Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti

Allahu'Avatar Jesus Buddha

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Thursday after Epiphany, 10 January 2013

Beloved, we love Śiva because
he first loved us. 
If anyone says, “I love Śiva,”
but hates his brother, he is a liar;
for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen 
cannot love Śiva whom he has not seen. 
This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves Śiva must also love his brother.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Buddha is begotten by Śiva,
and everyone who loves the Father
loves also the one begotten by him. 
In this way we know that we love the children of Śiva
when we love Śiva and obey his commandments. 
For the love of Śiva is this,
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whoever is begotten by Śiva conquers the world. 
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.

-- 1st John 4:19-5:4



Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of Kālī ,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region. 
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day. 
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. 
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of Kālī is upon me,
because Śiva has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to Bhagavān.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” 
And all spoke highly of him 
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

-- Luke 4:14-22

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Fifth Day of Deepavali, 17 November 2012

"'Real' means eternal, and 'unreal' means transient. Whoever has attained discrimination knows that God is the only reality, that all else is unreal" (Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, Vol. 1, 205).

"This world is a place in which to learn. If you learn the lesson of this world, you can remain in the disposition of Infinity, or love, regardless of events" (Love of the Two-Armed Form, 145).

"It is not that the big bang occurred in space. Without the big bang, there is no space. So where did the so-called "Big Bang" occur?" (Ishta, 139).

"It is erroneous to assume that evolution in the subhuman kingdom is outside the pale of Karmic law" (Sadhana, 483).

"When Amaziah had the kingdom firmly in hand, he struck down the officials who had struck down the king, his father. But their children he did not put to death, according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD commanded: "Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; only for one’s own crimes shall a person be put to death"" (2nd Kings 14:5-6).

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him" (Ephesians 1:4).

"Harmful beings are everywhere like space itself.
Impossible it is that all should be suppressed.
But let this angry mind alone be overthrown,
And it's as though all foes had been subdued"
(The Way of the Bodhisattva, 63).

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

6 November, Feast Day of St. Winnoc

"Christian prayer is characterized by the title 'Lord,' whether in the invitation to prayer ('The Lord be with you'), its conclusion ('through Christ our Lord'), or the exclamation full of trust and hope: Maran atha ('Our Lord, come!'), or Marana tha ('Come, Lord!') -- 'Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!'" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 451).

"Stand As Consciousness Itself, Self-Radiant As Love-Bliss, Prior To the body-mind and its relations or 'things'" (Love-Ananda Gita, 157).

Monday, November 5, 2012

5 November, Guy Fawkes Day

"The Heart, or Essence, of the Spiritual Way is Satsang, or the Spiritual Company of the God-Man" (Love of the God-Man, 145).

Sunday, November 4, 2012

4 November 2012, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

"By hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from God, eternal life and the graces to merit it" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1843).

"He rides the white horse, and bears the Truth-shining Sword of Understanding, bearing down all before Him" (Love of the God-Man, 687).

"An important disputed question concerns the authoritative status of church moral teaching. It is commonly accepted that some moral teachings of the Church do have dogmatic status, such as the law of love and the affirmation of the inalienable dignity of the human person. But what about more specific moral teachings like the Church's prohibition of artificial birth control or its just-war teaching?" (By What Authority?, 102).

"Thus, far from being identical to 'sin,' sexual communion is a human right, a humanizing obligation, and a living instrument of our ultimate and pleasurable sacrifice or Translation beyond human psycho-physical structures and human limits of knowledge" (Love of the Two-Armed Form, 82).

"Always Participate In That Sacred Obligation With Great Energy" (Right Life Is Free Participation In Unlimited Radiance, 240).

"I saw that we are, at any moment, always and already free. I knew that I was not lacking anything I needed yet to find, nor had I ever been without such a thing. The problem was the seeking itself, which created and enforced contradiction, conflict, and absence within. Then the idea arose that I am always already free" (The Bodily Location of Happiness, 93-94).

"You should be there at the Fire, throwing in everything to cancel the effectiveness of the dark sign, to exist in Light, and to pass Beyond all limitations. To do that is your business" (Ishta, 149).

