Kabir das - pearls of wisdom

On the moonless day, give up longing.
Remember Ram who knows our innermost thoughts.
While living, find salvation’s door:
Perceive the real Word and Source of all things.

When you love Govind’s lotus feet,
Your heart becomes pure, by the grace of saints.

Stay awake day and night
And sing Hari’s praise.

The same soul dwells in beings everywhere,
How can it ever be affected by caste
Or by the accursed body formed of water and air?
For the soul is immortal and body does not last.

Saint Kabir

If we think divinity and sexuality are two different extremes, then we really don’t understand the beauty of our sages -Anandmurti Gurumaa

If we think divinity and sexuality are two different extremes, then we really don’t understand the beauty of our sages and we really need to delve more deeply into the subject. We wouldn’t have been born if our parents had not indulged in sex. If sex was wrong and sinful, then this means that our very existence is sinful and wrong.

At least in Bharat (India) – dharma, artha, kama and moksha are considered to be the four pillars of human life. Here, ‘kama’ means ‘kamana’ - kamana for food, kamana for money, kamana for sex, kamana for children and are not considered sinful.

The institution of marriage was designed by our sages firstly to satiate and experience and then come out of the primal urges of sex; the secondary objective was to procreate and to give birth to children who will take over their work and wisdom. And the next generation would be responsible for disseminating messages and great work of ancestors.

That is why in all marriages conducted in different religions, there is some kind of religious ritual involved. In Hindu marriages specially the woman is considered to be Lakshmi and the husband is considered to be Vishnu, as if they are the personification of Vishnu and Lakshmi. They take the vow of being honest and sincere to each other and of taking care of each other. And this whole institution was designed in such a way that the person lives these physical relationships, creates a home, a place where both man and woman are safe, secure and together and they can work upon their spiritual aspects.

Anandmurti Gurumaa
 

Swami Brahmananda – Pearls of Wisdom

The world is so constructed that if you wish to enjoy its pleasures, you must also enjoy its pains. Whether you like it or not, you cannot have one without the other.

It is a mistake to think that the sadhana cannot be practiced for lack of time. The real cause is agitation of the mind.

If you wish to work properly, you should never lose sight of two great principles: first, a profound respect for the work undertaken, and second, a complete indifference to its fruits. Thus only can you work with the proper attitude.

Swami Brahmananda

Before you hear the voice of cosmic Truth you must hear the voice of silence - Swami Rama Thoughts

Desire is the very root of all miseries. So you must become desireless by maintaining the Here and Now by constant awareness. Remember the center of consciousness within you. When you are able to lead your mind to this state of desirelessness, then it is considered to be real meditation.

Those who live for the welfare of all are sustained by the Self of all.

Before you hear the voice of cosmic Truth you must hear the voice of silence.

Best of men is he who lives in the world, but remains above.

Karma is our own making. What we experience today is the result of what we have created in our past. So, too, is our future of our own making.
 
Swami Rama

The Meaning of the Finger Pointing to the Moon

Hotei pointing with the finger to the moon

The nun Wu Jincang asked the Sixth Patriach Huineng, "I have studied the Mahaparinirvana sutra for many years, yet there are many areas i do not quite understand. Please enlighten me."

The patriach responded, "I am illiterate. Please read out the characters to me and perhaps I will be able to explain the meaning."

Said the nun, "You cannot even recognize the characters. How are you able then to understand the meaning?"

"Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon’s location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger, right?"

The finger pointing to the moon is not the moon is the essence here. But what does this mean on a deeper level? How does it relate to todays everyday life? How can we understand the meaning in an useful manner?

The laughing Buddha Hotei is pointing to the moon, who was a monk who lived during the Later Liang Dynasty (907–923 AD) of China. Contentment and happiness being his defining attributes, Hotei has a cheerful face and a big belly.
Analyzing the pointer is pointless

… said Eckhart Tolle, yet we tend to analyze the pointers without noticing it. If we are discussing about whether something is good for us or not or especially if we come to a philosophical debate, we are discussing the validity of models and concepts. We can also go out and experience something directly.

