Q: Are awareness and love one and the same?

M: Of course. Awareness is dynamic, love is being. Awareness is love in action. By itself the mind can actualize any number of possibilities, but unless they are prompted by love, they are valueless.  Love precedes creation.  Without it there is only chaos.

Q: Where is the action in awareness?

M: You are so incurably operational!  Unless there is movement, restlessness, turmoil, you do not call it action. Chaos is movement for movement's sake.  True action does not displace; it transforms.  A change of place is mere transportation; a change of heart is action.  Just remember, nothing perceivable is real.  Activity is not action.  Action is hidden, unknown, unknowable. You can only know the fruit.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Excerpt from “I AM THAT”

Chapter 72. What is Pure, Unalloyed, Unattached is Real

© 1973 by Nisargadatta Maharaj

Self-Awareness

Knowing that this state is within oneself,

How amazing that one searches for it elsewhere.

Although it is clearly manifest like the radiance of the sun,

How amazing that so few see it.

No matter how much happiness and sorrow is experienced,

How amazing that it is never impaired or improved in the

slightest.

This self-awareness is naturally free from the very first.

How amazing that it is liberated by just resting

at ease with whatever happens.

From: 'The Flight of the Garuda'

Teaching of the Dzokchen Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism

compiled and translated by Keith Dowman

“Self-observation brings man to the realization of the necessity of self-change. And in observing himself a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self-change, a means of awakening.”

~George Gurdjieff

At last I find a meaning of soul's birth

Into this universe terrible and sweet,

I who have felt the hungry heart of earth

Aspiring beyond heaven to Krishna's feet.

I have seen the beauty of immortal eyes,

And heard the passion of the Lover's flute,

And known a deathless ecstasy's surprise

And sorrow in my heart for ever mute.

Nearer and nearer now the music draws,

Life shudders with a strange felicity;

All Nature is a wide enamored pause

Hoping her lord to touch, to clasp, to be.

For this one moment lived the ages past;

The world now throbs fulfilled in me at last.

15-9-1939

Sri Aurobindo

“This inescapable duty to observe oneself: if someone else is observing me, naturally I have to observe myself too; if none observe me, I have to observe myself all the closer”

~Franz Kafka

"I have no knowledge of myself as I am, but merely as I appear to myself."

~ Immanuel Kant

From: 'Stillness Speaks'

"When you know who you truly are, there is an abiding

alive sense of peace. You could call it joy because that's

what joy is: vibrantly alive peace. It is the joy of knowing

yourself as the very life essence before life takes on

form. That is the joy of Being - of being who you truly

are."

-Eckhart Tolle

"Allow each moment of your day to become the embodiment

of the Truth. Always remember that each person carries

the golden light of the teachings. Let each object shimmer

with God's message. Let each element of nature reveal God's

magnificence, God's compassion, God's generosity, God's

love, the Guru's unconditional love, the ecstasy of the heart.

Be with God as He creates the days and nights and suffuses

them with His splendor. Embrace the true companion within,

the knowledge of your own Self, the wisdom of your own

Self."

~ Swami Chidvilasananda

“You are the only one going all the way with you in this life.  So it’s best to get to know your Self.”

From “Thread of Wisdom”

Yoga Pearls vol1

With Manorama

"The more you are with yourself in all things the more the Self is with you in all things."

~ Manorama

Letter from “Mind” to “Self”

I apologize for all of the times

I failed to see you -

in all things.

I apologize

for thinking you could ever lead me astray.

I apologize

for my ignorance, insensitivity, lack of awareness.

I apologize for my selfishness, greed, desires

and attachments.

It is you who stands by my side

when fear overpowers my reasoning.

It is you who guides me back on point

whenever I go astray.

It is you that brings breath into my body

and you that takes it back at the end.

You ask nothing of me,

claim nothing from me,

desire nothing from me.

Yet...

It is you who never abandons me -

even though I have at times, abandoned you.

I have sat in meditation

silently watching you

stir and flow into my consciousness

and have tasted your sweetness.

I realize now -

how truly small I am

compared to you.

I apologize

for ever thinking

I was better,

greater or

mightier

than you.

~ Nirmala

3/18/07

Excerpt on "Who Am I"

The  first consideration is to begin with the faith that there is something other than the physical reality. The second condition is to try to find what that is, and the best field of action is oneself. So one must begin by studying oneself a little, and manage to discern between what depends exclusivley on the body and what on something else which is not the body.  One can begin like that.  One can begin by observing one's feelings or thoughts in their working.  If one begins to find out, to understand what a feeling is and what a thought is, and how it works, then one can already go quite far on the path with that.  One must at the same time observe how his feelings and thoughts have an action on the body, what the reciprocity is.  And then, there is another exercies which consist in looking into oneself for what is perisistent, what is lasting, soemthing which makes one say, "I", and which is not the body... What is it that can trace a curve in the movement of the being.  If one seeks carefully enough, it leads you quite far.  Naturally if one seeks far enough and with enough persistence, one reaches the psychic.