"But our true and right and ultimate Diet is in the moment to moment, unobstructed whole bodily Feeling-Communion with the All-Pervading Force of Life -- enacted via the breath cycle" (The Enlightenment of the Whole Body, 290).

"In all action the motive power is selfishness. Everything is hidden by ourselves" (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, 477).

"Just as it is impossible to cut the sky in two with a knife, when the space-like quality of egolessness is realized, it is no longer possible to make a separation between 'I' and 'other,' and there arises an attitude of wanting to protect others as oneself and of taking them as one's own" (The Way of the Bodhisattva, 183).

"O Madman, crowned with the crescent moon, O Lord Supreme!" (Natchintanai, 169).

"All great ones had their teachers" (Guru Tattva, 13).

Friday, November 2, 2012

2 November All Saints' Day

"It is fair to say, in any event, that through most of the first thousand years of Christianity no one conceived of tradition as something completely separate from Scripture" (By What Authority?, 42).

"Karma is of two kinds -- soon to be fructified and late to be fructified" (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, 277).

"The entire Way of Truth is immensely difficult and creative. The entire Way is a Sacrifice" (The Enlightenment of the Whole Body, 147).

"The Great Tradition of mankind speaks of many great men and women, many Realizers, and many revered Gods and Goddesses" (Love of the God-Man, 722).

Monday, October 22, 2012

22 October 2012 Sri Sri Durga Puja

"(And We commanded:) Let the People of the Gospel judge by what God sent down therein; and whoever does not judge by what God has sent down, those are indeed the transgressors" (Quran 5:47).

"By sending his own Son in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of sin, God 'made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God'" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 602).

"Concentration is Samaadhi, and that is Yoga proper; that is the principal theme of this science, and it is the highest means" (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, 291).

"Do I want for any fruits?

The fruit that makes my life fruitful, that I have.

For in my heart is planted the tree that bears the fruit of liberation -- Sri Rama"
(Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, Vol. 1, 57)

Sunday, October 21, 2012

21 October 2012 Sri Sri Durga Puja

"Swans fly on the path of the sun; men pass through the air by psychic powers; the wise are led away from the world after vanquishing Mara and his host" (Dhammapada 175).

"The moment we learn to be humble we begin to feel His grace" (Narada's Way of Divine Love, 72).

"Then a wind went out from the LORD, and it brought quails from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits deep on the ground" (Numbers 11:31).

"Aum, beloved Śakti of Śiva, Fullness everlasting and fully manifest as this food; O, Mother of the universe, nourish us with this gift of food so that we may attain knowledge, dispassion and spiritual perfection" (Loving Ganeśa, 200).

"Yogaswami: 'You are in me.' Robert: 'You are in me.' Yogaswami: 'I am in you.' Robert: 'I am in you.' The devotees present were astounded. No one  had ever talked in such a way with Yogaswami since the days of Chellappaguru" (The Guru Chronicles, 416).

"But that's the way of the Gospel, the way of the saints. You begin to pray with tears and pain for the good of the other. You pray in such a way that gradually Grace may visit and soften the heart of the other person by bringing clarity and understanding to his mind" (Inner River, 106).

"Do not be dejected. You have got immeasurable strength and power within. There is a glorious future awaiting you. Face all difficulties with a smile. Pain is the real eye-opener and real guide. God is putting you to this severe test to make you more strong and more powerful. Understand this secret well. Never be despondent. Ever laugh, jump, whistle and smile" (Sadhana, 686-687).

"Some look at It [the Self] with wonder" (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, 462).

"Even when not in samadhi, he remained in a state of ecstasy" (Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, Vol. 1, 8).


Saturday, October 20, 2012

20 October 2012 Sri Sri Durga Puja

"The Good News of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen man; it combats and removes the error and evil which flow from the ever-present attraction of sin. It never ceases to purify and elevate the morality of peoples" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2527)

"He [God] has put you in the world; it is good that you stay there. Again, He may lift you from there and carry you to a better place. Let it happen as it will" (Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, Vol. 1, 318).