It’s the same with spirituality.

Spirituality is all about experiencing and the truth itself. So this post here is of course a finger pointing. The words are only pointing. So as long as we are pointing and discussing about the different pointers, we are not experiencing. The experience of something is the connection with something, the feeling one with something, without labeling.

What happens in philosophy and in religion again and again is the intense discussion about the pointers. How can it be that there is a discussion about one thing that is true? It is one thing right? It can only be because we represent something differently, which are different pointers. Then it is easy to discuss and disagree about them.

The map is not the territory

The map is not the territory is just another way to point to the same thing. The map is the concept of what we have in the mind about something. It’s a belief, an image or a thought-pattern. We use this map in the same way as we use a city-map to find a location. If the map is correct, we will find our location. If it is slightly incorrect, we have to correct it by new knowledge, optimize it. If it is completely incorrect or we move to another city, we have to replace the map altogether. What is happening is that we changed the map. And this is happening all the time.

Another map is the self-image or we may call it the ego. It is everything we saved about ourselves. It is the map of ourselves and we act from it. We want to improve our self-image and we use our intellectual abilities to do so: we get our desires and we set goals and work towards them. The map called the ego is a very useful map that we constantly create ourselves. But here is the important thing: it is still a map.
It’s nice to have a map, as long as you know it’s a map

Which means:

1. The map can change : which means our self-concept (the ego, who we think we are) can change and this is the basis of personal development. This changing map includes our thoughts, beliefs and actions: the whole world-view and the self-image.

2. The map is not the territory : I am not the ego, my self-image. You are not your self-image, or in other words: You and I are not who we think we are; think in the literally sense of the word: thoughts (and all other concepts) are the map, not the territory.

The important step to Spiritual Awakening is dropping the map and experiencing what is without the map.

But, (for me at least) this means not to remove the map for all time. I need the map to function in the world and to relate to everything. So I create maps and use maps in a very intense way, in the best way possible. But there is one difference: I dis-identified the map from the territory. So I know that my self-image is my self-image but not the self.

Ken Wilber called the process "Transcend and include". Or as Genpo Roshi put it: the reason we are able to transcent the ego but still use it as a human being is that we know the Being side of the Human Being as well as the Human Side: check my posting about Personal Power vs. The Power of Now for more.


This is a Zen story I found on the website Pointing To The Moon :

"When Zen Master Nan-chuan saw his student Ma-tsu diligently practicing meditation hour after hour, he sensed a certain effort and ambition in the young monk’s demeanor, so he sneaked up behind him and asked, "What are you doing?" "I’m trying to become a Buddha," Ma-tsu replied proudly. Nan-chuan then picked up a stone and began rubbing it against a spare tile from the monastery floor. Hearing the sound, Ma-tsu asked, "What are you doing?" Said Nan-chuan: "I’m trying to make a mirror." Ma-tsu had an awakening.

And it goes on:

Everything is just as it is! Ma-tsu is Ma-tsu, the tile is the tile, and you are you, just as you are. There’s no Buddha apart from this fundamental truth, and any attempt to achieve some special state of mind just leads you away from who and what you already are. In the direct approach to truth …, the direct recognition of your true nature is available in every instant, on or off the cushion, whether you meditate or not. You merely need to "take the backward step that turns your light inward to illuminate the Self," as Dogen Zenji said." – Stephan Bodian

Confucius Says:

Confucius, whose name literally means "Master Kong", lived 551-479 BCE. He was a Chinese thinker and philosopher, whose teachings have deeply influenced not only Asian thought and life. He presented himself as a "transmitter who invented nothing" and he really pointed out the importance of learning, which is one reason he is seen by Chinese people as "The Greatest Master".

One of the best known sources of Confucius are The Analects, a collection of his teachings, which was compiled many years after his death. A fountain of extremely mindful quotes springs from these ancient descriptions.

 Many of them are universal and timeless in their beautiful and simple truth and they are as valid today as on the day they left Confucius’ mouth. Here we take a look at 10 of the most inspiring quotes by Confucius.

1. "Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself."


