"For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking breathlessly." (The Teaching of Don Juan)

This is the message of the surviving Indian Toltecs: "We are children of the Sun, and our nature is to shine!" 

Navajo prayer: "Beauty above me, beauty below me. Beauty in front of me, beauty behind me. All around me, beauty."

"This was the beginning of the process of taking God out of Nature and putting God in a box, or in a book, or in a church. This was the beginning of our disconnection from that part of God, or that presence of God, which exists in the natural world." (Conversations with God) 

Or, we can read it this way: "This was the beginning of the process of taking OURSELF out of Nature and putting OURSELF in a box, or in a book, or in a church. This was the beginning of our disconnection from that part of OURSELF, or that presence of OURSELF, which exists in the Natural world..."

From Coming Home, by Lex Hixon: "My particular practice involved visualizing ultimate reality in the radiant form of an enlightened sage seated in meditation. I was instructed to begin the visualization by imagining a flame in my heart, and was told that my Ishtadeva, a divinely illumined human being, should be imagined sitting within this flame. Thus contemplation begins through an effort of imagination.

"After some months of this practice, a transformation occurred in which the effort at imagination was superseded, at least temporarily, by the revelatory power of the Ishtadeva itself. While attempting to visualize a flame against blackness, suddenly a golden light actually appeared, quite independent of my efforts at concentration. The light was not a flame, but a flamed-shaped door to a flame-colored realm.

"The blackness was simply a wall between dimensions. Spontaneously I approached this door and perceived within the golden realm my Ishtadeva, whose body was the same color as the surrounding light. Moving across the threshold, my own body also appeared as golden radiance. Turning, I noticed a small black flame, the door through which I had entered. I sat before the Ishtadeva, or guiding divinity, feeling intense reverence that gradually became warm intimacy. Then I noticed in the heart of the Ishtadeva a white flame, and sensed immediately that this was another door moving across this second threshold, into a realm of brilliant white.

"I discovered the Ishtadeva seated there as well. The body of the enlightened being and my own were as bright as snow in sunlight. There was no more personal relationship, but a sense of union. Our two images seemed almost to blend with the white radiance, which was vast rather than intimate. I intuitively looked to the heart of the Ishtadeva and perceived there a colorless or transparent flame door.

"Moving across this threshold into a transparent realm, no form appeared. There was nothing but pure transparency and the universal awareness that witnessed this transparency. When the contemplative mood gradually came to an end, I was left with an inner assurance that higher or more comprehensive spiritual dimensions exist and can be experienced. Although this dramatic vision did not recur, my contemplative practice was subtly transformed from active imagination to the quiet receptivity that awaits revelation.

"Five years later, on a Tuesday evening, I sat alone with my teacher, Swami Nikhilananda, in his study. The fourth dimension of contemplation, or Turiya, opened unexpectedly. I had not consciously recalled the original experience for years. Spontaneously there returned to me in all vividness the golden realm, then the white realm, and then the transparent realm. The understanding dawned that this transparent realm must also contain a door. No visual metaphor could represent a door in pure transparency, but I knew it was there.

"Moving across this final threshold, the transcendental witness disappeared as my personal identity had previously disappeared upon entering the transparent realm. Suddenly the three realms -- golden, white, and transparent -- appeared simultaneously, without obstruction, emerging from one another and disappearing into one another.

"All realms were the same realmlessness. Even the daily world appeared without any incongruity, sharing this fourth dimension of contemplation: There sat  Swami Nikhilananda in his armchair, smoking an Indian cigarette and quietly reading the New York Times. There is only Turiya." (also by Lex Hixon: The Great Swan: Meetings with Ramakrishna) 

"The transcendent insight of the Diamond Body Being is called, 'the vision which simultaneously sees and sees through out all subjective and objective structures without remaining to grasp or even encounter them.' This gnostic vision is limitless, unwavering, sublime. It is not attained by any aspirant whose practice is even partially sustained by motives of self-service or self-liberation." (Mother of the Buddhas, Lex Hixon) 

"The name ultimately leads to the Nameless, the form to the Formless, the word to the Silence, the emotion to the serene Realization of peace." (Ramakrishna)  

"The mind that has put its house in order is silent. That silence has no cause and, therefore, has no end. Only that which has a cause can end. That silence, which has no ending, is absolutely necessary, because it is only in that silence that there is no movement of thought. It is only in that silence that that which is sacred, that which is nameless and that which is not measurable by thought, is -- and that which is, is the most sacred. That is Meditation." (J. Krishnamurti)

Ramakrishna exclaimed: "I searched for I, but found that it is all the continuum of consciousness, the Divine Mother, Kali." 

"No matter how many ways you try, you cannot find a boundary to consciousness, so deep in every direction does it extend." (Herakleitos)  

"The Universe breathes in me, streams through me; it is not "I" who is breathing, but the Universe through me."  

"Of what is the body [all the world] made? It is made of emptiness and rhythm. At the heart of the world, there is no solidity, there is only dance." (The Silent Pulse, George Leonard)  

"The world is no more than a play of images, superimposed on emptiness." (Tibetan Buddhist saying) 

"Change occurs when one is what they are, not when they try to be what they are not. Change does not take place through a coercive attempt by oneself or by another to change another, but does take place if one takes the time and effort to be what they are -- to be fully invested in their current position." 

"Void (sunyata) / Compassion (karuna) = empty/silent mind and full heart" 

"Samsaric/ego-centered = samsara/going around in circles = negative feedback loop" 

Ancient Buddhist art texts declare that the deities never enter forms other than those of the prescribed proportions. [= the sacred geometry of body/mind/spirit] 

"Keep your Spirit in its nudity. Let the polluted waters of the mind flow away of themselves. If you perceive the true nature and extent of space, all fixed notions of center and limit will disappear. If the spirit sees into the spirit, all mental games will end..." 