"By Pranayama impurities of the body are thrown out; by Dhaaranaa the impurities of the mind; by Pratyaahaara impurities of attachment; and by Samaadhi  is taken off everything that hides the lordship of the Soul" (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, 310).


"There is a grain of truth in every statement of every individual according to his own experience. Remember this" (Sadhana, 636).

"It is a matter of the re-cognition of phenomena and the independent self, not of excluding phenomena and annihilating oneself. It is a matter of Ecstasy rather than inversion" (The Enlightenment of the Whole Body, 518).

Those are they who disbelieve in the messages of their Lord and meeting with Him, so their works are vain. Nor shall We set up a balance for them on the day of Resurrection" (Quran 18:105).

"In every moment of God-Communion, attention is liberated from all forms of mind and desire, and the body-mind dissolves in the Blissfulness of God-Realization" (Love of the Two-Armed Form, 397).

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Year's Gift: The Real Ring

It was late on New Year's Eve. I was sitting on a mat, and, by the light of a lamp, was sorting through the contents of an old ebony box. The box, whose wood shone with natural lustre, had been in my family for years, and the objects it contained, even longer. These were precious heirlooms.

My mood at that moment was, however, more frantic than reverent, for among the old scarves, kerchieves, and pouches, which flooded my mind with thoughts of my ancestors and parents, one object of particular importance was missing. In desperation, I was unfolding and folding, untying and tying, opening and closing, searching for that one thing I could not find.

"What are you looking for so intently?" I heard a voice say from behind me.

I knew it was You, but because of my anxiety, I answered, without turning my head, "Excuse me for a minute. Please sit down." Immediately, I felt ashamed. I looked at You, and You were smiling at me without admonishing my folly.

I gathered most of the precious hoard between my hands and shoved it into the box, collected a few stray odds and ends and threw them in after, with the exception of two small pouches, one of which I distractedly jammed into my shirt pocket. I closed the lid on the box, and then turned to show You the piece that I had kept out. This was a very old, very fine silk pouch with a pink rose embroidered on it. Your eyes lit up when You saw it, and You expressed Your admiration of it.

"I embroidered the pink rose on it myself last year," I informed You, not without some pride. "Unfortunately, the thing I made it to hold isn't here. I haven't been able to find it anywhere. That's what I've been searching for this past hour.

"And what is it?" You asked.

"A ring," I answered sadly.

"A valuable ring?"

"Valuable! The best of its kind! It was an heirloom, my most precious possession! It was made of seven metals! It was set with gems in the pattern of the rising sun! Very charming and very auspicious too!"

"But why did you happen to be looking for it tonight, at the last hour of the year?"

"Because," I explained, "it is my custom to hold that ring in my hand at the beginning of every New Year. It seems to help me let go of the stress of the year passed, and to fill my heart with joy and energy for the coming year. It is a very significant symbol for me, and now that I have lost it, I feel as though my dream has died."

You looked probingly at me, seeing my turmoil. Then You asked calmly, "Is it the loss of the ring — the symbol — that distresses you? Or your attachment to it that worries you?"

The question stumped me. "Sorry," I said. "I'm not sure I understand You. Is there something wrong with the symbol of the rising sun?"

"The symbol is not bad, but your dependence and attachment to it is not good. When you imbue any symbol with rigid meaning, a personal interpretation, and isolate yourself in your fancies, the significance of the symbol is defiled."

"Perhaps there is something wrong with symbolism altogether," I ventured.

"I never condemn anything," You replied. "I am everything. But I want you to understand the proper role of symbols in your life, so that you will neither over- nor underestimate their importance."

"You are saying that I don't have a balanced view of this. But how am I to acquire it?"

"By not allowing the symbols to dominate you. The loss of your ring — the heirloom — should not have disturbed you so much. The One who gives symbols knows when to take them away. The right attitude toward symbols is to understand that they are directing you to something real that is beyond them. So don't try to fill your life with them, or cling to them, but when they come to you, respect them without being overly influenced by them."

"Are there certain categories of symbols which are especially significant?"

"Countless, but you have to have an eye to discern them. Then a time may come when every pebble can be a jewel for you, and its shape and color convey unspoken messages."