~ The Mother

Search for the Soul in Everday Living

An Anthology of the Mother's writings

compiled by Wayne Bloomquist

pgs 6-7

“You are a song, a wished for song.

Move to the center, towards the sky and wind,

towards silent knowing.

~ Rumi

"Whether or not you call it Yoga...

awareness is the only way out....

How you get to awareness is your  way out."

~ Manorama

“I am telling you to face this reality: the path to enlightenment and unfoldment

is not really so austere, abstruse, or difficult—it’s actually very easy.

The easiest way to make progress is just to “know thyself”—

to accept and understand yourself on all levels.”

~ Swami Rama

At Times It is Necessary to Pull Back

From Identification with Our Surface Movements

What is the meaning of “the mental witness”?

The witness we have spoken about several times already,  Only here it is in the mind. There are witnesses everywhere.  It is a capacity of the being to detach itself, to stand back and look at what is happening, as when one looks at something happening in the street or when one looks at others playing and does not himself play, one remains seated, looking at the others moving but does not move.  That’s how it is.  In all the parts of the being there is one side which can do this; put itself at the back, remain quiet and look, without participating.  This is what is called the witness.  One has many witnesses inside oneself, and often one is a witness without even being aware of it.  And if you develop this, it always give you the possibility of being quiet and not being affected by things.  One detaches oneself from them, looks at them as at a dramatic scene, without participating in it.  This does not change things  very much. (6-426)

Sweet Mother, what does “the reduction of the mental being to the position of a witness” mean?

Have you ever felt this?  As though you were a little behind or above things, and were looking at them taking place but were not doing anything yourself?  Witness means an observer, someone who looks on and does not act does not act himself.  So, when the mind is very quiet, one can withdraw a little in this way, from circumstances and look at things as though he were a witness, a spectator, and not participating in the action himself.  This gives you a great detachment, a great quietude, and also a very precise sense of the value of things, because it cuts the attachment to action.  When you know how to do this with yourself, when you can withdraw and watch yourself acting, you learn many things about yourself.  When you are all mixed up and take part in the action, you do not observe yourself acting, you don’t know what you are like.  But when you draw back and look at yourself, you can perceive many imperfections which you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. (6-360)

~ Mira Alfassa

From  “Search for the Soul in Everyday Living”

The Mother: compiled by Wayne Bloomquist

“The more a person analyzes his inner self, the more

insignificant he seems to himself.  This is the first lesson

of wisdom.  Let us be humble, and we will become wise.

Let us know our weakness, and it will give us power.”

~ William Ellery Channing

“Those who are Awake live in a state of constant amazement”

~Jack Kornfield

Seung Sahn

The most important thing you can do is to learn how to keep a great

question very strongly: 'What am I" By keeping this question with

great determination, what appears is only "don't know." There is no

thinking. There is no longer any speech or words, because all thinking

is completely cut off. The name for that is "don't know." Another name

for it is true self, or true nature. It is sometimes called enlightenment

and satori and kensho. But originally, this point has no name and no form.

If you attain that, you attain Hinayana Buddhism, you attain Mahayana

Buddhism, and you attain Zen. You attain that Hinayana, Mahayana, and

Zen are all the same point. "What am I". That point's name is "don't

know."

So, I hope that you read these words but don't become attached to

them, then only go straight *don't know*, try, try, try for ten

thousand years nonstop, get enlightenment, and save all beings from

suffering.

ZEN MASTER SEUNG SAHN,

Man of Dok Seung Mountain

Hwa Gye Sah Temple

Sam Gak Mountain

Seoul, South Korea

1 August 1997

Awareness is your refuge:

Awareness of the changingness of feelings,

of attitudes, of moods, of material change

and emotional change:

Stay with that, because it's a refuge that is

indestructible.

It's not something that changes.

It's a refuge you can trust in.

This refuge is not something that you create.

It's not a creation.  It's not an ideal.

It's very practical and very simple, but

easily overlooked or not noticed.

When you're mindful,

you're beginning to notice,

it's like this.

~ Ajahn Sumedho

From Intuitive Awareness

Having crossed the river,

where will you go, O friend ?

There's no road to tread,

No traveler ahead,

Neither a beginning, nor an end.

There's no water, no boat, no boatman, no cord;

No earth is there, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford.

You have forgotten the Self within,

Your search in the void will be in vain;

In a moment the life will ebb

And in this body you won't remain.

Be ever conscious of this, O friend,

You've to immerse within your Self;

Kabir says, salvation you won't then need,

For what you are, you would be indeed.

~ Kabir

"All our comprehension will depend on how settled our awareness can be.

If our awareness is not settled, then we will not reach the fundamental level of knowledge."

