Portrait, unmasked

Come, paint of me, a picture,
devoid of colour and unsmiling,
lest I be known by my smile.

Paint of the butterfly joys
that get crushed by the feet
of soldiers marching to death.

Etch a heart pierced by cries
of children abused, forsaken,
of the unborn, killed in wombs.

Into eyes hollow, fill hopelessness,
ashen lips with the colour of fear,
bruise the face with domestic violence.

Add you must, black, for despair,
white, for searing, blinding pain,
and grey, for crushing loneliness.

Forget not twisted lines of rage,
scavenging ravages of greed,
charred vitriolic holes for hate.

Paint me thus, unmasked,
as I am, naked, a mirror
of the world in all of us.

~~~~~~

The human mind

The human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant in it.

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure, doubt or faith, trust or mistrust, a concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear and anxiety But what we plant must return to us.

~ Earl Nightingale

Genesis

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a thought.
The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg,
and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs.
Thoughts are the seedlings of realities.

~ James Allen

Presence

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence.
When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Loosely strung

Gulmohars ablaze
in May’s fiery heart,
until rain puts out the fire.

Kohl smudged,
bindi askew,
stolen joy on a drab afternoon.

Anguished agony
through blackest night,
morning bright on golden chariot.

Sparkling dewdrop,
glorious paean,
sung by night to approaching day.

Your last goodbye
was the hardest,
did you have to take hope with you?

If gold was crass,
and silver was brass,
how would we adorn the gods?

The first raindrops
on earth’s parched lips
can you hear the seeds sing?

The first raindrops
on my soul athirst,
is that why I smell of wet earth?

EGO

"Ego is the basic problem, the most basic. And unless you solve it, nothing is solved. Unless ego disappears, the Ultimate cannot penetrate you.

The ego is like a closed door. The guest is standing outside. The guest has been knocking, but the door is closed. Not only is the door closed, but the ego goes on interpreting. It says: ...There is nobody outside, no guest has come, nobody has knocked, just a strong wind is knocking at the door. It goes on interpreting from the inside. without looking at the fact. And the door remains closed. By interpretations, even the possibility of its opening becomes less and less. And a moment comes when you are completely closed in your own ego. Then all sensitivity is lost. Then you are not an opening, and you cannot have a meeting with existence. Then you are almost dead. The ego becomes your grave.

This is the most basic problem. If you solve it, everything is solved. There is no need to seek God. There is no need to seek Truth. If the ego is not there, suddenly everything is found. If the ego is not there you simply come to know that Truth has always been around you, without and within. It was the ego which wouldn’t allow you to see it. It was the ego that was closing your eyes and your being. So the first thing to be understood is what this ego is.

A child is born. A child is born without any knowledge, any consciousness of his own self. And when a child is born the first thing he becomes aware of is not himself. The first thing he becomes aware of is the other. It is natural, because the eyes open outwards; the hands touch others, the ears listen to others, the tongue tastes food and the nose smells the outside. All these senses open outwards.

That is what birth means. Birth means coming into this world, the world of the outside. So when a child is born, he is born into this world. He opens his eyes, sees others. ’Other’ means the thou.

He becomes aware of the mother first. Then, by and by, he becomes aware of his own body. That too is the other, that too belongs to the world. He is hungry and he feels the body; his need is satisfied, he forgets the body. This is how a child grows. First he becomes aware of you, thou, the other, and then by and by, in contrast to you, thou, he becomes aware of himself. This awareness is a reflected awareness. He is not aware of who he is. He is simply aware of the mother and what she thinks about him. If she smiles, if she appreciates the child, if she says: You are beautiful; if she hugs and kisses him, the child feels good about himself.

