Afraid of the Light

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
-Marianne Williamson

Mandukya Upanisad - Commentary by Sridharan

According to Mandukya Upanisad, the fourth state of consciousness is the ultimate goal. It is also often called "Thoughtless Awareness", in Sanskrit "Turiya". Turiya is silence. Silence is not absence of sound. SILENCE IS THE AWARENESS OF THE CONTENT AND ILLUMINATOR OF THE ABSENCE OF SOUND.

Thoughtless awareness is paradoxical  in the sense that how can one be aware without thoughts? Vedanta (Upanisad) says that thoughtless is to be understood as destruction of impurities of the mind and not total destruction of mind.

It is brought out lucidly in the Upanishads that neither absence of thoughts is liberation (freedom) nor presence of thoughts is bondage. One should aim for fearlessness, detachment and purity of mind for enjoying the fourth state of consciousness.

Fourth state is living in the present. When one is capable of dropping all projections, memories and experiences, one experiences the fourth state. Talking or writing about Turiya is simple, but to make sure no thought enters the mind without permission (!) is a monumental task. Do you agree?

                                                             - Sridharan

Just This, Just That

Words are maps of reality and dreams
Words are not reality, not dreams
Better to stop now
Sit, walk around and breathe
Later, come back to the words
For words are the work of the world
Perhaps, the world would not exit without words
For, indeed, the "world" is a story we tell each other
Take away the story
What do you have left over
Just this, just that.
Engaging directly what is
Like a new born

Of Words

Of words, we don't need many.
Just a phrase, a sound,
can be enough
to suggest reality.

Instructions

Now, read the poem backwards.

Upside Down

Lost Generation

"I am part of a lost generation
and I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within.”
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy.”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
they are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
work
is more important than
family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope."

- Jonathan Reed

Moving

I practice love, I
learn compassion again
I remember
it is who I am

Moving, always moving
I rest in my heart
I let my mind drop into
my chest and
sweet release
washes me pure

True Science

Listen. Listen. Listen ever so deeply with your whole being. Anything less is a waste of time. But don't listen to me. Listen to what's inside you. You and I are constantly constructing a sense of the world. It's quite possible that what is called "one's world" is not that same as reality. So look deeply. Perhaps, you (and I) can get a glimpse of what's real beyond "my world" or even "our world". That would be true science, true wisdom. 

Torrent

Let's face it. Time is like a torrent of water rushing through our lives. Time cannot be stopped - and life cannot be separated from time until there is deep transcendence of all the cares and concerns of daily life. Few ever learn to live with abandon without attachment - at peace with it all passing. Yet, yet, and yet again - there's something within us that does not change. Something unchanged since we became aware of being here in our lives. Something so much more real than the passing fading torrent of time. 

Who Am I Today?

Who am I today? Who was I yesterday? Who will I be tomorrow? 

This little self, always changing. A bundle of feelings, thoughts, perceptions constantly looping back on itself.

There must be something “more”. It cannot be named without turning it into a something. It’s not something. It’s a nothing, a no-thing, that is infinite.

Fly Trapped In a Back Room

Sometimes a fly gets trapped in a back room, attracted to the glass windows. Eventually it dies, not seeing the way out through a darker hallway to an open window. Humans get attached to the bright lights, big billboards, loud sounds, and media distractions. Eventually they can't change of direction back to the quiet voice of truth. They die unfulfilled. 

"Today you are YOU, that is TRUER than true. There is NO ONE alive who is YOUER than YOU! " 

~Dr. Seuss

Let's Stop For It

That was an excellent nap. I found 'something' but I'm not sure that it's really the real 'it' we've been looking for this entire time

How can you be sure either way, Haku?

Ahhh. This is too hard. I give up looking! I give up running!
That's odd
I think I can see 'it' now

Yes. This will a difficult journey

Let's Run for It

Let's run for it!

What?

I said – let's run for it!

But what's “it”?

It's all that we've ever wanted since the day we lost our innocence.

But you can't name what “it” is!

That's the point, my friend. What can be named is not It.

So, here we are – two people running after that which cannot be named.

Yes! So, let run for It!

Dialogue Circle

O wondrous capacity
To sit in circles
Speaking, singing, listening
Watching meanings, feelings
Moving through one another
As if one mind, one heart

Today Will Not Be The Same

Today will not be the same
Today will not be the same
All past resolutions
All failed promises to Self
To stay awake, to allow grace
Let it be
Let it be Now
Forever Now

Under Pressure

Meaning of Life: Get the Prize

“What's the meaning of life?” This question was asked of people from nine to seventy-five years of age.

I asked a nine year old boy. 
He said, “To get the prize?” 
“What do you mean?”, I said.
“When you win the race, you get the prize!”

“The meaning of life” implies THE meaning of life; but, there are many “meanings” of life. Meanings of life change according to people’s age. 

Two Birds

Two Birds with fair wings, knit with bonds of friendship,
in the same sheltering tree have found a refuge.
One of the twain eats the sweet Fig tree’s fruitage;
the other eating not, regardeth only.

The Rig Veda [1]

Light shines upon all. Yet, we “fall” into fascination with glittery objects – forgetting the source light. Seeing only objects, not the light.

---

[1] Book I, Hymn CLXIV, Verse 20 from Sacred Writings, Hinduism: The Rig Veda. Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith. Book-of-the-Month Club, New York, 1992.

True Dialogue Brings Meaning

True dialogue brings meaning to life. It expresses profound love. We are born to sing, gesture, and talk with each other. Our group survival depends on that. To love one another and love the whole of creation is our destiny, purpose. Opening up to “fields of new possibilities”, becoming wildly creative, like children, and joining the play of creation. Each of us knows so little; others may help us gain a greater view. Adjusting worldviews - incorporating greater information, knowledge, and wisdom. A perfect dialogue leads into a silence that feels complete in itself.