"The Question of Being" by Adyashanti
Above the entrance to the Oracle at Delphi were written the words, “Know Thyself.” Jesus came along and added a sense of urgency and consequence to the ancient idea when he said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
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“Opening the Door of Your Heart" (excerpt from) WHO ORDERED THE TRUCKLOAD OF DUNG? by Ajahn Brahm
SEVERAL CENTURIES AGO, seven monks were in a cave in a jungle somewhere in Asia, meditating on the type of unconditional love I described in the previous story. There was the head monk, his brother, and his best friend. The fourth was the head monk’s enemy: they just could not get along. The fifth monk in the group was a very old monk, so advanced in years that he was expected to die at any time. The sixth monk was sick—so ill in fact that he too could die at any time. And the last monk, the seventh, was the useless monk. He always snored when he was supposed to be meditating; he couldn’t remember his chanting, and if he did he would chant off-key He couldn’t even keep his robes on properly. But the others tolerated him and thanked him for teaching them patience.
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"God" (excerpt) The Essence of Alan Watts by Alan Watts
Modern Protestant theologians, and even some Catholics, have been talking recently about the death of God and about the possibility of a religionless religion, a religion which does not involve belief in God. What would become of the Gospel of Jesus Christ if it were shown that Jesus' own belief in God was unnecessary and invalid? What would remain of his teachings? Of his ideas about caring for other human beings, about social responsibility and so on. I think that would be a pretty wishy-washy kind of religion. If you're going to say that this life is fundamentally nothing but a pilgrimage from the maternity ward to the crematorium and that's it, baby, you've had it, I think that indicates a singular lack of imagination. I would like to look at the death-of-God theology in an entirely different way. What is dead is not God but an idea of God, a particular conception of God that has died in the sense of becoming implausible. And I find this a very good thing.
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"Tolle on Religion" - REVISITED (excerpt) A New Earth
The greatest achievement of humanity is not its works of art, science, or technology, but the recognition of its own dysfunction, its own madness. In the distant past, this recognition already came to a few individuals. A man called Gautama Siddhartha, who lived 2,600 years ago in India, was perhaps the first who saw it with absolute clarity. Later, the title Buddha was conferred upon him. Buddha means "the awakened one." At about the same time, another of humanity's early awakened teachers emerged in China. His name was Lao Tzu. He left a record of his teaching in the form of one of the most profound spiritual books ever written, the Tao Te Ching.
"The Last Word" (excerpt) SUBTLE SOUND THE ZEN TEACHINGS OF MAURINE STUART
There is nothing that is not sacred; nothing that is not spiritual practice. Hakuin, that wonderful eighteenth-century Zen master who restored the vitality of Zen in Japan, warned against the belief that Zen requires the forceful rejection of all worldly concerns. True Zen practice is carried on in the midst of activity. When we are cooking, we are in deep cooking samadhi (where the logical and analytical ability of the being becomes silent). When we are cleaning, we are in deep cleaning samadhi. This condition, samadhi, is not a vacancy, a stupor, a spaced-out state of mind. It is a deeply awake, alert, vividly present condition—and of course, it may be blissful. We may be so vividly awake we can hear the ash from the incense fall.
"We Live in a Dual World" (excerpt) THE WISDOM OF THE ZEN MASTERS - by Irmgard Schloegl
We live in a dual world of night and day, of darkness and light, of joy and sorrow. We are part of this world. Both aspects are there. If we want light and joy only and reject the other half, we shall begin to feel that a vital part of life is missing. But since only a masochist enjoys suffering, it is a razor-edge line on which to hold the balance.
"AWARENESS" (excerpt) Anthony de Mello Spirituality Conference in His Own Words — ANTHONY DE MELLO, S.J.
Is psychology more practical than spirituality? Nothing is more practical than spirituality. What can the poor psychologist do? He can only relieve the pressure. I’m a psychologist myself, and I practice psychotherapy, and I have this great conflict within me when I have to choose sometimes between psychology and spirituality. I wonder if that makes sense to anybody here. It didn’t make sense to me for many years.
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“Meister Eckhart— Mystic Philosopher” (c.1260- 1328)
Meister EckhartMeister Eckhart was born to a German family of landowners. At age 15, he joined the Dominican order at Erfurt, Germany, and later spent years in Paris, Cologne and Strasburg teaching, writing, and preaching. His sermons emphasize God's presence in the individual soul, an awareness which awakens dignity and a natural outpouring of honest deeds. His radical ideas and unusual images disturbed church authorities so much that he was eventually brought to inquisitional proceedings for suspected heresy.
"AWARENESS" — (excerpt from) An Anthony de Mello Spirituality Conference in His Own Words
A person is beyond the thinking mind. Many of you would probably be proud to be called Americans, as many Indians would probably be proud to be called Indians. But what is “American,” what is “Indian”? It’s a convention; it’s not part of your nature. All you’ve got is a label. You really don’t know the person. The concept always misses or omits something extremely important, something precious that is only found in reality, which is concrete uniqueness. The great Krishnamurti put it so well when he said, “The day you teach the child the name of the bird, the child will never see that bird again.” How true! The first time the child sees that fluffy, alive, moving object, and you say to him, Sparrow,” then tomorrow when the child sees another fluffy, moving object similar to it he says, “Oh, sparrows. I’ve seen sparrows. I’m bored by sparrows.”
“Fear” by Jiddu Krishnamurti
How To "Overcome" Fear From a Guy Who Seems to Have Some Real Insight Into It
How can we overcome fear?
Jiddu Krishnamurti seems to have some pretty good things to say on the matter. In two different books, The First and Last Freedom and Commentaries On Living, First Series, he addresses the difficult topic of fear directly.
(That includes, for example, the idea that "overcoming" fear probably isn't exactly the best way to think about it.)
