John Ptacek

Imagine that you are standing under a waterfall. The water pounds down on your head and shoulders and pins your feet to the ground. The steady rush of water feels good. At times, it feels ecstatic.

But often the force of the water is too much. It hurts. You want it to stop. You tilt your body slightly, hoping to find a gap in the sheets of water cascading down on you. You do, and for a moment the pain lessens. But then the full force of the water finds you again. The pain is intense. You feel trapped.

Now imagine that one day, for no reason you can think of, you step back from the waterfall. You had no idea there was a space behind you the whole time, a cavern cut into the rock that easily accommodates your frame. The relief you feel is immense. Your body feels light. You witness the water pouring down inches from your nose. The inches seem like miles. Now the water begins to flow from you. Tears of joy are streaming down your cheeks. You have stepped away from the steady rush of water, from the endless cycle of pleasure and pain you’d been experiencing for as long as you can remember.

We spend our lives immersed in a flood of thoughts, unaware that another dimension of consciousness is available to us. It is a dimension in which we come to know ourselves as something other than thinkers. By taking a step back, we become the witness of our thoughts. Of the millions of steps we’ve taken in our lives, this subtle but radical step may be the most important because it leads to a profound sense of peace.

We cannot think our way into this witnessing dimension. It only emerges when thought subsides, hopping like a bunny from the bushes when the coast is clear. The thoughts that pleaded for our attention gradually recede in the presence of our steady witnessing gaze. In this transformative moment we have stepped back from the flow of thought into the serene space of our awareness.

This space is not as mystical as it might seem. Haven’t we all experienced moments when we’ve witnessed the thoughts flowing through our minds without getting dragged into their current?

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ABIDE AS THE SELF: The Essential Teachings of Ramana Maharshi

Abide as the Self is a transforming video which takes one on a meditative journey into the teachings Ramana Maharshi and the path of Self-Knowledge. Comprehensive film footage of Ramana comes alive, with emphasis on the teachings of Self-Enquiry and its practice. A special collection of rare photographs enhances Ramana's presence and captures the compassion and grace of one of the most respected sages of this century. A heartfelt narration by Ram Dass provides an overview of Ramana's teachings. There are also interviews with H.W.L. Poonja, Douglas Harding, and Allan W. Anderson,as well as others who sat in the Maharashi's presence.

Ramana Maharshi — Abide as the Self (A)
Ramana Maharshi — Abide as the Self (B)
Ramana Maharshi — Abide as the Self (C)
Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi Rare LIFE Photos

Realization.org: Self-Inquiry
Ribhu/Bhagavan: THE ESSENCE OF RIBHU GITA
Website: Sri Ramanashramam

William T. Hathaway

From the Book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway

RADICAL PEACE is a collection of reports from peace activists in the USA, Europe, Iraq, and Afghanistan. A seminarian contributed this chapter about learning to love her enemies. Because of her activism, she prefers to remain anonymous.

To celebrate Armed Forces Day the military base near my seminary held an open house, a public relations extravaganza to improve their image and boost recruiting. They invited the public in for a marching band parade, a precision flying show, and a sky diving demonstration. They even offered free lemonade and cookies.

A subversive seminarian, namely me, decided to disrupt the festivities and remind people that the military's job is murder. I bought a jump suit and dyed it orange like the uniforms the prisoners in Guantánamo have to wear. I bought two U-shaped bike locks, three diapers, and a pair of old-people's rubber underpants.

All suited up, I had a friend drive me onto the base before people started arriving for the celebration. She dropped me off at the traffic circle just inside the main gate, kissed me on the cheek for good luck, and drove back out the gate. In the center of the traffic circle stood a flagpole flying the Stars and Stripes. I ran to the pole, fastened my foot to it with one bike lock and my neck to it with the other — pretty uncomfortable — and started shouting, "Close Guantánamo! No More Abu Ghraibs! Free the Prisoners!" People gawked as they drove by, some laughing like I was part of the show, some waving, some giving me the finger.

I had an anti-war speech all prepared to give the reporters. I had a bottle of water in one pocket and a bag of trail mix in the other and was wearing the diapers and rubber underpants for toilet emergencies. I was locked on for a long stay.