This was too much for me, and it must have shown in my expression, because You smiled indulgently.

"What I mean," You continued, "is that you shouldn't become bound by ideology, of which there are many. Ideology constricts your understanding of the real potential of symbols."

I still felt I was in over my head. "Your words often land me in deep waters," I said, shaking my head hopelessly.

You looked amused. "But if you know how to swim, you may dive as deep as you can and return to the surface, bringing the significance with you as part of your life."

"Maybe I'm grasping at straws while I should be diving, but could you just tell me, of all the symbols, is there one in particular which is the greatest?"

"Yes," You answered at once, and with a natural east. "There is. And you already have it."

I was amazed. "I have it? Are You joking?"

"I am not. The greatest symbol of all is the ring."

"The ring? What sort of ring?"

"You always look outward, and so you are not aware of it, for this ring is within you, within everyone. At the time of birth, I breathe life, My Spirit, into your being. The ingoing and outgoing breath that circles and sustains your life is the ring and the matchless symbol. If this breath continues to circle in My remembrance, it becomes the Real Ring, truly worth seeking. It is this to which all symbols, and all signs, are pointing."

Radiantly beautiful, Your gaze fell upon me benignly. I sat there gaping, speechless, overwhelmed by Your presence.

You broke the mood by asking, offhandedly, "By the way, what's that green string hanging out of your shirt pocket?"

I glanced down and noticed a strand of dyed wool cord with a ball and tassel at the end of it. "An empty pouch," I answered, feeling glum again. "I must have stuck it in my pocket while I was putting things away." Saying this, I took the pouch out of my pocket, and, to my amazement, felt something solid inside of it.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Eureka! It's here! It's here!" I cried.

"What?"

"The ring that I was desperately searching for!"

My spirits soared. I remembered in a flash that while I had been embroidering the pink rose on the silk pouch the year before, I had placed the ring in this other, plainer one, and obviously forgotten it.

"Are you happy now?" You asked.

"Happy! I'm ecstatic!"

And You responded casually, with a remark that has stayed with me every since. "The end of real seeking is to know that nothing was ever lost."

I still have not fathomed the depths of its meaning.

Then You smiled and added, "If you are happy, may I go now?"

Almost at once, my eyes clouded with tears. "How can You ask me that? How could I wish You to leave? But ... yes, goodbye. But don't stay away too long. And please forgive me for my impudent greeting." Tears of sadness were now mingled with tears of joy and gratitude. "Today You have disclosed to me the Real Ring You gave me at my birth. Please guide me to be aware of it in my day to day life in Your playful remembrance."

You gave me a smile of reassurance which transmitted absolute certainty. Like a soft feather, it gently touched the breath sustaining my being, and I felt the real Ring circling within me. At that very moment, the bells in the tower chimed in the New Year. What a peerless New Year's gift!

With your grace may I be worthy of it!
The bells were ringing loudly
to herald the New Year.
My heart was singing softly,
ushering in a new rhythm, so sure.
-- Bal Natu, Conversations with the Awakener (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Sheriar Foundation, 1991), 92-98.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Hail Mary, Eastern Form

The Angelic Salutation, from the East:

Θεοτόκε Παρθένε, χαρε, κεχαριτωμένη Μαρία, Κύριος μετ σο. ελογημένη σ ν γυναιξί, κα ελογημένος καρπς τς κοιλίας σου, τι Σωτήρα τεκες τν ψυχν μν
Theotokos Virgin, Rejoice!
Mary, Full of Grace, our Friend is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb,
for you have borne a Guru of our souls.

Judge for Yourselves

Jesus said to the crowds,
“When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain -- and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot -- and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable throw you into prison.

I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny.”

     -- Luke 12:54-59

Willing and Ready

Brothers and sisters:
I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh.
The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.
For I do not do the good I want,
but I do the evil I do not want.
Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it,
but craving that dwells in me.
So, then, I discover the principle
that when I want to do right, evil is at hand.
For I take delight in the law of
Śiva, in my inner self,
but I see in my members another principle
at war with the law of my mind,
taking me captive to the law of craving that dwells in my members.
Miserable one that I am!
Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
Thanks be to
Śiva through Jesus Christ our Friend.