Now an ego is born. Through appreciation, love, care, he feels he is good, he feels he is valuable, he feels he has some significance. A center is born. But this center is a reflected center. It is not his real being. He does not know who he is. He simply knows what others think about him. And this is the ego: the reflection, what others think. If nobody thinks that he is of any use, nobody appreciates him, nobody smiles, then too an ego is born — an ill ego: sad, rejected, like a wound; feeling inferior, worthless. This too is the ego. This too is a reflection. First the mother — and mother means the world in the beginning — then others will join the mother, and the world goes on growing. And the more the world grows, the more complex the ego becomes, because many others’ opinions are reflected.

The ego is an accumulated phenomenon, a by-product of living with others. If a child lives totally alone, he will never come to grow an ego. But that is not going to help. He will remain like an animal.
That doesn’t mean that he will come to know the real Self, no. The real can be known only through the false, so ego is a must. One has to pass through it. It is a discipline. The real can be known only through the illusion. You cannot know the Truth directly. First you have to know that which is not true. First you have to encounter the untrue. Through that encounter you become capable of knowing the Truth. If you know the false as the false, Truth will dawn upon you.

Ego is a need; it is a social need, it is a social by-product. The society means all that is around you — not you, but all that is around you. All, minus you, is the society, and everybody reflects. You will go to school and the teacher will reflect who you are. You will be in friendship with other children and they will reflect who you are. By and by, everybody is adding to your ego, and everybody is trying to modify it in such a way that you don’t become a problem to the society.

They are not concerned with you. They are concerned with the society. Society is concerned with itself, and that’s how it should be. They are not concerned that you should become a self-knower. They are concerned that you should become an efficient part in the mechanism of the society. You should fit into the pattern. So they are trying to give you an ego that fits with the society. They teach you morality. Morality means giving you an ego which will fit with the society. If you are immoral, you will always be a misfit somewhere or other.

That’s why we put criminals in the prisons — not that they have done something wrong — not that by putting them in the prisons we are going to improve them, no. They simply don’t fit. They are troublemakers. They have certain types of egos of which the society doesn’t approve. If the society approves, everything is good.

One man kills somebody — he is a murderer. And the same man in wartime kills thousands — he becomes a great hero. The society is not bothered by a murder, but the murder should be committed for the society — then it is okay. The society doesn’t bother about morality. Morality means only that you should fit with the society. If the society is at war, then the morality changes. If the society is at peace, then there is a different morality.

Morality is a social politics. It is diplomacy. And each child has to be brought up in such a way that he fits into the society, that’s all. Because society is interested in efficient members. Society is not interested that you should attain to self-knowledge. Society is always against religion. Hence, the crucifixion of Jesus. the murder of Socrates — because they also didn’t fit.

Two types of people don’t fit. One: someone who has developed an anti-social ego; he will never fit. But he can be put on trial. There is that possibility. You can torture that man, you can punish him, and he may come to his senses. The torture may be too much, and he may be converted. Then there is another type of man who is impossible for the society – a Jesus. He is not a criminal, but he has no ego. How can you make a man who has no ego fit? He looks absolutely irresponsible, but he is not. He has a greater commitment to God. He has no commitment to the society.

One who is committed to God doesn’t bother. He has a different depth of morality. It doesn’t come from codes – it comes from his self-knowledge.

But then a problem arises because societies have created their moral codes. Those moral codes are man-made. Whenever a Jesus or a Buddha happens, he doesn’t bother about the man-made conventions. He has a greater commitment; he is involved with the Whole. Each moment he decides his response through his awareness, not through conditioning; so nobody knows about him, about what he will do. He is unpredictable.

Societies can forgive criminals, but they cannot forgive Jesus and Socrates — that’s impossible. And these people are almost impossible. You cannot do anything:about them because they are not wrong. And if you try to understand then, they will convert you — you cannot convert them. So it is better to kill them immediately. The moment the society becomes aware, it kills them immediately because if you listen to them there is danger. If you listen to them, you will be converted.  And there is no possibility of converting them, so it is better to be completely finished, to have no relationship with them. You cannot put them in prisons, because there also they will remain in relationship with the society. They will exist. Just their existence is too much — they have to be murdered."