A couple of minutes later, a van and a truck full of soldiers drove up. The GIs jumped out and surrounded me. They stood at attention facing the traffic, blocking me off from view. The van backed in next to me. I shouted my slogans louder, and they started singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" to drown me out. To people driving in, it must've looked like a patriotic demonstration — soldiers around the flag singing to greet them.

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Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II

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Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II

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Translated by A.F.Price and Wong Mou-Lam

SECTION I. THE CONVOCATION OF THE ASSEMBLY

Thus have I heard. Upon a time Buddha sojourned in Anathapindika's Park by Shravasti with a great company of bhikshus, even twelve hundred and fifty.

One day, at the time for breaking fast, the World-honored One enrobed, and carrying His bowl made His way into the great city of Shravasti to beg for His food. In the midst of the city He begged from door to door according to rule.

This done, He returned to His retreat and took His meal. When He had finished He put away His robe and begging bowl, washed His feet, arranged His seat, and sat down.

SECTION II. SUBHUTI MAKES A REQUEST

Now in the midst of the assembly was the Venerable Subhuti. Forthwith he arose, uncovered his right shoulder, knelt upon his right knee, and, respectfully raising his hands with palms joined, addressed Buddha thus:

World-honored One, if good men and good women seek the Consummation of Incomparable Enlightenment, by what criteria should they abide and how should they control their thoughts?

Buddha said: Very good, Subhuti! Just as you say, the Tathagata is ever-mindful of all the Bodhisattvas, protecting and instructing them well. Now listen and take my words to heart: I will declare to you by what criteria good men and good women seeking the Consummation of Incomparable Enlightenment should abide, and how they should control their thoughts. Said Subhuti: Pray, do, World-honored One. With joyful anticipation we long to hear.

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Paul Foster Case

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Paul Foster Case

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Vincent Di Stefano
Integral Reflections

We tend as a society to remove from sight those realities that may disturb our sense of order, of control, of comfort, of civilised pleasantness. It is very tempting to arrange things so that one lives a predictable and well-cushioned life shielded from the human wreckage that lies just below the surface. Yet something as simple as spending an hour or two in a railway carriage outside of peak hour can reveal how wafer-thin the veneer of social order and civility can be. And the surprising number of young people begging for food and money in and around the streets of central Melbourne reveals further what lies behind the façade of affluence and self-satisfaction that is everywhere projected. One does not need to walk the streets of Calcutta to know the faces of the dispossessed and the privation and deep need that everywhere burdens the life of so many.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born of a peasant family in Albania in 1910. Her father died when she was a young child and she was raised in the simple faith of her community. She joined the Loreto Sisters at the age of 18, having already decided when she was 12 years old that she would one day serve as a missionary in India. After a short stay in Ireland, she arrived in north India in 1929. Over the next 20 years, she formalised her religious vows and served as a teacher in a Loreto convent school for girls in Calcutta.

In 1948 after experiencing a profoundly transformative personal revelation, she departed the convent, replaced her regular Loreto habit with a plain blue-lined cotton sari, and immersed herself in the street life of Calcutta. After securing modest accommodation, she immediately started a small school for girls and began visiting the destitute and the dying who were everywhere to be found in the city. Her work was sanctioned by Rome in 1952 and the small group of women that had formed around her took on the name "Missionaries of Charity."

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The Nag Hammadi Library
Translated by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer

Introduction
The Gnostic Society Library

There is a growing consensus among scholars that the Gospel of Thomas – discovered over a half century ago in the Egyptian desert – dates to the very beginnings of the Christian era and may well have taken first form before any of the four traditional canonical Gospels. During the first few decades after its discovery several voices representing established orthodox biases argued that the Gospel of Thomas (abbreviated, GTh) was a late-second or third century Gnostic forgery. Scholars currently involved in Thomas studies now largely reject that view, though such arguments will still be heard from orthodox apologists and are encountered in some of the earlier publications about Thomas.

Today most students would agree that the Gospel of Thomas has opened a new perspective on the first voice of the Christian tradition. Recent studies centered on GTh have led to a stark reappraisal of the forces and events forming "orthodoxy" during the second and third centuries. But more importantly, the Gospel of Thomas is awakening interest in a forgotten spiritual legacy of Christian culture. The incipit (or "beginning words") of Thomas invite each of us "who has ears to hear" to join in a unique quest:

These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke, and that Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down. And He said: "Whoever finds the meaning of these words will not taste death."

