultimately, no point at looking at anything anyway. After all, who is looking? ... the seer and the seen are one. Therefore, there is nothing that can be done in this life, and no point attempting to do it ... and, of course, no one here anyway to do it. This is it, exactly as it is ... nothing else to say ...
sweet dreams!
Roy
"There is nothing which is not an expression of that-which-is. There is no actioning, which is not an expression of that-which-is. There is no consequences of that actioning,which is not an expression of that-which-is. Each and every character, both the "demons" and the "angels", the "heros" and the "villans", the "saints" and the "sinners" in your last night sleep-dream, is just you, you as expressed as so. Each and every eventings, each and every nuance of the ado of the last night-sleep-dream drama, both the sublime and the ridiculous, both the profound and the profane, both the good and the evil, constituting your last night-sleep dream, is just you, as your infinite expressionings".
Roy Whenary replies:
It is true that there is nothing which is not an expression of that which is ... everything is as it is because that is the way it is - quite simple really. However, to say that the demons, the good and the bad, etc are you, I feel is wandering off the mark really. This view is often used by so called non-dualists to explain away their immature behaviour and inability to deal with the real issues in their lives. So they say that "my anger is what I am, here and now, so I must not deny it", etc, etc ... when in reality they mean that they have not looked deep enough to see where and how it arises. These demons are not you ... they are what you accept and think you are, they are what you identify with and believe are the true expressions of your individuated existence ... 'your' story. What lies beyond this? What is the true ground of your Being? I am not talking about ideas here ... my true Being does not lie in the details of this 'person' through which this is being written now. However, I would stop short of actually spelling out exactly where it lies, because words really cannot go there. If I have misunderstood the meaning behind what you wrote ... apologies!
I would also like to add that ... yes, things are as they are ... of this there is no denying. But acceptance and action towards changing situations can quite happily work together. I accept things exactly as they are .... but, for human life, I don't condone living in a violent and abusive society, so maybe I work towards changing it ... all the while accepting that it is as it is right now. This is normal, and this is also what is ... because 'what is' does not deny the impetus for change. Thus was born 'Engaged Buddhism' and now perhaps is the time for 'Engaged Advaita'?
with warm regards
Roy Whenary
**********
Avril:Is there a one who awakens?
Can there be an inappropriate way of responding?
Within a phenomenal context, there is eventing(s), in which notionally, there appears to be a cause and a separate to that cause, a consequential effect.
But is there any linear cause-effect continuum, within the phenomenal context?
Or is every cause the effect of every other causes and every effect the result of all effects,thereby indicating a holographic wholeness as the essence of the phenomenal context?
If the phenomenal context is a holographic whole, complete, as the moment,
moment to moment to moment,
is there any one awakened, in contrast to any one un-awakened?
As a holographic whole, is there anything as inappropriate, such that there can be something as an appropriate responding?
*********
Dear Avril,
If there is no differentiation between what is real and what is imagined in the mind ... if everything is homogenised into one vast and meaningless whole ... anything goes, any action is OK ... any thought or behaviour pattern is fine, no matter how much pain and sorrow it arouses in either subject or objects surrounding it. According to this view ... which I would say is cut off from truly feeling life in the present ... in the presence ... none of the subjects, objects or pain exist anyway. Life is meaningless, according to this view, as there is no differentiation between existing and not existing.
So what is the point of discussion, if there is always escape into this non-differentiation? I have come across this view a lot in recent times. There are certain 'teachers' who promote it heavily. It is quite convenient, because there is never any need to take responsibility for actions ... never any need to look any closer at what is really going on ... and ultimately, no point at looking at anything anyway. After all, who is looking? ... the seer and the seen are one. Therefore, there is nothing that can be done in this life, and no point attempting to do it ... and, of course, no one here anyway to do it. This is it, exactly as it is ... nothing else to say ...
sweet dreams!
Roy
When we take the one seat on our meditation cushion we become our own monastery. We create the compassionate space that allows for the arising of all things: sorrows, loneliness, shame, desire, regret, frustration, happiness. Spiritual transformation is a profound process that doesn't happen by accident. We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training, in order to let go of our old habits of mind and to find and sustain a new way of seeing. To mature on the spiritual path we need to commit ourselves in a systematic way.
My teacher Achaan Chah described this commitment as "taking the one seat." He said, "Just go into the room and put one chair in the center. Take the seat in the center of the room, open the doors and the windows and see who comes to visit. You will witness all kinds of scenes and actors, all kinds of temptations and stories, everything imaginable. Your only job is to stay in your seat. You will see it all arise and pass, and out of this, wisdom and understanding will come."
--Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart
My teacher Achaan Chah described this commitment as "taking the one seat." He said, "Just go into the room and put one chair in the center. Take the seat in the center of the room, open the doors and the windows and see who comes to visit. You will witness all kinds of scenes and actors, all kinds of temptations and stories, everything imaginable. Your only job is to stay in your seat. You will see it all arise and pass, and out of this, wisdom and understanding will come."
--Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart
Monday, January 16, 2006
Take time to listen to what is said without words, to obey the law too
subtle to be written, to worship the unnamable and to embrace the
unformed.