Let's explore.
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"Was Jesus a Freak?" (excerpt p.147) CLOUD HIDDEN WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN (1971) by Alan Watts
A few days ago (1971) I gave a ride to a rather pleasant hippie couple who seemed to have no particular destination. I asked, "What trip are you on?" He said, "Like spiritual trip?" I said, "Yes." He said, "We’re on the Jesus trip." "Whose Jesus?" I asked, "Billy Graham’s or mine?" "Well, it’s all sort of the same, isn’t it?" It is not. For Billy Graham follows a long tradition, both Catholic and Protestant, wherein the gospel (or "good news" of Jesus has been eclipsed and perverted by pedestalization, by kicking him upstairs so as to get him out of the way, and by following a religion about Jesus instead of the religion of Jesus. Obviously, Jesus was not the man he was as a result of making Jesus Christ his personal savior. The religion of Jesus was that he knew he was a son of God, and the phrase "son of" means "of the nature of," so that a son of God is an individual who realizes that he is, and always has been, one with God. "I and the Father are one."
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“The Opposite of Taoism is Fascism” (excerpt) by the Barefoot Doctor's Guide to the Tao by Stephen Russell
Taoism essentially means to follow the path of least resistance while always maintaining respect and consideration for the welfare and freedom of all other beings. Fascism means to control the behavior of others and manipulate them to comply with your particular model of reality, by force if necessary. If you're particularly charismatic or plausible you can gather a following fairly easily because, perversely, many people like to be controlled by someone else. It makes them feel safe and for a while gives the illusion of having no responsibility for their lives. These unfortunates are the anti-warriors.
"Myth of Myself" (excerpt) The Tao of Philosophy by Alan Watts
...Generally speaking, we have two kinds of consciousness. One I will call the "spotlight," and the other the "floodlight." The spotlight is what we call conscious attention, and we are trained from childhood that it is the most valuable form of perception. When the teacher in class says, "Pay attention!" everybody stares, and looks right at the teacher. That is spotlight consciousness; fixing your mind on one thing at a time. You concentrate, and even though you may not be able to have a very long attention span, nevertheless you use your spotlight: one thing after another, one thing after another . . . flip, flip, flip, flip, flip. However, we also have floodlight consciousness. For example, you can drive your car for several miles with a friend sitting next to you, and your spotlight consciousness may be completely absorbed in talking to your friend. Nevertheless, your floodlight consciousness will manage the driving of the car, will notice all the stoplights, the other idiots on the road, and so on, and you will get there safely without even thinking about it.
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“The Tao of Forgiveness” (excerpt) by Derek Lin
How Do We Forgive Those Who Have Offended Us?
One day, the sage gave the disciple an empty sack and a basket of potatoes. "Think of all the people who have done or said something against you in the recent past, especially those you cannot forgive. For each of them, inscribe the name on a potato and put it in the sack. "
The disciple came up with quite a few names, and soon his sack was heavy with potatoes.
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“Why Buddhism and the West Need Each Other: On the Interdependence of Personal and Social Transformation” by David Loy
The mercy of the West has been social revolution. The mercy of the East has been individual insight into the basic self/void. We need both.
~Gary Snyder
Another way to put it: the highest ideal of the Western tradition has been the concern to restructure our societies so that they are more socially just. The most important goal for Buddhism is to awaken and (to use the Zen phrase) realize one’s true nature, which puts an end to dukkha—especially that associated with the delusion of a separate self. To- day it has become more obvious that we need both: not just because these ideals complement each other, but also because each project needs the other.
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"Longing" (excerpt) The Seekers by E. Lesser
Longing is my fuel of choice on the spiritual journey. Spiritual longing is a sort of loneliness for an unknown yet deeply perceived presence. Some call the presence God; some call it peace; some call it consciousness; some call it love. Its source rests in the well of our own hearts.
"COMING OUT OF THE SYSTEM" by Stephen Russell (Barefoot Doctor)
Just billions of people, joining up at least five days a week to engage in habitual interactions, the form and terms of which have been previously agreed upon but which are subject to change as things progress and which, one way or another, lead to pollution in the atmosphere and sewage in the sea. Hence, by group consensus, we have traffic jams at rush hour, globally, every morning and every evening, and people the world over believing in the power of money. A minority regulate the status quo of this conundrum and the majority goes along. This is normal and results from the inefficient use of imagination on the part of the individual.
"The Fact of Our Oneness" (excerpt) The Exquisite Risk by Mark Nepo
That which can't he stolen hut only given, that which survives by opening us all . . .
All the traditions speak of what Thomas Merton called a Hidden Wholeness, an unseen tissue that joins everything. It is in fact our deepest and oldest home. In truth, it is not really hidden, just so immense that it's hard for us to hold in view for very long. In actuality, the fact of our Oneness is constant and everywhere, a secret hidden in the open.
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"Psychology of Lack" (excerpt) Tao of Abundance — Laurence Boldt
The dynamics of the psychology of lack go like this: Simultaneous to the formation of the individual ego there arises a profound sense of lack, a feeling of separation from everything else in life. This sense of separation brings a feeling of contraction and a sense of incompleteness, which we try to mitigate through mental, physical, and emotional attachments. The perceived need to defend and expand our attachments, in turn, creates a feeling of struggle.
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The Tao of Forgiveness (excerpt) Story 5- "Benefit or Harm?" by William Martin
Once, long ago in ancient China, a drought of many years' duration was bringing great misery to a small province. Year after year the people of the province waited for the rainy season to come and bring the needed nurture for the rice crop. Each year the season produced very little rain and the rice crop dwindled. Many were on the verge of starvation. Indeed, some elderly people had died of illnesses brought on by their hunger-weakened condition.