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Mark Mallet

As I have written here frequently, I believe that Heaven’s treasuries are wide-open. That God is pouring tremendous graces upon whomever will ask for them in these days of change.

The question then, is how to receive these graces. While God may pour them out in very miraculous or supernatural ways, such as in the Sacraments, I believe they are constantly available to us through the ordinary course of our daily lives. To be more precise, they are to be found in the present moment.

AN UNFORGETTABLE NEW YEAR’S EVE

I define the present moment as "the only point where reality exists." I say this because too many of us spend most of our time living in the past, which no longer exists; or we live in the future, which hasn’t happened yet. To live in the future or the past, is to live in an illusion. To build a house on sand is unwise; building our lives on illusions is no more stable.

At a New Year’s Eve celebration, my wife and I were sitting at a table with friends, laughing and enjoying the celebrations, when suddenly a man at the table across from us slumped off his chair onto the floor. Gone—just like that. Thirty minutes later, the guy who attempted CPR on the deceased, was now lifting a child into the air to pop balloons hanging over the dance floor. The contrast—the frailty of life—was startling.

Any one of us could die in the next second. That’s why it is senseless to be anxious about anything. -Anything.

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Les Visible
Visible Origami

Today I think I will talk about Lady Truth as if she were a lady instead of someone who has many suitors but few lovers and none that she cohabits with because no one treats her like a lady and lets her chose when she will associate with anyone who seeks her favors and is willing to pay the price to get them so that though you may not always be around her, meaning that any time you go around a corner you can’t see her anymore. She is stationary and we are not but her location is not hard to find. You can be standing right in front of her and not see her because of the shields that either you or she have put into place. It could be either of you but she only puts up shields to protect herself from what those who might misuse what they see can be prevented from seeing what they have no ability to control. She can see you however. She can see you better than ever you can see and she is a living vessel that is nearly always alone unless she invites someone to see her because she has noted an ability to serve her.

This signal honor carries great merit. It not only allows you to transmit something that become part of you in the saying but you are granted health and longevity depending on how completely you embrace her. Her presence confers her powers which protect the possessor from all injuries and the force of lies so that that person can see things as they are and lives in a different world that is right in the middle of ours, overlaid if you like but another dimension, this world is the obvious world of mortality and suffering and exists only for those who are content with it to the point that the truth cannot help them and they will never see her unless they repudiate the lies. Repudiating the lies does not make them go away. Repudiating makes them your enemy and in order to defeat them you must seek the truth and she will destroy the lies that seek to harm you. It is best to seek her before repudiating the lies because on the one hand you are fine and the lies go away. On the other hand you don’t know the truth and the lies are still in force around you.

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David Godman
A conversation with Harriet

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj I.
01 -Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Awaken to the Eternal
05 -Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Awaken to the Eternal
06 -Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Awaken to the Eternal

I was sitting with a visitor recently, looking at a new book on Nisargadatta Maharaj that consisted of photos and brief quotes. I knew some of the people in the pictures and narrated a few stories about them. This prompted a wider and lengthy discussion on some of the events that went on in Maharaj's presence. After she left I felt prompted to write down some of the things I had remembered since I had never bothered to record any of my memories of Maharaj before. As I went about recording the conversation, a few other memories surfaced, things I hadn't thought about for years. This, therefore, is a record of a pleasant afternoon's talk, supplemented by recollections of related incidents that somehow never came up.

Harriet: Every book I have seen about Maharaj, and I think I have looked at most of them, is a record of his teachings. Did no one ever bother to record the things that were going on around him? Ramakrishna had The Gospel of Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi had Day by Day, and a whole library of books by devotees that all talk about life with their Guru. Why hasn't Maharaj spawned a similar genre?

David: Maharaj very rarely spoke about his life, and he didn't encourage questions about it. I think he saw himself as a kind of doctor who diagnosed and treated the perceived spiritual ailments of the people who came to him for advice. His medicine was his presence and his powerful words. Anecdotes from his past were not part of the prescription. Nor did he seem interested in telling stories about anything or anyone else.

Harriet: You said 'rarely spoke'. That means that you must have heard at least a few stories. What did you hear him talk about?