- Osho

Patient Trust

 By Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

Above all, trust in the slow work of God 

We are quite naturally impatient in everything
      to reach the end withour delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
      unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of progress
      that it is made by passing through
      some states of instability ---
      and that it may take a very long time. 

And so I think it is with you.
      Your ideas mature gradually --- let them grow,
      let them shape themselves, without undue haste. 

Don't try to force them on,
      as though you could be today what time
      (that is to say, grace and circumstances
      acting on your own good will)
      will make of you tomorrow. 

Only God could say what this new spirit
      gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
      that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
      in suspense and incomplete.

 
Copyright: The Institute of Jesuit Sources

You are me, and I am you ...

You are me, and I am you.

You cultivate the flower in yourself, so that I will be beautiful.

I transform the garbage in myself, so that you will not have to suffer.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Beauty

We have come to restore women to full power and beauty, to bring the world into balance. Power is beauty, beauty is power.

It is not power over or power in order to but being 100% oneself, and living in the truth of who you are.
Since beauty is the outward manifestation of one's essence, every being is beautiful when expressing this essence.
Turn your awareness toward the source of power that lies within you. When you begin to seek inside yourselves, you will find that power and beauty do go together.

Feminine power is a fearsome thing.
Fierce.
Dignity has to do with the sacredness of the being that you are.
Grow into your Spirit.
Know your body. Your body is your compass.
Both physical and emotional feelings are registered in the body.
There is wholeness, a grounded-ness in this way of perceiving that is more reliable than the mind. You will FEEL the truth. Trust the FEELING.
Step into the Light and own the verticality of this power.
When you walk tall, the Divine is in you.
The alignment of your spine will bring in the Divine - always.
Stand tall, sit tall, be the light that you are, and whenever you doubt, stand tall.


Sharon McErlane

Meeting and parting

Often times, in the physical world, people come into our lives and then leave, for whatever reason. This causes us a lot of pain - the pain of separation, the pain of loss, absence. We cling to their memory, we pine for their presence, we cannot let go.

But deep, at the soul level, the soul knows that other souls come into our lives at the appropriate time to teach us lessons and stay for the length of time as is needed. There is no pain, no clinging, no longing, only knowing, that all is as is meant to be, that all is well.

Unlimited potential (reminder)

(First written on 5th August 2006, needed a reminder)

Today as I was meditating I found suddenly that the feeling of 'I' had disappeared along with all self-identity and I realised that there is no me, just the Divine realising Itself, being Itself. And strangely enough it was a very humbling experience. Because the ego had disappeared, as also the mind and the emotions, just an awareness remained. And the feeling of slight pain in my shoulder and the body touching the ground. There was no joy nor pain, no want, no desire, no bliss or sorrow, just nothingness.

Afterwards when I came out of meditation I had the feeling that nothing mattered anymore, all the mundane concerns of daily life had disappeared. Just the feeling that everything had been taken care of. And the Divine which is not the narrow false self has the power to create anything It wanted to. And then it occurred to me that if the entity which is called 'me' is the Divine expressing Itself then how can 'I' entertain the idea of being limited by anything. Because the Divine is limitless and has the endless potential to create anything and be anything.

Duality within the eternal moment

Duality within the eternal moment exposes non-moving consciousness as what and who you are, with the moving mind providing character to that non-alterable center.

Time is a self-created or adopted illusion that we believe is real, and it is not.

There are obviously many practical uses for that illusion but its one major fault is using it to judge our physical lifespan. It establishes false borders, artificially squashing our life between them. That falsity arises because we have conditioned ourselves to live within one-half of a duality, time, while ignoring the other half of that duality, timelessness.

The perceived interval between each moment, creating the illusion of time, is non-existent as there is only the moment. Or, the beginning of each moment is also the beginning of what is perceived as the next moment, but it is the same moment. The original moment never ends, exposing its timeless nature.