~ Maharishi Mahes Yogi

Awakening Only Begins a Process

One of Buddhism's best-known maps of awakening comes from

the Theravada tradition of the Elders of Southeast Asia. The

Elders' map describes enlightenment as four progressive stages

of "Noble Understanding," each of which brings a new level of

freedom. The initial stage is called "Entering the Stream." Stream

entry occurs when we have our first taste of the absolute

freedom of enlightenment, a freedom of the heart beyond all

the changing conditions of the world.

But even though we have seen the truth, the Elders say, further

purification remains necessary for us to transform our character

and embody this new understanding in our life. Thus begins the

journey from stream entry to the second stage, "Returning Again."

Through a deep process, often requiring many years, we discover

and release the coarsest habits of grasping and aversion that re-

create our fearful and limited sense of self. Attaining the second

stage requires a continual and heartfelt attention to the suffering

that comes when we cling to our desires and fears, to our ideas

and ideals. As these forces of human life are understood, they

lose their hold on us. Finally, in a deep realization, the strongest

forces of desire, grasping, anger, and fear significantly drop

away. We fulfill the second stage.

The third stage the Elders call " Non- Returning." In this we are

irrevocably released from any remaining desire, grasping, anger,

and fear, nevermore to return to their sway. The very few who

progress to this third stage do so through a long process of

abiding in profound calm and emptiness. When wisdom grows,

the subtle movements of clinging in the heart are abandoned

the moment they arise. At this stage we rest in freedom and the

reality of the present, and the heart's deep peace is rarely

disturbed.

Finally comes the fourth and most extraordinary stage, called

"Great Awakening," in which the last traces of subtle clinging

even to joy, freedom, and meditation itself-fall away. Now

without the slightest identification with self, we are freed

from the vestiges of pride, judgment, restlessness, and separation

that veil pure being. The radiance of our true nature shines

unhindered throughout our life.

"From: 'After the Ecstasy, the Laundry'

by Jack Kornfield

"Analysis begins with experience. "

~ Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati

From: 'A Gradual Awakening'

As we begin to awaken, we see within us something opening like a flower. We notice that something is displacing our image

of how things are. We discover we're not so bent on always knowing who we are. It's the experience that seems to matter

most, the being, that we find of value. It seems as we let go of possessing experience and just let experience unfold, the flower opens more and more, the heart opens more and more. And we somehow feel that everything will be all right that things are working out just as they are supposed to. It's painful sometimes, it's ecstatic sometimes; but somehow it's always perfect. As we penetrate deeper and deeper, it is evident that it is the clarity of the seeing that nurtures our opening, while the object observed matters little.

We can't imagine how we ever could have missed seeing the perfection in the first place, or how we could ever lose it again. How could we ever again be blind to the simple, easy, natural, perfect way things are?  Experience is simply experience itself. And if looking into that flower we see a moment of greed or selfishness or fear, we see it within the context of that perfection, within that clarity, and it's like another petal in the flower. We see that it's all natural. Our selfishness doesn't make us feel separate. We see how naturally we're selfish, but there's no self-condemnation. We see it as just how it is. Perfect. No need to be separate because of it. Full of self-forgiveness, full of letting go, full of understanding. It is there, but it's not us. It's just more stuff. There's room in us for all of it.

So at last we are becoming who we always wanted to be, free of much of the guarded self-imagery and neediness that caused so much discomfort in the past. But we see that even this "wonderful me" must be let go of. The being we have become is still separate, though healthier. There's still that subtle "someone" experiencing it all and wanting to keep it opening. There's someone who hasn't altogether merged, hasn't disappeared; still someone looking at the perfection of things. It's then we realize that the flower must die for the fruit to be born.

We recognize that the flower exists on just a subtler level of mind, and that perfection, too, is a concept of how things are and can become a subtle separation which allows for "someone" to watch the perfection of it all. We see that we must let the flower be so it may fall away and leave the fruit.

There is no description possible of the fruit because no matter how we try to describe it, we're still describing the flower. The fruit doesn't exist in mind, in language. Mind gives form to the flower, but clinging to form and mind must be relinquished for the fruit to be revealed, for our original face to come forth.

This fruit, fully ripened in beings like Christ and Buddha, has no seeds, nothing to be reborn, no desires to create karma, no thirst for satisfaction. This fruit does not perish, but remains as an offering for all who come after.

~ Stephen Levine

‎

Precision is a very important part of your meditation practice. You should be wakeful every minute. Mindfulness literally means being fully minded, so no activity permits you to take time off. Every activity during the day, such has eating a meal, is part of that mindfulness. So you’ll be right on the dot. Here being right on the dot just means to be there. Every waking moment you communicate with the sights, sounds, feelings, and temperatures around you. The point is to be in contact with reality as much as you can.

~ Pema Chodron

"To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work."

~ Mary Oliver