David: Mostly about his Guru, Siddharameshwar Maharaj, and the effect he had had on his life. I think his love for his Guru and his gratitude to him were always present with him. Nisargadatta Maharaj used to do five bhajans a day simply because his Guru had asked him to. Siddharameshwar Maharaj had passed away in 1936, but Nisargadatta Maharaj was still continuing with these practices more than forty years later.

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Tony Parsons

Welcome to The Open Secret

The titles non-dual and Advaita attempt to describe the principle of wholeness, unicity or that which is already at one.

A unified reality in which there are "not two" or there is "no other" surely confirms the illusory nature of separation. If separation is illusory, then any attempt to not be separate is rooted in a dualistic perspective. So the basic principle of any teaching which attempts to transform an illusory state of being separate into a state of at-oneness is based on the belief in a divided reality and cannot therefore claim to be non-dual.

During the last decade there seems to have been a growing interest in what is known as “Advaita” or “non-dual” communication about enlightenment. The recent “Conscious TV” interviews and the beautifully crafted dvd “Who’s Driving the Dreambus” represent a fair cross-section of people of so-called “non-dual” persuasion but whose perceptions seem to vary considerably.

There are millions of books published on the same subject with wildly differing views. These days the term “non-dual” is being used for all kinds of seeking activities. You can go to non-dual conferences or indulge in a “12-month course on non-dual enlightenment”. Non-dual therapy is available, and there is even an on-line “non-dual” speak club which “no-one” can join!

For anyone interested or newly investigating this subject, it can all be very confusing.

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Translated by Burton Watson

Chapter Twenty-five: The Universal Gate of Bodhisattva Kanzeon

At that time the bodhisattva Inexhaustible Intent immediately rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, pressed his palms together and, facing the Buddha, spoke these words: "World Honored One, this Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's Sounds-- why is he called Perceiver of the World's Sounds?"

The Buddha said to Bodhisattva Inexhaustible Intent: "Good man, suppose there are immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of living beings who are undergoing various trials and suffering. If they hear of this Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's Sounds and single-mindedly call his name, then at once he will perceive the sound of their voices and they will all gain deliverance from their trials.

If someone, holding fast to the name of bodhisattva perceiver of the world's sounds, should enter a great fire, the fire could not burn him. This would come about because of this bodhisattva's authority and supernatural power. If one were washed away by a great flood and call upon his name, one would immediately find himself in a shallow place.

"Suppose there were a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a million living beings who, seeking for gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell, agate, coral, amber, pearls, and other treasures, set out on the great sea. and suppose a fierce wind should blow their ship off course and it drifted to the land of raksasas demons. If among those people there is even just one who calls the name of Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's sounds, then all those people will be delivered from their troubles with the raksasas. This is why he is called Perceiver of the World's Sounds.

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Nicolas Notovitch
Translated by J. H. Connelly and L. Landsberg

Project Gutenberg, The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ by Nicolas Notovitch

One day, while visiting a Buddhist convent on my route, I learned from a chief lama, that there existed in the archives of Lhassa, very ancient memoirs relating to the life of Jesus Christ and the occidental nations, and that certain great monasteries possessed old copies and translations of those chronicles.

Preface

After the Turkish War (1877-1878) I made a series of travels in the Orient. From the little remarkable Balkan peninsula, I went across the Caucasus to Central Asia and Persia, and finally, in 1887, visited India, an admirable country which had attracted me from my earliest childhood.

My purpose in this journey was to study and know, at home, the peoples who inhabit India and their customs, the grand and mysterious archæology, and the colossal and majestic nature of their country. Wandering about without fixed plans, from one place to another, I came to mountainous Afghanistan, whence I regained India by way of the picturesque passes of Bolan and Guernaï. Then, going up the Indus to Raval Pindi, I ran over the Pendjab--the land of the five rivers; visited the Golden Temple of Amritsa--the tomb of the King of Pendjab, Randjid Singh, near Lahore; and turned toward Kachmyr, "The Valley of Eternal Bliss." Thence I directed my peregrinations as my curiosity impelled me, until I arrived in Ladak, whence I intended returning to Russia by way of Karakoroum and Chinese Turkestan.

