11/29/2011

Discover what is already there.


"Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heartache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. there is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there."
Henry Miller

11/22/2011

Who is hearing?


Who is hearing? Our physical being doesn't hear, nor does the void. Then what does? Strive to find out. Put aside rational Intellect, give up all techniques. Just get rid of the notion of self. What is this mind? 
Who is hearing these sounds? 
Do not mistake any state for 
Self-realization, but continue to ask even more intensely, 
what is it that hears?
Bassui

11/20/2011

become human


We become human by talking and listening to each other. Individual heroes and impersonal corporations have failed at leading people as though they're machines. That paradigm, now ending, has brought overwhelming problems that we can't solve from the same level of consciousness that created them.
Margaret Wheatley

11/12/2011

The greatest evildoers...


"The greatest evildoers are those who don't remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back. For human beings, thinking of past matters means moving in the dimension of depth, striking roots and thus stabilizing ourselves, so as not to be swept away by whatever may occur-the Zeitgeist or History or simple temptation. The greatest evil is not radical, it has no roots, and because it has no roots it has no limitations, it can go to unthinkable extremes and sweep over the whole world."
Hanna Arendt

Anything less... is just something less.


"Earthkind has grown from pack to village... and then from village to tribe, then from tribe to territory...and from territory to nation. It is time to go from nation to planet. The First Earth Battalion hereby declares its primary allegiance to the planet... Making this planet whole... requires the ethical use of force. But even subcultures of force must evolve into a master culture. The Army is no exception....Soldiers are in the business of life and death. As a leader during war, I must know that if my soldiers are to die... that it's for the right reasons. When at peace they deserve nothing less than a chance of personal evolution. Soldiers can be a real part of the evolution of this Earth. Anything less... is just something less.
Excerpted from "The First Earth Battalion: Dare to Think the Unthinkable, Ideas and Ideals for Soldiers Everywhere" by Jim Channon, Lt. Col. (Ret), US Army, in the Journal of Non-Lethal Combatives, February 2000

11/08/2011

Subtle Ray


The universe is a vast net of energy rays. The primary ray is that which emanates from the Subtle Origin, and it is entirely positive, creative, and constructive. Each being, however, converts the energy of this primary ray into its own ray, and these lower rays can be either positive or negative, constructive or destructive. An individual who is not yet fully evolved can be adversely affected by negative energy rays in the net around him. For example, the combined influence of several negative rays might cause an undeveloped person to believe that his life is being controlled by an invisible, oppressive ruler. Such a misconception can be a significant barrier to enlightenment. To attain full evolution and the status of an integral being, you must be aware of this intricate net and its influences upon you. By integrating the positive, harmonious energy rays with the positive elements of your own being, and eliminating the subtle negative influences, you can enhance all aspects of your life. In order to eliminate the negative influences, simply ignore them. To integrate the positive influences, consciously reconnect yourself with the primary energy ray of the Subtle Origin by adopting the practices of the Integral Way. Then all the rays in the net around you will merge back into harmonious oneness.
Lao Tsu ~ Hua Hu Ching ~ #57

We use the word 'love'


"We use the word 'love' but we have no more understanding of love than we do of anger or fear or jealousy or even joy, because we have seldom investigated what that state of mind is. What are the feelings we so quickly label as love? For many what is called love is not lovely at all but is a tangle of needs and desires, of momentary ecstasies and bewilderment - moments of unity, of intense feelings of closeness, occur in a mind so fragile that the least squint or sideways glance shatters its oneness into a dozen ghostly paranoias. When we say love we usually mean some emotion, some deep feeling for an object or a person, that momentarily allows us to open to another. But in such emotional love, self-protection is never far away. Still there is "business" to the relationship: clouds of jealousy, possessiveness, guilt, intentional and unintentional manipulation, separateness and the shadow of all previous 'loves' darken the light of oneness. But what I mean by love is not an emotion, it is a state of being. True love has no object." - Steven and Ondrea Levine

When we cease from human thought


"If we have become a people incapable of thought, then the brute-thought of mere power and mere greed will think for us. If we have become incapable of denying ourselves anything, then all that we have will be taken from us. If we have no compassion, we will suffer alone, we will suffer alone the destruction of ourselves. These are merely the laws of this world as know to Shakespeare, as known to Milton. When we cease from human thought, a low and effective cunning stirs in the most inhuman minds."
Wendell Berry, Sabbaths 2005 in LEAVINGS

11/05/2011

...to serve first


"It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions...The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature."
Robert K. Greenleaf