My best friend, ever, forever
In the world of silence – my constant companion
In the world of no companionship – we are One
In the world without Oneness, without concept – We are simply Being
In the world without Being – I Am
In the world of no worlds – I Am That I Am
Photo by Kat Smith: https://www.pexels.com/photo/shallow-focus-photography-of-adult-black-and-white-border-collie-551628/
I saw what I thought was an incredibly funny cartoon on social media recently, although I believe they are called memes these days. It was a take on the classic old spiritual thing of a seeker going up a mountain looking for a guru and/or enlightenment. The only thing was that this cartoon features dogs and not humans. I wish that I’d kept a copy because I cannot remember the caption word for word, but I think you will still get the gist of what I’m trying to say. Our intrepid canine friend reaches the mountain peak and there finds the wise guru dog sitting on a throne. The caption went something like this:
“Chase not the tail, for the tail is already yours”
Apart from finding it rather amusing I also found it very profound and it reminded me of something I’ve written about several times in the past. However, I’m not going to repeat myself here, I’m going to leave that to the masters:
“You are already that which you seek” – Ramana Maharsh
“Before enlightenment chopping wood, carrying water
After enlightenment chopping wood, carrying water” – Old Chinese proverb
“When the road ends and the Goal is gained the pilgrim finds that he has travelled only from himself to himself, that the way was long and lonesome, but, that the God whom he reached was all the while in him, around him, with him, and beside him! He himself was always Divine. His yearning to merge in God was but the sea calling out to the ocean.” – Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Following on from my post from May 22nd, here are a couple of very apt quotes I came across in the book The Zen Teachings of Bodidharma authored by Red Pine and published by North Point Press ISBN 978-0-86547-399-7. They really resonated with me so I thought I would share them.
At the appearance of spirits, demons or divine beings, conceive neither respect nor fear. Your mind is basically empty. All appearances are illusions.
Eyes that aren’t attached to form are the gates of Zen.
The birth of the waking state is but a sleep and a forgetting – William Wordsworth
September 2018
Knowledge of the world is a kind of ignorance – Rumi
I rise and fall Through pleasure and pain I’m on the wheel of life
The bitter, the sweet It’s all the same I’m on the wheel of life
Joy and grief The smooth and the strife I’m on the wheel of life
I flit from one pole to the other The opposites bring their treasure Jewels and gold My experience unfolds
I Am The Wheel of Life
Photo by Stéfano Girardelli on Unsplash
I came across this beautiful parable sometime ago and completely forgot about it until the other day when someone brought it to my attention. It is the famous old Cherokee parable of the “Two Wolves” and I find it so powerful and true that I thought I would share it here. It was such a timely reminder for me and I hope you enjoy reading it.
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
Whether you were reading this for the first time, or whether like me, it served as a memory jogger, I hope you felt inspired.
I’ve started to read that wonderful book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle again. It’s about the fourth time I’ve read it and each read seems to throw up something new that I missed previously. This time however, I encountered what I can only describe as a “memory jogger” on page 46. It is so beautiful that I was inspired to share it with you. I hope you like it.
Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to “die before you die” – and find that there is no death – Eckhart Tolle
Having no destination, I am never lost.
Ikkyu 1394 – 1481
I came across these words by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. He is someone that I don’t really know anything about, however, these words really resonate with where I am today, so I thought I would share them. Hope you find them inspiring.
“There are many spiritual seekers whose aim is to acquire sufficient merit to reach a certain place, such as Heaven or Vaikuntha. I have had no aims except to find out. I was not aware of my awareness, and suddenly I became conscious that I Am. Where and how did this consciousness arise in me? That was my enquiry, going back to that state when the presence of phenomena was not there. That is, original knowledge of the original Self”.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