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Pages: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6

Chris Floyd

Listen now to a further point: no mortal thing
Has a beginning, nor does it end in death and obliteration;
There is only a mixing and then a separating of what was mixed,
But by mortal men these processes are named 'beginnings.'
~ Empedocles

***

"Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is a train of moods like a string of beads, and as we pass through them they prove to be many-coloured lenses which paint the world their own hue, and each shows only what lies in its focus."
~ R.W. Emerson

***

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Master Lin Chi
(Died 867)

Those of you who wish to discipline themselves in the Buddha's Dharma must seek true understanding. When this understanding is attained you will not be defiled by birth and death. Whether walking or standing still, you will be your own master. Even when you are not trying to achieve something extraordinary, it will come to you all by itself.

O Followers of the Way, from olden times each of my predecessors had his own way of training his disciples. As to my way of leading people: all that they need is not to be deluded by others. (Be independent) and go on your way whenever you desire: have no hesitancy.

Do you know where the disease lies which keeps you learners from reaching (true understanding? It lies where you have no faith in your Self. When faith in your Self is lacking you find yourself hurried by others in every possible way. At every encounter you are no longer your master: you are driven about by others this way or that.

All that is required is all at once to cease leaving your Self in search of something external. When this is done you will find your Self no different from the Buddha or the patriarch. Do you want to know who the Buddha or patriarch is? He is no other than the one who is, at this moment, right in front of me, listening to my talk on the Dharma. You have no faith in him and therefore you are in quest of someone else somewhere outside. And what will you find? Nothing but words and names, however excellent. You will never reach the moving spirit in the Buddha or patriarch.

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Unknown
Rochester Zen Center

[From WikiPedia:] The Heart of Perfect Wisdom Sutra or Heart Sutra or Essence of Wisdom Sutra (Sanskrit: प्रज्ञापारमिताहृदय Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya; Chinese: 摩訶般若波羅蜜多心經) (the word sutra is not present in known Sanskrit manuscripts) is a well-known Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra that is very popular among Mahayana Buddhists both for its brevity and depth of meaning. Buddhist writer and translator Bill Porter calls the Heart Sutra the best known and most popular of all Buddhist scriptures.

The Heart Sutra is a member of the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā) class of Mahāyāna Buddhist literature, and along with the Diamond Sutra, is perhaps the most prominent representative of the genre.

The Heart Sutra is made up of 14 shlokas in Sanskrit; a shloka composed of 32 syllables. In Chinese, it is 260 Chinese characters, while in English it is composed of sixteen sentences. This makes it one of the most highly abbreviated versions of the Perfection of Wisdom texts, which exist in various lengths up to 100,000 shlokas. According to Buddhist scholar and author Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in his commentary to the Heart Sutra:

The Essence of Wisdom Sutra (Heart Sutra) is much shorter than the other Perfection of Wisdom Sutras but it contains explicitly or implicitly the entire meaning of the longer Sutras.

This sutra is classified by Edward Conze as belonging to the third of four periods in the development of the Perfection of Wisdom canon, although because it contains a mantra (sometimes called a dharani), it does overlap with the final tantric phase of development according to this scheme, and is included in the tantra section of at least some editions of the Kangyur. Conze estimates the sutra's date of origin to be 350 CE; some others consider it to be two centuries older than that. Recent scholarship is unable to verify any date earlier than the 7th century CE.

The Chinese version is frequently chanted (in the local pronunciation) by the Chan (Zen/Seon/Thiền) sects during ceremonies in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam respectively. It is also significant to the Shingon Buddhist school in Japan, whose founder Kūkai wrote a commentary on it, and to the various Tibetan Buddhist schools, where it is studied extensively.

The sutra is in a small class of sutras not attributed to the Buddha. In some versions of the text, starting with that of Fayue dating to about 735, the Buddha confirms and praises the words of Avalokiteśvara, although this is not included in the preeminent Chinese version translated by Xuanzang. The Tibetan canon uses the longer version, although Tibetan translations without the framing text have been found at Dunhuang. The Chinese Buddhist canon includes both long and short versions, and both versions exist in Sanskrit.