     -- Rom 7:18-25a

27 Nakshatras and 108 Padas


27 Nakshatras and 108 Padas

1.       Asvini (1-4)

2.       Bharani (5-8)

3.       Krittika (9-12)

4.       Rohini (13-16)

5.       Mrigashira (17-20)

6.       Arudra (18-24)

7.       Punarvasu (25-28)

8.       Pushya (29-32)

9.       Ashlesha (33-36)

10.   Magha (37-40)

11.   Purvaphalguni (41-44)

12.   Uttaraphalguni (45-48)

13.   Hasta (49-52)

14.   Chitra (53-56)

15.   Swati (57-60)

16.   Vishakya - Radha (61-64)

17.   Anuradha (65-68)

18.   Jyestha (69-72)

19.   Mula (73-76)

20.   Purvashadha (77-80)

21.   Uttarashadha (81-84)

22.   Shravana (85-88)

23.   Dhanishtha (89-92)

24.   Shatavishakya -Shatataraka (93-96)

25.   Purvabhadrapada (97-100)

26.   Uttarabhadrapada (101-104)

27.   Revati (105-108)



Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Papal Infallibility (I)

The following is a short summary of the doctrine of papal infallibility

When the Pope (1) intends to teach (2) by virtue of his supreme authority (3) on a matter of faith and morals (4) to the whole Church, he is preserved by the Holy Spirit from error. His teaching act is therefore called "infallible" and the teaching which he articulates is termed "irreformable".

To be free "from error" does not mean that one is "totally correct" or that one has spoken "the last and complete word on the topic".  It means that one has made a statement that corresponds, to one degree or another, to the relevant reality (in this case, the "matter of faith and morals").

What this also means is that, the very doctrine of papal infallibility, free "from error", is not "the last and complete word on the topic".

To be "irreformable" is to be free from being reformable. However, to be "irreformable" is not to be free from being clarified, or more deeply understood, or incorporated within a larger philosophical framework.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

At Every Depth

"You must trust the process of your own life, whether it is to go mad, to become ill, to work, to succeed, or to die. Be free of fear. Surrender to the Person of God, the actual Living God. Trust the Divine altogether. Give yourself up emotionally to God. Do it to the point that the physically based fear of death vanishes on the basis of trust alone. Practice complete devotion and absolute surrender. Do not just tread the path of gradual attainment in your emotional and ceremonial approaches to God. Give yourself up completely in this moment. Give up everything at every depth and in every area of your life. Allow life to be the theatre of God, in which what seems to be appropriate and necessary in your case will be accomplished spontaneously. Allow all of life to be God’s business. Whatever arises, high or low, such a life will simply be surrendering to the point of happiness, giving up to God completely. If you will do what I urge you to do, then this instruction is sufficient. You do not really need to know all the technicalities of yoga and the cosmic subtleties of the higher planes of the phenomenal worlds. You need not know anything. You need not become convinced of anything except that you are suffering a contracted state of existence. Feel the force of that contraction, its emotional force, its physical force. Feel the quality of contraction and realize that it is your own action. Realize that you can exist in a totally different condition merely by recognizing your own separative activity and transcending it in each moment. Just surrender emotionally and completely."

-- Da Love-Ananda

Monday, February 28, 2011

Secret Message

Mani — I feel that the three persons are indeed one – Jesus Christ, Chaitanyadeva and you – are one person.

Sri Ramakrishna — Of course, one. What is there except one? It is He alone who dwells in this body.

After saying this, Sri Ramakrishna points to his own body – as if to say that the Lord has incarnated Himself and is dwelling in his body.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Sefirot

Correspondences between the Sefirot and Jyotish:

Keter: Ketu
Chokhmah: Sun
Binah: Moon
Chesed: Mars
Gevurah: Venus
Tiferet: Saturn
Netzach: Jupiter
Hod: Mercury
Yesod: Rahu
Malkut: Lagna

Monday, January 31, 2011

The Man of Understanding

The man of understanding is not entranced. He is not elsewhere. He is not having an experience. He is not passionless and inoffensive. He is awake. He is present. He knows no obstruction in the form of mind, identity, differentiation and desire. He uses mind, identity, differentiation and desire. He is passionate. His quality is an offense to those who are entranced, elsewhere, contained in the mechanics of experience, asleep, living as various forms of identity, separation and dependence. He is acceptable only to those who understand.

