Feb’ 2016
Those whose wisdom is obscured by desire worships lesser powers practising many wrights – B’Gita Ch: 7
As long as there is a body, mind and consciousness there must be desires and fears, fuelling the will toward excess and the stormy world of pleasures, pains and the flames of hell… not after or beyond life, but here and now.
However, it is neither necessary nor helpful to banish desire. It is an essential part of man’s existence and life’s longing for itself. The joy of life is found in the delicate balance between careful steps that may not reach their destination, and bold moves that overshoot their target. ‘The Art of Living’.
It is in the consciousness of man, and the flames of desire, that the possibility is found of turning to the light and joy of enlightenment.
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It is in the nature of consciousness to identify itself with the opposites. The waters of life are thundering over the rocks of objects, desirable or hateful. Be-here-now, and the presence of mindfulness will dissolve the rocks by insight. Freed of attachment to false reality, desire is given over to natural-will toward absolute harmony. The same waters will flow deep, silent and swift, in greater volume and with greater power.
Don’t be theoretical about it; give time to thoughts and consideration. If you think pain be at the root of desire, consider what is at the root of pain… ignorance of yourself. What is the root of desire…? The urge to find your-self. All creation toiles for its self, and will not rest until it returns to it. If you desire to be free, neglect not the nearest step to freedom. It is like climbing a mountain: not a step can be missed. One step less, and the summit is not reached.
Forgive me for holding on to the familiar – B’Gita Ch: 11
The cause of desire and fear is in the memory of past pains, pleasures and the will to survive and grow. Desire by itself is neither right nor wrong, it is nothing but striving for happiness. Having found and identified yourself with this body and the world you inhabit you feel lost and search desperately for the sense of fullness and completeness you call happiness. There is no great mystery about it. Conflict arises only when desire and fear refer to the same object. To put an end to desires and fears it is neither necessary nor possible to put an end to memory. The problem is the mind, its associations and attachments.
Realize that all happens in mind and consciousness. In awareness is the root, the source, and the foundation of consciousness. What you call your world is but a succession of experiences and you are what makes them conscious and yet remain beyond all experience. It is like the heat, the flame and the burning wood. The heat maintains the flame; the flame consumes the wood. Without the heat there would be neither flame nor fuel. Similarly, without awareness there would be no consciousness, nor life which transforms matter into a vehicle of consciousness.
In awareness you were before you awoke this morning. Go beyond your consciousness and you will find it. You know it already. Just do it. Go beyond; back to your normal, natural, supreme state. The light is there for you – just waiting. The eyes are there for you to see – ready.
There are no conditions to fulfil, nothing to be done, nothing to be given up. Just look and remember, whatever you perceive, you are beyond. It is there in the field of consciousness, but you are not bound by the field and its contents nor even by the knower of the field. It is your idea that you have to do things that entangle you in the results of your efforts – the motive, the desires, expectations, the failure to achieve, the sense of frustration – all this holds you back. Simply look at whatever happens. As a play on a stage, know that you are above, below, beyond – and not that.
All beings go where devotion takes them – B’Gita Ch: 9
There is nothing to renounce. Enough if you stop acquiring. It is simpler than to practise renunciation, which leads to a dangerous form of ‘spiritual’ pride.
All this weighing, selecting, choosing, exchanging – it is all shopping in some ‘spiritual’ market. What is your business there? What deal are you out to strike? When you are not out for business, what is the use of this endless anxiety of choice?
Restlessness takes you nowhere. Something prevents you from seeing that there is nothing more you need, and a good deal less. Find it out and see its falseness. It’s like having swallowed some poison and suffering from unquenchable craving for water. Instead of drinking beyond all measure, why not eliminate the poison and be free of this burning thirst?
Desire or hate of sensual gain can only lock the gate – B’Gita Ch: 3
By attachment, wisdom is lost in ignorance, pleasure, pain and suffering – B’Gita Ch: 5
Whenever a thought or emotion or desire or fear comes to your mind, just turn from it. This has nothing to do with effort, just look beyond. This is not to say ‘suppress the feeling’, just re-direct attention, be here, now and the beyond will come to you. Look between the thoughts rather than at the thoughts. When you happen to walk in a crowd, you do not fight every person you meet – you just find your way between. If you fight, you invite a fight, but when you do not resist, you meet with no resistance. When you refuse to play the game, you are out of it.
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To be free of the mind it may seem to take great time, but in reality no time is needed. All you need is to be in dead earnest. Here, it is the intent, and will that is the deed. If you are sincere, you have it. After all it is a matter of attitude. Nothing stops you from being enlightened here and now, except fear. You are afraid of being impersonal, of impersonal being. Imagine falling off a cliff, and everything is falling with you… no bottom nor top any more, nowhere to fall to. It is all quite simple. Beyond your desires and fears, the thoughts they create, and you are at once in your natural state.
The desire for truth is the highest of all desires yet itself will eventually go, for once found all is found and no desire remains. There is nothing outside of yourself to be desired; you are all, all is yours. Remember that you are, this is your working capital. Rotate it and there will be much profit. A life of inner stillness can only enhance your health. Your body is food transformed. As your food, gross and subtle, so will be your health. Find yourself and be free.
NaturesDestiny 