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"THE ESSENCE OF RIBHU GITA" here preceded by "A Story of Sage Ribhu & his Disciple Nidagha" (Chapter 26 of the Ribhu Gita) as told by Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950)

The Sage Ribhu taught his disciple the supreme Truth of the One Brahman (Pure Consciousness) without a second. However, Nidagha, in spite of his erudition and understanding, did not get sufficient conviction to adopt and follow the path of Self-Knowledge (Jnana Yoga), but settled down in his native town to lead a life devoted to the observance of ceremonial religion (Bhakti Yoga). But the Sage loved his disciple as deeply as the latter venerated his Master. In spite of his age, Ribhu would himself go to his disciple in the town, just to see how far the latter had outgrown, his ritualism. At times the Sage went in disguise, so that he might observe how Nidagha would act when he, did not know that he was being observed by his Master. On one such occasion Ribhu, who had put on the disguise of a village rustic, found Nidagha intently watching a royal procession. Unrecognized by the town-dweller Nidagha, the village rustic enquired what the bustle was all about, and was told that the king was going in the procession.

“Oh! it is the king. He goes in the procession! But where is he?” asked the rustic. “There, on the elephant,” said Nidagha. “You say the king is on the elephant. Yes, I see the two,” said the rustic, “but which is the king and which is the elephant?” “What!” exclaimed Nidagha. “You see the two, but do not know that the man above is the king and the animal below is the elephant? What is the use of talking to a man like you?” “Pray, be not impatient with an ignorant man like me,” begged the rustic. “But you said above and below— what do they mean?”

Nidagha could stand it no more. “You see the king and the elephant, the one above and the other below. Yet you want to know what is meant by 'above' and 'below'” burst out Nidagha. “If things seen and words spoken can convey so little to you, action alone can teach you. Bend forward, and you will know it all too well.” The rustic did as he was told. Nidagha got on his shoulders and said: “Know it now. I am above as the king, you are below as the elephant. Is that clear enough?” “No, not yet,” was the rustic's gentle reply. “You say you are above like the king, and I am below like the elephant. The 'king', the 'elephant', 'above' and 'below'— so far it is clear. But pray, tell me what you mean by 'I' and 'you'?”

When Nidagha was thus confronted all of a sudden with. the mighty problem of defining a 'you' apart from an 'I', light dawned on his mind. At once he jumped down and fell at his Master's feet saying: “Who else but my venerable Master, Ribhu, could have thus drawn my mind from the superficialities of physical existence to the true Being of the Self? Oh! Gracious Master, I crave thy blessings”

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In the version of Dharma Master Lok To

Introduction

The Mind is neither large nor small; it is located neither within nor without. It should not be thought about by the mind nor be discussed by the mouth. Ordinarily, it is said that we use the Mind to transmit the Mind, or that we use the Mind to seal the Mind. Actually, however, in transmitting the Mind, there is really no Mind to receive or obtain; and in sealing the Mind, there is really no Mind to seal. If this is the case, then does the Mind exist or does it not exist? Actually, it cannot be said with certainty that the Mind either exists or does not exist, for it is Absolute Reality. This is expressed in the Ch'an Sect by the maxim: "If you open your mouth, you are wrong. If you give rise to a single thought, you are in error." So, if you can quiet your thinking totally, all that remains is voidness and stillness.

The Mind is Buddha; Buddha is the Mind. All sentient beings and all Buddhas have the same Mind, which is without boundaries and void, without name and form and is immeasurable.

What is your Original Face and what is Hua-Tou? Your Original Face is without discrimination. Hua-Tou is the Reality before the arising of a single thought. When this Mind is enlightened, it is the Buddha; but when it is confused, it remains only the mind of sentient beings.

The Ch'an Master Huang-po Tuan-Chi was a major Dharma descendent of the Sixth Patriarch and was the Dharma-son of the Ch'an Master Pai-Chang. He was enlightened by the Supreme Vehicle to realize the Truth. Transmission of Mind is this alone ? nothing else!

The Dharma of Mind Transmission, the teaching of Ch'an Master Huang-po Tuan-Chi, is a cover-title that includes both The Chung-Ling Record and The Wan-Ling Record. These Records are sermons and dialogues of the Master that were collected and recorded by his eminent follower P'ei Hsiu. Both a government official and great scholar, P'ei Hsiu set down what he could recollect of the Master's teaching in 857 C.E., during the T'ang Dynasty, eight years after the Master's death (ca. 850 C. E. ), fifteen years after his first period of instruction by the Master at a temple near Chung Ling (842 C.E.), and nine years after his second period of instruction at a temple near Wan Ling (848 C.E.). The Records were presumably edited and published somewhat later in the T'ang Dynasty by an unknown person, and they contain a "Preface" by the recorder, P'ei Hsiu. I would like to say to all present and future students of the Dharma, both in the East and in the West, and to all my good friends: If you want to practice, you should practice just as this Ch'an Master Huang-po Tuan-Chi did. Then you, too, can realize Sudden Enlightenment.