The artificial space created by perceiving the moment as having a beginning and end, establishes the illusion of time. Time is associated with the ‘things’ we do from what is perceived as moment to moment, but timelessness is the moment we do those ‘things’ within. Learning to live in the moment releases the timelessness nature of that duality from out of its artificial time-encapsulated bondage, providing you with the opportunity to bring the time/timeless duality into a liberated state of being. The moment between the time/timelessness duality is where you live your life, with time gauging your material existence, and timelessness holding the potential for you to liberate yourself from that self-imposed bondage.

Everything exists within a duality, yes/no, black/white, restriction/non-restriction, time/timeless, material/nonmaterial, and on and on its goes. However, what duality is there for infinity? If infinity is something then its duality is nothingness, but if nothingness is a reality, how did the universe appear out of nothingness? Therefore, it is a nonsensical assumption, making infinity uniquely singular with no duality.

That singularity is its timeless nature as there was not an infinity before it, nor can it move, as it has no where to move to as it is infinite. Consequently, infinity is singular, timeless, and motionless. It may come as a surprise that those three characteristics are what you can discover within yourself. The moment you live within is singular: there are not two moments impinging upon each other. There is only a succession of the same moment, creating the illusion of time. The moment you live within is timeless: from moment to moment, that moment is all there is, making it timeless and, of course, motionless as it is always the same moment, making that moment motionless. Therefore, somewhere within you there exists a place that is singular, timeless, and motionless, but where is it, what does it do for you, and how can you discover it? In addition, since those characteristics are the same characteristics as infinity, is infinity somehow an embedded aspect of your personal existence?

The search begins within the duality to those three characteristics. What moves? What is caught within time, and what can become duplicitous to the embedded singularity? When you are just sitting, thinking about nothing and seeing nothing in particular, not aware of any sound either internal or external, then you are sitting within motionlessness, and that motionlessness is singular and timeless.

The instant something activates your attention, either internal or external, you become aware of it, or the mind is aware of some activity and begins processing information about that activity. Meaning, the mind is now in motion within the motionless moment. Therefore, the mind is what moves within and upon what is motionless. If that motionlessness did not exist, the mind could not exist as it uses that motionless characteristic as its foundation, to not only recognize itself as moving but also to recognize anything that moves, which is itself and referred to as self-awareness and awareness of ‘things’ as activated self-awareness. Meaning, the mind subliminally and constantly references non-motion to know and understand motion.

Hence, the requirement, or need, for a motionless center within yourself, and whether you know it or not that motionless center is what you are. The moving mind only adds character to that motionless center, but cannot alter it in any fashion. That center never changes from your first breath upon this planet to your last breath upon this planet, as it is motionless. It is unalterable, making that motionless center nonmaterial as everything material alters in some fashion. Your existence is then composed of a motionless nonmaterial, or non-biological, center activated by a biological self-created mind and that combination is what you refer to as yourself.

As you created the information the mind uses, you take what you create as who and what you are, ignoring your unmoving center that everything is centered within and upon, which sets the stage for an unrecognized duplicity that can have negative consequences within all aspects of your existence. Disregarding your non-biological nonmoving center establishes the immense difficulty of discovering a source of creation, as you focus upon what the mind creates or accepts and not what the mind rests or rides upon. As the source of creation is infinite and the motionless moment you live within is infinite, that moment is a valid place to begin your search for that Source, as that Source is located within that moment. Moreover, since both are infinite, the foundation for your existence is indestructible as infinity is indestructible, giving the saying ‘heaven is within you’ more credence and a logical foundation.

The other two characteristics of that motionless moment are its singularity and timelessness. The timeless nature becomes self-evident when you ‘awake’ to your awareness of being aware, or the mind recognizes its nonmoving foundation, which is activated self-awareness discovering subliminal self-awareness. The combination of subliminal self-awareness and activated self-awareness is your existence, and what you refer to as yourself, as subliminal self-awareness establishes consciousness and activated self-awareness establishes the mind.