"Although you can call it empty, space is indescribable. Although you call it luminous, giving it a name does not prove that spirit exists. Space cannot be given a name or home... Without changing, rest, or attachment, in your state of origin, all your bonds will dissolve. The essence of the spirit is space, there is nothing it holds to in the end." (Tibetan poem) 

Tao Te Ching: "One who is attached to things will suffer much. Know the strength of man, but keep a woman's care. Soft and weak overcome hard and strong... The stiff and unbending is the disciple of death, the gentle and yielding is the disciple of life."  

"That part of events which is visible to us, is the necessary counter-pole to that which is invisible." (Herakleitos)  

"To live is to die, to be awake is to be asleep, to be young is to be old -- for the one flows into the other, and the process is capable of being reversed."  

"Human beings, who are an organic continuation of the Logos, think they can sever that continuity and exist apart from it."  

"Not I but the world says it: All is One."  

"This world, which is always the same for all, is neither god nor man made: it has always been, it is, and always shall be: an everlasting fire rhythmically dying and flaring up again." 

From RA: THE LAW OF ONE -- QUESTIONER: Do you have a specific purpose, and if so, could you tell us something of what your purpose is? RA: I am Ra. We communicate now. We are those who are of the Law of One. In our vibration the polarities are harmonized; the complexities are simplified; the paradoxes have a solution. We are one. That is our nature and our purpose... We are not a part of time and, thus, are able to be with you in any of your times." (vol. I, p.65)  

Ramakrishna again: "One can not recognize God, the simple One, unless one is simple." 

Ramakrishna experienced a vision in which his enlightened disciple, Vivekananda, had been enticed to take birth for the spiritual welfare of humanity. In this vision, Vivekananda appeared as an archetypal sage rapt in contemplation within a transcendental realm close to the mountain of the Absolute. The golden light of this realm appeared to condense into the form of a small child, who began sweetly and playfully drawing Vivekananda back to the awareness of relativity.

Simply because the child was so delightful, the transcendent sage could not resist the child, who was none other than Ramakrishna, who remarked simply and lovingly, "I am going down. Come help me." The sage reluctantly agreed. [akin to ET souls coming here] 

"He who follows the Great Self is a great man. He who follows the small self is a small man. The Great Man is he who has not lost his infant heart." (Mencius, Confucian sage) 

"Always without desire we must be found, if its deep mystery we would sound; but if desire always within us be, its outer fringe is all that we shall see." 

"Knowing others is wisdom; knowing the self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force; mastering the self needs strength. He who knows he has enough is rich... perseverance is a sign of willpower... he who stays where he is endures... to die but not to perish is to be eternally present." 

"Knowledge dwells in heads replete with thoughts of other men -- wisdom dwells in minds attentive to their own." (H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine) 

"Let the beauty we love be the work that we do."  

"The most dangerous enemies are those hidden inside us." 

"He who knows not and knows not that he knows not, he is a fool -- shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not, he is simple -- teach him. He who knows and knows not that he knows, he is asleep -- wake him. He who knows and knows that he knows, he is wise: follow him. (Arabian Proverb) 

Things to consider:

"By oneself the evil is done, by oneself the evil is undone, no one can purify another." (traditional Buddhist saying) 

"Your sadness has made you empty, your sadness can make you open." 

Milarepa [Tibetan Buddhist yogi] said, "Contemplate all energies without fear or disgust; find their essence, for that is the stone that turns everything to gold." 

"One who is aware finds a friend in desolation and a Master in winter."  

"Avoid imagining a self, to experience imagining a self."  

"The devil and a friend of his were walking down the street when they saw ahead of them a man stoop down and pick up something from the ground, look at it, and put it away in his pocket. The friend said to the devil, "what did that man pick up?" "He picked up a piece of Truth," said the devil. "That is very bad business for you", then said his friend. "Oh, not at all", the devil replied -- "I am going to let him organize it." (J. Krishnamurti) 

"Those who imagine that life begins with birth and ends with death do not see the circle. How could they break out of it?" 

"The world is a dangerous place to live -- not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." (Albert Einstein) 

"You can observe a lot by watching." (Yogi Berra)  

"In order to fly, you have to give up the ground you are standing on." (Elia Wise) 

"Hate put me in prison, but Love busted me out." (Rubin Hurricane Carter) 

Tips about love from those that know: WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE? "On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date." (Mike, age 10)  

"Polarity is a fundamental form of life, while its identification with duality has led us to the splitting of our thinking and consciousness, which has resulted in a fragmentation of [our sense of] reality. Polarity is compensation and still presupposes the whole. Duality, on the other hand is based on opposition, created by our intellect, which deals with parts or partial aspects. Furthermore, dualities are mutually exclusive and fight against each other. Since our intellect lost its inborn reason which even today knows about polarity, it has deteriorated into mere Rationality." (Jean Gebser) 

As for the word Rationality: "Ratio" originally meant, "part," and later also, "thought", i.e. "dividing thought." Its acceptance divided, split, and fragmented reality." (Jean Gebser) 

"Who will prefer the jingle of jade pendants if he once has heard stone growing in a cliff?" [Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu]  

"The Sanskrit term `Heruka' is composed of the three syllables: He, Ru, and Ka. He teaches the emptiness of phenomena in general, Ru teaches the emptiness of persons in particular -- together they reveal the emptiness of all phenomena. Ka refers to the union of Heruka's mind of great bliss and the emptiness of all phenomena. This union is Heruka's Truth Body. An "I", or self, imputed on this Truth Body is definitive Heruka, the real nature of Buddha Heruka. This can only be seen by Buddhas."

All passages courtesy of a kind Wanderer / Sent to us: August 25, 2000