Dharma Master Lok To
Young Men's Buddhist Association of America
Bronx, New York
December, 1985

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Translated by John Richards

Translator's Introduction

The Ashtavakra Gita, or the Ashtavakra Samhita as it is sometimes called, is a very ancient Sanskrit text. Nothing seems to be known about the author, though tradition ascribes it to the sage Ashtavakra; hence the name.

There is little doubt though that it is very old, probably dating back to the days of the classic Vedanta period. The Sanskrit style and the doctrine expressed would seem to warrant this assessment.

The work was known, appreciated, and quoted by Ramakrishna and his disciple Vivekananda,as well as by Ramana Maharshi, while Radhakrishnan always refers to it with great respect. Apart from that the work speaks for itself.

It presents the traditional teachings of Advaita Vedanta with a clarity and power very rarely matched.

The translation here is by John Richards, and is presented to the public domain with his affection. The work has been a constant inspiration in his life for many years. May it be so for many others.

John Richards
Stackpole Elidor, UK

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Delinda C. Hanley

“I wish that you would help with the creation, launch and propagation of a Charter for Compassion, crafted by a group of leading inspirational thinkers from the three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and based on the fundamental principles of universal justice and respect.” —Karen Armstrong, Feb. 28, 2008

WHEN RELIGIOUS scholar Karen Armstrong won the TED Prize in 2008 and made her wish, “it took our breath away with its simplicity and power,” Chris Anderson told the crowd assembled to watch the global launch of the “Charter for Compassion” on Nov. 12, 2009 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Anderson is curator for Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED), a non-profit organization “devoted to ideas worth spreading.” Since 1984 TED’s two annual conferences (one held in Long Beach, the other in Oxford) bring together 50 thinkers and doers like Armstrong, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes to an international audience. The TED prize is awarded annually to the three speakers with the best ideas. It includes $100,000 and also grants the winner “One Wish to Change the World.”

The wish made by Armstrong, a former Roman Catholic nun who has authored more than 20 books on the role of religion in the modern world, including many on Islam, could truly change the world.

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Thunder Horse

There are many roads in life, but there are two that are important; the Red Road and the Black Road. They represent good and bad in every one’s life. It’s the two choices people have to make frequently in life. The Red Road is the good way, the good side, and the right choice. It is a road that is difficult with dangers and obstacles that are hard to travel on. The Black Road is the bad way, the bad side, and the wrong choice. The Black Road is wide and easy to travel. The Red Road and the Black Road appear in our lives not as roads but as the personifications of right and wrong, good and bad, light and dark.

The Lakota never were known to accumulate material goods. It was never done in pursuit of wealth; it was done to get around hard times or to help someone who ran short. Generosity has its rewards. The lack of it has its consequences. It was not practical for a nomadic people to accumulate too much because it only meant more to haul when the camp moved, which could be up to three or four times a year. The more you owned, the more you hauled.

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Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Body, thinking and feeling should learn
that beyond thinking and feeling
there is a background of awareness
that does not change.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj I.
01 -Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Awaken to the Eternal
05 -Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Awaken to the Eternal
06 -Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Awaken to the Eternal

1. Grace of the Guru

It is the intensity of the faith you have in the guru's words that is most important; once that is there, the grace flows automatically. The faith in the guru is based on the consciousness within, faith in your Self. My association with my guru was scarcely for two and a half years. The words he gave me touched me very deeply. I abided in one thing only: that the words of my guru are the truth, and he said “You are the Absolute, You are the Parabrahman". After that there were no more doubts and no more questions. Once my guru conveyed to me what he had to say I never bothered about other things - I hung on to the words of the guru. I know exactly how transient this present state of affairs is, and I also know the eternal state. I have no use for this ephemeral state. I understand the false as false. Since I have found my true permanent state I have no need for any of this; it has come on its own and it will go on its own. In that fullness there is no need of any kind. I've had that state of fullness after I met my guru; if I hadn't met him I would have lived and died as an ordinary man. The deep, dark blue state, the shade that you can take rest in, that is the grace of the guru. The darkness that you see when you close your eyes, that is the shadow of the guru's grace. Always keep it in mind; take rest in that shade of guru's grace.