Experientially knowing that dual awareness occurs the moment you close your eyes. In that moment you are experiencing your own existence as you really are, as the mind (activated self-awareness) has not had sufficient time to begin processing information. Meaning, the quiescent mind has created sufficient ‘space’ for it to recognize that non-moving center (consciousness) as the core of your existence. At any stage in your life, the moment you close your eyes your nonmoving center is experienced as pure awareness (subliminal self-awareness or consciousness) and is experienced identically every time you do it.

Meaning, that center is timeless as the feeling or experience of that center never alters in any fashion throughout your entire physical life span. Time has no effect upon that nonmoving center; or it is timeless. It is experienced identically when you are one year old or when you are eighty years old. That motionless center is your timeless awareness. As everything physical is time conditioned, that center is then nonmaterial as it is not affected by time, and is non-biological as your biology is time conditioned. It is within the material/nonmaterial or biological/non-biological duality where you can discover the indestructibility of your timeless, nonmoving, and singular foundation.

The other characteristic of that motionless moment is its singularity. There is only one motionless center, establishing a subliminal sense of continuous ‘stability’ as that center never alters. However, that singularity is forgotten the moment the mind begins to move. The movement is a natural and normal aspect of the mind, establishing all your learning. That learning creates patterns of behavior that conform to the learning, or rebels against it, establishing patterns-of-living that you take as ‘who’ and ‘what’ you are. Meaning, those patterns created by the moving mind, and used for your protection and security, have established a self-created sense of stability that overlays your innate nonmoving stable center, creating what can be referred to as a second you. Your innate awareness stable singularity now has competition. A non-moving you and a self-created you that is in constant motion, which is where a good percentage of identity difficulties have their origin. The singularity of your nonmoving center is your inherent stability, experienced as peaceful and restful. The artificial stability created by the moving mind is rarely peaceful and is constantly moving, providing little or no peace-of-mind, establishing a subliminal duplicity that allows hypocrisy to breed within various forms of self-indulgence and self-interest. This self-created artificial center is what forms societies, and destroys them. It gives birth to the duality playground of good and evil and that playground is where you materially live.

Birth upon this planet provides you with a motionless, singular, and timeless center that is stable and nonmaterial or non-biological, as everything else in the visible universe is time dependent and in some form of movement. As such, that center is a reflection of infinity as infinity is motionless, singular and timeless, making that reflected center indestructible, as infinity is indestructible. The physical form will come and go but your indestructible center has nowhere to go, as it is a reflection of infinity and infinity has nowhere to go, as it is infinite.

Therefore, know that immovable, timeless and singular center and you know yourself, which means knowing the moment you exist within, as that moment is a reflection of the infinite, which is also reflected within you. Meaning, know that center and you know the Source of that center as that center, which is you, is a reflection of that Source. However, if you focus upon the biology for that discovery, only the mind will be discovered as it is biologically created. Rather, focus upon what is not biological or non-material, which is your stable non-moving, singular and timeless center existing within the moment you are now experiencing. That focus reveals consciousness as your non-moving, timeless, singular, and stable center that exists within the endless moment, with the mind bringing consciousness into life, but consciousness is the life of the mind. Therefore, ‘knowing yourself’ requires knowing the moving mind and what it moves upon and within, which is non-moving consciousness.

The difficultly with ‘knowing yourself’ arises as the mind has established a new artificial stable center creating two different selves: a non-moving self (consciousness) and a constantly moving self, created by the mind. Hence, the problem with discovering which self is really you. Interestingly enough, both are necessary for that discovery. However, only one self is real, whilst the other is artificially real. The non-moving you (real self or consciousness) is the foundation for the moving you (artificial self, created by the mind), allowing you to recognize its movement upon your motionless center. Your motionless, timeless, singular center (consciousness) is the peaceful core of your being, providing the foundation for the moving mind to function.