It’s the "Golden Rule" and the essence of real compassion . Not compassion as in looking down on someone and have pity for another, this is no real compassion. Compassion means seeing another person 100% equal to yourself (in value, not in differentials on the surface which ultimately do not matter). In fact it is seeing yourself in every other person. And therefore you cannot harm anyone without also harming yourself.

It doesn’t mean to lose individuality or self-worth, on the contrary – but the other person earns the same gift.

2. "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance."

That’s my personal favorite quote since it expresses something very profound which also is very useful to know: Ignorance is a willful neglect or refusal to acquire knowledge. It is not widen one’s own perspective in order to see a broader truth. As an example it would be to have racist thoughts and not realizing that all men are equal.

The ultimate truth therefore is where there is absolutely no ignorance, meaning where the perspective or consciousness has become one with all that there is. In Buddhism ignorance (Avidyā) is seen as the primary cause of suffering. Liberation is Enlightenment. Another quote by Confucius here is "Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star."

3. "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

Those quotes are just perfect. What he is expressing here is that we have to experience something ourselves in order to really understand it. If we are hearing something it might be interesting. If we are seeing something it might be beautiful. But only if we feel in happening to ourselves we can really know how it is.

Picture something nice as winning an Olympic gold medal or picture something terrifying as the loss of a loved one. Can you know this by hearing it or by seeing it? Or do you have to do it and experience it yourself to really know it?

Along with this realization comes the awareness that you cannot understand someone or his actions from hearing or seeing it from the outside. You have to feel empathic compassion for him to really know what it is like. To know and not to do is really not to know. Only by applying our knowledge we can validate it’s harmony with reality, it’s truth.

4. "Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."

Amazing. It calls for dropping the inner mask through which we constantly see and evaluate the world, distorted by our wants and belief-systems. Here we have to look at things as they are. Just like a newborn child would look at things. Then we are able to really see again, without instant labeling of what we see and therefore only really seeing our label. If we become able to do this – just for a second without judgment, we can see that everything in nature is as it should be. And in this natural perfection lies beauty.

5. "The Superior Man is aware of Righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage."

Another quote is "The object of the superior man is truth." It is the value of integrity: Do we act to our best knowledge of truth or do we bend ourselves and violate our integrity in order to gain an advantage? Do we play fair game or use perfidious tactics?

To be truthful to ourselves is also important to the development of (good) character. And it is the only straight way to liberation.

6. "Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart."

Whatever you do and whatever you commit to, do it fully, give your all – one hundred percent. It is the essence of Carpe Diem – Seizing the day and it’s surely the best way to be satisfied with what we do and get the best results.

7. "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do."

There is no failure, there are only valuable learning experiences. Or as Thomas Edison about inventing the light bulb said: "I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work." The important thing is not giving up, but learning and then improving by using this feedback to get better and ultimately succeed.

A quote expressing the same principle is "A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake."

8. "He who learns but does not think, is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger."

Confucius explains the connection of learning and reflection. Reflection of that what we learned by thinking or of the results we get by applying the knowledge. "Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous" is a similar quote by Confucius. Learning is only useful if we connect the learning within our own minds, with what we already know and what is useful for us. This reflection of any knowledge also saves us from blindly following any knowledge without checking its truthfulness and validity to us.

I think everybody experienced learning when we really want this knowledge and interweave it with what we already know. If there is a need or problem we want to solve, the consume knowledge much more effective than it happens for students in many universities.

9. "He that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools."

This quote calls for planning and preparation. This includes getting and improving the personal skills we need to be successful. If we want to hold speeches we have to become good with communication skills. If we want to win a race we have to train for it. If we want to do a big project we need knowledge in project management. Steven Covey calls it Sharpening the saw, read about it here.

10. "If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?"

It shows that our primary work lies within ourselves: to work on ourselves and improve will automatically take care of the outside world if we use our abilities then. "When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves." The solution to problems is not "out there". It is the Inside-Out approach: success and happiness can only be found by working on ourselves. It also entails the spiritual message to look inside and to discover ourselves fully.