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Eihei Dōgen

1. As all things are buddha dharma, there are delusion, realization, practice, birth [life] and death, buddhas and sentient beings. As myriad things are without an abiding self, there is no delusion, no realization, no buddha, no sentient being, no birth and death. The buddha way, in essence, is leaping clear of abundance and lack; thus there are birth and death, delusion and realization, sentient beings and buddhas. Yet in attachment blossoms fall, and in aversion weeds spread.

2. To carry the self forward and illuminate myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and illuminate the self is awakening.

Those who have great realization of delusion are buddhas; those who are greatly deluded about realization are sentient beings. Further, there are those who continue realizing beyond realization and those who are in delusion throughout delusion. When buddhas are truly buddhas, they do not necessarily notice that they are buddhas. However, they are actualized buddhas, who go on actualizing buddha.

3. When you see forms or hear sounds, fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately. Unlike things and their reflections in the mirror, and unlike the moon and its reflection in the water, when one side is illumined, the other side is dark.

4. To study the way of enlightenment is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.

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The Book of Job is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of the Satan, his theological discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The Book itself comprises a didactic poem set in a prose framing device and has been called "the most profound and literary work of the entire Old Testament". The Book itself, along with its numerous exegeses, are attempts to address the problem of evil, i.e. the problem of reconciling the existence of evil or suffering in the world with the existence of God.

There was an extremely pious man named Job. He was very prosperous, and had seven sons and three daughters. Constantly fearing that his sons may have sinned and "cursed God in their hearts", he habitually offered burnt offerings as a pardon for their sins.

The "sons of God" (a phrase commonly interpreted as referring to the angels) and Satan (literally, the Hebrew word means "the accuser" or "the adversary") present themselves to God. God asks Satan his opinion on Job, apparently a truly pious man. Satan answers that Job is pious only because he is prosperous. In response to Satan's assertion, God gives Satan permission to destroy Job's possessions and family.

All of Job's possessions are destroyed and a 'ruach' (wind/spirit) causes the house of the firstborn to collapse killing all of Job's offspring who were gathered for a feast. Job does not curse God after this but instead shaves his head, tears his clothes and says, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return : Lord has given, and Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of Lord" (Simplified).

As Job endures these calamities without reproaching Divine Providence, Satan solicits permission to afflict his person as well, and God says, "Behold, he is in your hand, but don't touch his life." Satan, therefore, smites him with dreadful boils, and Job, seated in ashes, scrapes his skin with broken pottery. His wife prompts him to "curse God, and die" but Job answers, "You speak as one of the foolish speaks. Moreover, shall we receive good from God and shall not receive evil?" [WikiPedia]

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Realization.org

Ramana Maharshi -- Abide as the Self (Video)
Ramana Maharshi - The Sage of Arunachala (Video)

Sri Ramana Maharshi wrote his famous booklet Self-Enquiry when he was in his early twenties. Self-Inquiry is a meditation technique for attaining enlightenment which is associated with Sri Ramana Maharshi.

The Sanskrit name for it, atma-vicara, really means self-investigation, self-examination, self-reflection, or looking within, but self-inquiry has become the standard translation. As we'll show below, this can be misleading. Self-enquiry is the British spelling; self-inquiry is American.

History of Self-Inquiry

Self-inquiry is an ancient technique that dates back at least to the Upanisads. For example, the Katha Upanisad says:

The primeval one who is hard to perceive,
    wrapped in mystery, hidden in the cave,
    residing within the impenetrable depth—
Regarding him as god, an insight
    gained by inner contemplation,
    both sorrow and joy the wise abandon.[1]

This is a pretty good summary of Ramana Maharshi's method, although it's written in veiled language. The "primeval one" in this verse is Brahman (the Self) and the "cave" is the heart center, so the meaning is: concentrate inwardly (on the feeling of me) until the innermost self is discerned in the heart and recognized as God. A similar reference occurs in the Maitri Upanisad 6.34.

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