Śākyamuni Buddha

Śākyamuni ("Sage of the Śākyas") was a spiritual teacher who founded Buddhism. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha of our age. "Buddha" means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE, but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE. By tradition, Gautama is said to have been born in the small state of Kapilavastu, in what is now Nepal, and later to have taught primarily throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala. Śākyamuni Buddha is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later. He is also regarded as a god or prophet in other world religions or denominations, including Hinduism, Ahmadiyya Islam and the Bahá'í faith. (Wikipedia)

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Any world is an illusion. Even the world we think we have now is not possible - how can it then be said to be real? In Truth, no particular world can exist. In Truth, any world would be unreal.

Truth is the only reality and is unspeakable. Truth is not just possible, but actual. It is here already - where else could it be? 'Here' extends infinitely. And It is here now. 'Now' extends eternally. However, neither space nor time can be said to exist or not to exist and Truth essentially is beyond both.

Although Truth requires no work, some of us may want to work hard to see this clearly. Looking inward, we will have to do this solitary work ourselves. This entails questioning our beliefs and having faith in Truth. Time is precious. But in the end, neither time nor effort are real and there is nothing whatever that we lack. - We are that which we seek. ~ The Editor

“Ognuno sta solo sul cuor della terra
trafitto da un raggio di sole:
ed è subito sera” ~ S. Quasimodo

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A More Poetic Version of Lady Truth -but no Less True

08/22/10

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.

Remembering Nisargadatta Maharaj

08/05/10

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.