He may appear no different from any other man. How could he appear otherwise? There is nothing by which to appear except the qualities of life. He may appear to have learned nothing. He may seem to be addicted to every kind of foolishness and error. How could it be otherwise? Understanding is not a different communication than the ordinary. There is only the ordinary. There is no special and exclusive communication that is the truth. There is no exclusive state of truth. But there is the understanding of the ordinary.

Therefore, the man of understanding cannot be found. He cannot be followed. He can only be understood as the ordinary. He is not spiritual. He is not religious. He is not philosophical. He is not moral. He is not fastidious, lean and lawful. He always appears to be the opposite of what you are.

He always seems to sympathize with what you deny. Therefore, at times and over time he appears as every kind of persuasion. He is not consistent. He has no image. At times he denies. At times he asserts. At times he asserts what he has already denied. At times he denies what he has already asserted. He is not useful. His teaching is every kind of nonsense. His wisdom is vanished. Altogether, that is his wisdom.

-- Franklin Jones

Saturday, January 1, 2011

All Conditions

No matter what is arising in your life, within, without, in between, every instant of it is another condition in which understanding is appropriate. Under no conditions is obsessive involvement, positive or negative, with conditions. themselves appropriate. All conditions are sadhana for one who is understanding, and all are forms of bondage to one who does not understand. You must begin to become a little sensitive to your capacity for illusion, your capacity for fascination, for obsession, for distraction, for unconsciousness. You must begin to be responsible for that.

-- Bubba Free John

Friday, December 31, 2010

No Thought

No thought or figure or any perception arising in the mind is, in itself, God. No thing, no body, no moment or place, in itself, is God. Rather, every moment, place, thing, body, or state of mind inheres in God. Whatever arises should be recognized in God, not idolized as God. Then all conditions become Reminders that draw us into the ecstatic presumption of the Mysterious Presence of the Living One.

-- Da Free John

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Prapatti

When Bhakti becomes intensified, it leads to whole-hearted surrender to God. This final stage is called Prapatti.

-- M. Narasimhachary

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Beginning of Spiritual Life

When I began to take up my teaching work, I clearly understood that I was going to have to bury myself in the world in order to awaken devotees. If there were to be devotees ultimately, I would have to pass through the lower, ordinary life with them, and make lessons in that play with them, make lessons out of all the possibilities of conventional fulfillment. That conventional fulfillment includes everything from typical life pleasures to conventional, so-called spiritual and psychic enjoyment. So all of my work has been a process of engaging in play with people on the basis of conventional possibility, living it, exploiting it, allowing it to show itself altogether as experience, as consequence, in order ultimately that you might enjoy that revulsion to the destiny of this birth that would enable you to take up the spiritual process truly.

There is no spiritual culture here, practically no culture whatsoever. Look at the street you came up out of tonight. That is where you all come from, and that is where I teach. Not in order to recommend all of that bullshit, all of that terror and disease and delusion and stupidity and obsession and craving and torment, but to live with people in such a way that they might enjoy a revulsion to all possibility in itself, all fulfillment, high or low, that is latent in the tendencies of this birth. And so, at various stages in my play with individuals, you have seen me live and work in every possible way. At one or another time, everything from the most exotic psychic and conventional experience to the most ordinary fulfillment of social life was, in one or another way, represented, communicated, lived among you, and never at all for the sake of those things in themselves.

You have not understood me if that is what you thought I was up to. These experiences are not the point, they are not Truth. Every way of life that you pursue on the basis of experience, high or low, making experience the principle of your future, is ordinary destiny, the usual life leading to death. It is not spiritual in any sense whatsoever, whether its content is psychic and more subtle or very gross. The lessons of your life with me should be very clear to you in your own body-mind. And yet I do not think they are very clear to all of you, because I see so many of you intending to persist, righteously persisting, in a way of life that has nothing whatever to do with spirituality.