Love your life.
Trust the Tao.
Make love with the invisible subtle origin of the universe, and you
will give yourself everything you need.
You won't have to hide away forever in spiritual retreats.
You can be a gentle, contemplative hermit right here in the middle of
everything, utterly unaffected, thoroughly sustained and rewarded by
your integral practices.
Encouraging others, giving freely to all, awakening and purifying theworld with each movement and action, you'll ascend to the divine realm
in broad daylight.
The breath of the Tao speaks, and those who are in harmony with it
hear quite clearly.
- Hua Hu Ching 83
subtle to be written, to worship the unnamable and to embrace the
unformed.
Love your life.
Trust the Tao.
Make love with the invisible subtle origin of the universe, and you
will give yourself everything you need.
You won't have to hide away forever in spiritual retreats.
You can be a gentle, contemplative hermit right here in the middle of
everything, utterly unaffected, thoroughly sustained and rewarded by
your integral practices.
Encouraging others, giving freely to all, awakening and purifying theworld with each movement and action, you'll ascend to the divine realm
in broad daylight.
The breath of the Tao speaks, and those who are in harmony with it
hear quite clearly.
- Hua Hu Ching 83
Saturday, January 14, 2006
"What force do you suppose holds individuals in the different focus levels after death?"
"The [Earth Core] Crystal's field?"
"You're getting warm."
"The Crystal's field denssity has something to do with it, doesn't it?"
"Getting warmer."
Then all of a sudden it hit me.
"Spirit Gravity, the field is Spirit Gravity!"
"You're getting hot!" the tour guide exclaimed.
"Each focus level is a range of crystal field density, a range of pull on the spirit body by Spirit Gravity. The rings Bob Monroe speaks of in his books are arbitrary divisions of the strength of pull of the Earth Core Crystal on the nonphysical bodies of the dead. Now wait a second. The nonphysical bodies of the dead are somehow like hot air balloons. I'm getting that from somewhere. The density of a nonphysical body is variable. If it is less dense it floats higher, more dense it floats lower. Hmmm... I've got it! The more a person considers itself a physical world Being, the more dense it is and the lower it floats. So a ghost is a person who still thinks it's living in the phsycial world, so it's ... close to physical world reality. A person who's conscious of being more of a Spirit Being floats higher."
B. Moen
"The [Earth Core] Crystal's field?"
"You're getting warm."
"The Crystal's field denssity has something to do with it, doesn't it?"
"Getting warmer."
Then all of a sudden it hit me.
"Spirit Gravity, the field is Spirit Gravity!"
"You're getting hot!" the tour guide exclaimed.
"Each focus level is a range of crystal field density, a range of pull on the spirit body by Spirit Gravity. The rings Bob Monroe speaks of in his books are arbitrary divisions of the strength of pull of the Earth Core Crystal on the nonphysical bodies of the dead. Now wait a second. The nonphysical bodies of the dead are somehow like hot air balloons. I'm getting that from somewhere. The density of a nonphysical body is variable. If it is less dense it floats higher, more dense it floats lower. Hmmm... I've got it! The more a person considers itself a physical world Being, the more dense it is and the lower it floats. So a ghost is a person who still thinks it's living in the phsycial world, so it's ... close to physical world reality. A person who's conscious of being more of a Spirit Being floats higher."
B. Moen
Friday, January 13, 2006
As in all sweetest music, a tinge of sadness was in every note. Nor do we know how much of the pleasures even of life we owe to the intermingled sorrows. Joy cannot unfold the deepest truths, although deepest truth must be deepest joy. Cometh white-robed Sorrow, stooping and wan, and flingeth wide the doors she may not enter. Almost we linger with Sorrow for very love.
- G. Macdonald
- G. Macdonald
Arlington (Nicky Mehta)
Where do you go little bird
When it snows, when it snows
When the world turns to sleep
Do you know, do you know
Is there something in the wind
Breathes a chill in your heart and life in your wings
Does it whisper 'start again'
Start again
Where is the sun in the night
Is it cold, is it cold
Does it feel left behind
All alone, all alone
Does it wander through the dark
Does it wait for the dawn, wish on a star
Does it stray very far
Very far
Where is your home restless wind
Is it there, is it here
Do you search for a place to belong
Search in vain, search in fear
Or is your spirit everywhere
Is your voice every tree
Your soul of the air
If there's no home is there no death
Is there no death
Where do you go little bird
When it snows, when it snows
When the world turns to sleep
Do you know, do you know
Is there something in the wind
Breathes a chill in your heart and life in your wings
Does it whisper 'start again'
Start again
Where is the sun in the night
Is it cold, is it cold
Does it feel left behind
All alone, all alone
Does it wander through the dark
Does it wait for the dawn, wish on a star
Does it stray very far
Very far
Where is your home restless wind
Is it there, is it here
Do you search for a place to belong
Search in vain, search in fear
Or is your spirit everywhere
Is your voice every tree
Your soul of the air
If there's no home is there no death
Is there no death
Monday, January 09, 2006
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