However, without the moving mind you would never know that you have a motionless center that all movement swings around. Thus, the great difficulty of ‘knowing yourself’ or discovering your true identity as your motionless center (consciousness) and moving mind establish two potentially separate selves. Which one you take as ‘who’ and ‘what’ you are determines the outcome of your life. If you take what the moving mind creates as ‘who’ and ‘what’ you are, you will discover what the mind creates continually changes shape. That changing shape means that you continually change shape.

There is no stability in continual change, only artificial security, maintaining constant instability in your life that perpetually affects or undermines your self-created protection and security. If you take the artificial self, that the mind has created, as ‘who’ and ‘what’ you are, your life will be thrown to and fro by the ceaseless changing landscape of daily living, establishing constant insecurity that requires the moving mind to endlessly repair or recreate itself to meet those changing circumstances.
For all the benefits the moving mind creates in your life, it cannot establish true and permanent security as somehow and somewhere your self-created patterns-of-living will always come under threat or attack requiring you to defend yourself or, in turn, attack another that has attacked you or has caused your artificial self to somehow feel threatened. It is a constant recycling battle of attack/defend or win/lose, providing no peace of mind, security or stability.

On the other hand, your motionless, timeless, and singular center (consciousness) is innately stable as it is a non-material reflection of infinity. The center provides peace, protection and security simply by being what it is.

The trick, if it can be referred to as a trick, is to remain actively centered within that center (awareness that you are there) and allow the mind to process information as it normally does. If you do that one little act, you will discover that you appear to be removed, or separate from your own thinking. You can observe the mind doing its process work as it is moving, and you can recognize that movement as you are centered within what is not moving, consciousness.

Because you are observing the mind doing its process work, you are also separate from it, providing you with the opportunity to free yourself from the result of your thinking, which is a form of liberation as you are no longer subject to the results of your own thought-forms. Or, your thinking no longer owns you, which does not mean that you own it. It means you have become a passerby to your own thinking, not allowing it to stick anywhere or create an attack/defend or win/lose ensnaring duality scenario. Practicing that one little action creates its own pattern, until one day the pattern becomes what you are, which is joining the two selves as one, but now that one is not affected by the moving mind thought processes.

You are well and truly centered within your motionless center (consciousness) observing the moving mind, remaining unconditioned by either positive or negative thought-forms that the mind is playing with. It is new sense of freedom, engendering a peaceful, stable position, free of all encumbrances. Then comes the fun part, discovering what that motionless, singular and timeless center is, which is discovering the nature of consciousness. This is unveiling the experiential core of consciousness, knowing where it comes from and goes to, which means experientially knowing ‘how’ and ‘why’ that center is indestructible, making your real self indestructible and your combined self eternal. There is no short cut to understanding those processes. If you are interested, read the book The Mind of Consciousness as it provides all the experiential information for you to discover the answers for yourself. No one can do it for you. You either do, or do not, as there is absolutely no in-between.

By Ray Morose

Reasons to believe

Reasons to believe

The video says it all :)

Awareness

When you are in awareness, life happens like a movie. You can watch your thoughts, your feelings, your experiences, the various events taking place around you, like as if it is was a flow of images flitting across your consciousness and you are the observer watching it all flit by. Thoughts, feelings, experiences, all arise from and fall back into that vast boundlessness that is awareness. You are simultaneously experiencing and yet not experiencing. You are in the world and yet detached from it. Things pass through your consciousness, yet nothing sticks. Things just flow. You are simultaneously the river and the banks ......

Happiness :)

"Happy people do not demand a lot from the world because their happiness proceeds from a place deeper than the world can touch."


~ Alan Cohen

Voices Empowering the Voiceless

We have started a new website, a group of friends from Facebook, all of us with the passion for writing and who also wanted to make a difference.

Voices Empowering the Voiceless

All are invited to join in to make that difference by spreading the word and sending in contributions - prose, poetry, links, articles, audio, video ....