Everything is passing, all this flesh, all this mind. There is no freedom from rebirth and illusion unless while alive you are literally existing in another dimension. Literally! Such an existence is not a matter of philosophy, of feeling good, of all the conventional horseshit that people put together. You may return to this human kind of birth after your next death, if you are lucky, but you will return to it without any recollection, without any more capacity than you now enjoy, driven as you are now, confused, obsessed, without the least distance in you from this arising here, bound to it, craving on the basis of it, having no capacity whatsoever to be distinguished from this body-mind. This will be true of you unless while alive you literally begin to exist in another condition, in another "place." Then, at death, and also while alive, you may go there and not come back here.

But, you see, in Truth it is not a matter of just being able to go to some dimension or other. There are countless dimensions above and below this! The Truth of the matter is to come to rest in God, not in this ego-soul, the separate one that is your destiny until the heart is broken. Other worlds have no significance whatsoever. They are equally tormenting after you have been there a few moments! There is a great struggle in every being that comes into contact with the Divine demand, because the Divine does not fulfill this life. The Divine Power draws you out of this life, draws attention out of it, reduces the mind to nothing, frees you of the illusion of being identical to this body, not just philosophically, but literally. The Law is sacrifice. If you do not fulfill it, you will become a sacrifice in any case, grudgingly, unconsciously. You will be eaten.

Until the Divine Power, Grace, and Demand is accepted, you will not fulfill the Law. You will not become a sacrifice of the whole body mind. Until this heart comes to rest, there is only contraction, this separate and separative consciousness, whose mind is separative, obsessive, bewildered, pursuing fulfillment on the basis of what is apparently possible in the midst of this puny limitation we wake up to each day. To take up a Divine life, a spiritual life, you must yield that principle of separation, but not just philosophically and not through conventional willfulness. Your yielding must be a real process, and it must represent real adaptation in you.

-- Bubba Free John

Monday, December 27, 2010

The Maharshi and His Message

It seems to me that the presence of men like the Maharshi ensures the continuity down history of a divine message from regions not easily accessible to us all. It seems to me, further, that one must accept the fact that such a Sage comes to reveal something to us, not to argue anything with us. At any rate, his teachings make a strong appeal to me, for his personal attitude and practical method, when understood, are quite scientific in their way. He brings in no supernatural power and demands no blind religious faith. The sublime spirituality of the Maharshi’s atmosphere and the rational self-questioning of his philosophy find but a faint echo in yonder temple. Even the word “God” is rarely on his lips. He avoids the dark and debatable waters of wizardry, in which so many promising voyages have ended in shipwreck. He simply puts forward a way of self-analysis, which can be practised irrespective of any ancient or modern theories and beliefs which one may hold, a way that will finally lead man to true self-understanding.

-- Paul Brunton, on Ramana Maharshi

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Desire and Anger

Desire and anger are objects of the mind, but the mind is not yours, nor ever has been. You are choiceless awareness itself, unchanging - so live happily.

-- Ashtavakra, the Crippled Boy

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Compassion

Therefore, if one has seen and felt and Understood the common and universally tormented state of living beings, one should surrender to the Truth and practice the Way of the Radiant Transcendental Consciousness. Compassionate Understanding of the fear and delusion of all living beings moves one to practice this Way. Thus, one may, by one's manner of living, support the illusions and intensify the torment of living beings, or one may transcend all illusions and bring Transcendental Peace into the world.

-- Santosha Da

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Practice

Happiness is the responsibility.
Freedom is the discipline.

