"Skepticism: the mark and even the pose of the educated mind." - John Dewey
“There is no remainder in the mathematics of infinity. All life is one; therefore, there cannot be God and man, nor a universe and God. A god not in the world is a false god, and a world not in God is unreal. All things return to one, and one operates in all.” –Nyogen Senzaki
Mark no day for celebration of the past or ceremony for the future. Observe only this moment, in gratitude for the clarity and calm that arises.
“I understand now that boundaries between noise and sound are conventions. All boundaries are conventions, waiting to be transcended. One may transcend any convention if only one can first conceive of doing so.” –David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change from one form to another.
NO form of matter or energy is ever created or destroyed. The total amount of energy in the universe always remains the same. Energy can only change form. This is true with everything – Grosser forms of energy such as light and sound, as well as subtler forms of energy such as mental ideas and the life force inhabiting a human body. The essence behind one's existence is subject to this fundamental law. The death of the physical body does not signify a destruction of that essence. Rather, death initiates a change in form. A person's essence does not contain memories. Memory is tied to the body as a function of the brain. Chemicals stored within the brain correspond to the memories we have. It is these stored, chemical, vibratory patterns that make up our memories. While a person's essence may be affected by the memories, the essence does not contain the memories. Memory is accumulated in the brain. When the body dies and deteriorates, the chemical patterns dissolve and the memory is gone. The essence does not carry on memory of a previous lifetime. What it carries on is you. The essence accumulates residual vibrations and familiarities that come from experiences. For example, You may find yourself familiar with this or attracted to that, although you do not know why. * Some have held the belief that when you re-incarnate, you wake up in your next lifetime having a memory of your prior life. But this cannot happen unless certain things take place and those particular things do not typically occur. To reach clear understanding, do not use the common or conventional terms. Better to avoid words all together. But, if you must, use your own.
An atom only appears in a particular place when witnessed by a conscious observer. Without this witness, nothing specific or tangible ever happens. There is only a constant super-positioned whir of possibilities. No object exists outside of a relationship with a conscious observer. There is nothing to be seen without a watcher.
When any number of sub-atomic particles become physically joined together, an energetic bond is created; a connective relationship that continues unbroken forever. remains permanently bound forevermore. Even when separated by hundreds, thousands, millions of miles, this energetic bond connection remains intact so that if you do something to one, you affect the other in the same way, no matter how far apart they are. When our universe was born, it exploded out of one, tiny particle approximately the size of a pea, from which came all of the bits of matter that make up the universe. What this tells us is that we are connected to the entire universe, and to each other. Human individuality does not, cannot exist. It is a delusion within our thinking, fabricated by our brain. The only thing that could ever be identified as individual is the entirety of all matter in one, the Universe as a whole. We are comprised of this matter. The original joining relationship bonded us all together forever the instant when that tiny little pea-sized particle exploded with the Big Bang. This is the best we can do with the information our limited sense receptors are able to perceive and that our little human mind is able to comprehend. We simply don’t know what we can’t know. In the same way that a sculptor reveals an image by removing stone, you must discard all concepts to reveal your pure self.
Found a buck on the sidewalk at East 56th & 3rd Ave about a quarter after 11 this morning.
Years ago...found 1 cowboy boot on the side of some lost highway. Was standing straight up, the boot. Waiting for the other, maybe. Whittling it all down to one. Currently at nine:
Only the present moment exists. Embody it as Love. In this, everything else falls away from bliss. "What is wrong with seeking the pleasant and shirking the unpleasant? Between the banks of pain and pleasure the river of life flows. It is only when the mind refuses to flow with life, and gets stuck at the banks, that it becomes a problem. By flowing with life I mean acceptance -- letting come what comes and go what goes. Desire not, fear not, observe the actual, as and when it happens, for you are not what happens, you are to whom it happens. Ultimately even the observer you are not. You are the ultimate potentiality of which the all-embracing consciousness is the manifestation and expression."
-Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Words, written or spoken, are inexact tools of communication. No two minds have the same understanding of any particular word. The more words you use, the farther away you become. Eventually, words become fetters. It is always best to just listen. Smile or nod when you understand. Turn and walk away when you do not. Remain silent either way.
In regards to the core elements of this life, what is true today will be true tomorrow. Even when circumstances change, the truth remains. Never forsake or surrender the truth to justify your current situation.
When the cold water hits the surface of your skin, the blood from deep inside the body rushes to the surface in self-defense. All of the capillaries open up, clearing deposits and toxins, while also improving circulation. When the blood returns from the surface, a freshly circulated blood supply goes back to the organs. As the cold persists, Ishnaan sets off the release of cytokines, small cell-signaling protein molecules that are used extensively in intercellular communication, assisting in development, tissue repair, and immunity. It also triggers an avalanche of endorphins. Oh, the beautiful endorphins.
BreathingWhen we practice just sitting, our mind should just follow our breathing. When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world. When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world. The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is also limitless. We begin to understand that the outer world and the inner world are not separate. They are two halves of the one limitless world.
In this limitless world, our throat is like a swinging door. The air comes in and goes out like someone passing through a swinging door. If you think, ‘I breathe,’ the ‘I’ is extra. There is no you to say ‘I.’ What we call ‘I’ is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. It just moves; that is all. When your mind is pure and calm enough to follow this movement, there is nothing: no ‘I,’ no world, no mind nor body; just a swinging door. You are already enlightened. The real you is, has always been at peace. When we allow our mind to follow the stream of worldly thoughts –work, money, possessions, relationships, this peace is covered in clouds, so we cannot recognize it. No words can accurately explain this. Only when we sit and only follow our breathing do we understand for ourselves and in this state, however brief it may be at first, we experience the peace of our true nature; the bliss of Nirvana. Do not try to force the clouds of thought to leave. Allow them to come, but pay them no attention. They will vanish on their own accord, allowing you to remain quiet, calm, and in an easy peace. *Based on the teaching of Shinyru Suzuki |
from and for Michael Dickes
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