-- Bubba Free John

Monday, August 30, 2010

The Only Way

The statement that Christ is the Only Way, is not contradictory to the statement that Muhammad is the Last Prophet, that the Noble Eightfold Path is the only Path to Nibbana, that the Fullest Avatar is Krishna. Such statements of exclusivity are not statements of empirical fact. Such statements of exclusivity are statements of intention, attitude, and energy: they are meant to focus one’s intention on God and Truth, to direct one’s attitude towards surrender of self, to intensify one’s energy in sadhana. Such statements are statements of Spiritual Warfare, not statements of merely intellectual and philosophical curiosity. Let all such statements increase the intensity of your own sadhana.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

August 24, 2010: Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Philip found Nathanael and told him,
“We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law,
and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
But Nathanael said to him,
“Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
“Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him.”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Nathanael answered him,
“Rabbi, you are the Avatar of Śiva; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this.”
And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened and the angels of Śiva
ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

(Jn 1:45-51)

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The word of Śiva came to me:
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds:
Thus says Śivāyavē: Woe to the shepherds of Israel
who have been pasturing themselves!
Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?
You have fed off their milk, worn their wool,
and slaughtered the fatlings,
but the sheep you have not pastured.
You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick
nor bind up the injured.
You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost,
but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
So they were scattered for the lack of a shepherd,
and became food for all the wild beasts.
My sheep were scattered
and wandered over all the mountains and high hills;
my sheep were scattered over the whole earth,
with no one to look after them or to search for them.

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of Śiva:
As I live, says Śivāyavē,
because my sheep have been given over to pillage,
and because my sheep have become food for every wild beast,
for lack of a shepherd;
because my shepherds did not look after my sheep,
but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep;
because of this, shepherds, hear the word of Śiva:
Thus says Śivāyavē:
I swear I am coming against these shepherds.
I will claim my sheep from them
and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep
so that they may no longer pasture themselves.
I will save my sheep,
that they may no longer be food for their mouths.

For thus says Śivāyavē:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.

(Ez 34:1-11)


Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o’clock,
he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o’clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o’clock,
he found others standing around, and said to them,
‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
‘These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply,
‘My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

(Mt 20:1-16)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The word of Śiva came to me: Son of man,
say to the prince of Tyre:
Thus says Śivāyavē:

Because you are haughty of heart,
you say, “An immortal am I!
I occupy a godly throne
in the heart of the sea!”—
And yet you are a man, and not an immortal,
however you may think yourself like an immortal.
Oh yes, you are wiser than Daniel,
there is no secret that is beyond you.
By your wisdom and your intelligence
you have made riches for yourself;
You have put gold and silver
into your treasuries.
By your great wisdom applied to your trading
you have heaped up your riches;
your heart has grown haughty from your riches–
therefore thus says Śivāyavē:
Because you have thought yourself
to have the mind of an immortal,
Therefore I will bring against you
foreigners, the most barbarous of nations.
They shall draw their swords
against your beauteous wisdom,
they shall run them through your splendid apparel.
They shall thrust you down to the pit, there to die
a bloodied corpse, in the heart of the sea.
Will you then say, “I am an immortal!”
when you face your murderers?
No, you are man, not an immortal,
handed over to those who will slay you.
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
at the hands of foreigners,
for I have spoken, says Śivāyavē.

(Ez 28:1-10)


Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Again I say to you,
it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of Śiva.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said,
“Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for Śiva all things are possible.”
Then Peter said to him in reply,
“We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you
that you who have followed me, in the new age,
when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory,
will yourselves sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

(Mt 19:23-30)

Monday, August 16, 2010

Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The word of Śiva came to me:
Son of man, by a sudden blow
I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes,
but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears.
Groan in silence, make no lament for the dead,
bind on your turban, put your sandals on your feet,
do not cover your beard, and do not eat the customary bread.
That evening my wife died,
and the next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Then the people asked me, “Will you not tell us what all these things
that you are doing mean for us?”
I therefore spoke to the people that morning, saying to them:
Thus the word of Śiva came to me:
Say to the house of Israel:
Thus says Śivāyavē:I will now desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold of your pride,
the delight of your eyes, the desire of your soul.
The sons and daughters you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Ezekiel shall be a sign for you:
all that he did you shall do when it happens.
Thus you shall know that I am Śiva.You shall do as I have done,
not covering your beards nor eating the customary bread.
Your turbans shall remain on your heads, your sandals on your feet.
You shall not mourn or weep,
but you shall rot away because of your sins and groan one to another.

A young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?”
And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him,
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.