Working With Negative Vanity...

 

Nakayama Koyo

Working with negative vanity, 

I realize that no matter how serious the issue is 

“life goes on.” 

So, if I die, life will carry on. 

I don’t mean to sound morbid, 

but this is the way life and being present is. 

If we are present to life 

we realize it just goes on and on and on 

from one I to the next. 

One day is dramatic Queen stuff 

and the next is silly Jack stuff. 

This is one way 

I have been able to see the difference 

between observing and taking the moment higher. 

If I just observe the Queen day without taking it higher, 

it goes into memory temporarily. 

This is memory which can be used by the machine 

to get negative or identified later. 

But when the moment is taken higher, 

the memory is just as it is; 

a moment beautified by having been present 

and the soul remembers it forever 

as it was without identification.

~K

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In Order To Be Assimilated...

 

Dave Petersen

In order to be assimilated and transformed, 

impressions have to be received by essence.

This requires a conscious effort 

at the moment of the impression.

And it requires a definite feeling, 

a feeling of love for being, 

for being present. 

We must respond to impressions 

no longer from the vantage point 

of personality but from love for being present. 

This will transform 

our whole way of thinking and feeling.

~Jean De Salzmann, The Reality of Being

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I Think...

 

I think that the process of observation 

is one that never ends in this work. 

With observation 

there is a refinement that can occur. 

Self-remembering 

is a third force for this refinement. 

There is an opportunity to learn 

in almost every moment.

~J

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I Am Still....

 

I am still very much digesting 

one of the earliest observations and verifications 

I made when I joined the Academy; 

that with self-remembering 

one has a choice. 

We make an observation about our mechanics 

and see how we lose energy, 

or that we become negative, etc. 

We see that this works 

against our aim to be present 

and awaken in this lifetime. 

So, we then have the choice 

to work with the “thing” we observed or not. 

~J

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Our Work...

 

Our work 

is to ground down the star stuff- to digest, 

to verify, to purify the star stuff – 

and it becomes the living word of the highest. 

It is our experience and how we live it, 

digest it, and share it. 

We are doing the work of the higher.

~T

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The Truth...

 

Sofia Ruiz

The truth is that the universe 

has been answering you

all of your life,

but you cannot receive the answers 

unless you are awake.

~Rhonda Byrne, The Secret

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Gratitude Can Transform...

Susy Soulies

Gratitude can transform 

common days into thanksgivings,

turn routine jobs into joy,

and change ordinary opportunities 

into blessings.

~William Arthur Ward

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There's A Tradition...

 

There's a tradition in the city of Suzhou, China 

being rock farmers. 

It's handed down for generations. 

A bridge between art & nature. 

Rocks are gathered, large ones, 

and placed in the water. 

Some are there for over 20 years, 

and the water shapes the rocks. 

Sometimes, the "rock farmer" 

will cut holes in the rocks 

& have the water flow through 

to create new shapes & forms. 

After many years, 

the rocks are brought into the family's garden. 

It takes patience to do that kind of work. 

The original "farmer" 

may leave this earth during that process 

and the sons & daughters carry it on.

It strikes me in a place deep within, 

this rock farming, 

and the patience that is required. 

The water hitting the rock for years, 

molding it. 

It's a beautiful metaphor for our work.

~M

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The Eye...

The eye through which I see God

Is the same eye 

through which God sees me;

my eye and God's eye are one eye, 

one seeing,

one knowing,

one love.

~Meister Eckhart

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It Appears To Me...

 

Younsi

It appears to me 

we come to nearly every moment 

with pre-existing knowledge, 

either objective or otherwise. 

Regardless, it colors the moment. 

We think it to be true. 

Hence our cup is full, 

unable to receive what is to unfold. 

Perhaps the purpose of presence 

is to empty the cup, 

remove the information 

we have come to believe is true.

~G

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Once Upon A Time...

 

Once upon a time, 

there was a wise Zen master. 

People traveled from far away to seek his help. 

In return, he would teach them 

and show them the way to enlightenment. 

On this particular day, 

a scholar came to visit the master for advice. 

“I have come to ask you to teach me about Zen,” 

the scholar said.

Soon, it became obvious 

that the scholar was full 

of his own opinions and knowledge. 

He interrupted the master repeatedly 

with his own stories 

and failed to listen 

to what the master had to say. 

The master calmly suggested 

that they should have tea. 

So the master poured his guest a cup. 

The cup was filled, 

yet he kept pouring 

until the cup overflowed onto the table, 

onto the floor, 

and finally onto the scholar’s robes. 

The scholar cried “Stop! 

The cup is full already. 

Can’t you see?”

“Exactly,” the Zen master replied with a smile. 

“You are like this cup — 

so full of ideas that nothing more will fit in. 

Come back to me with an empty cup.”

~J

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I Often Think...

 

Auguste Rodin (detail of the Boating Party)

I often think of the last years with Ouspensky. 

He would have two or three people sit with him, 

not doing anything, just sitting, 

smoking, occasionally making a remark, 

drinking a glass of wine, for hours on end. 

At first it was very difficult— 

one racked one's brains what to say, 

how to start a conversa­tion, 

thought of all kinds of imaginary duties elsewhere. 

Many people could never bear it. 

But after a while, 

these became the most interesting times of all. 

One began to feel—everything is possible in this moment, 

let the past and future take care of itself. 

Some kind of momentum slowed down, 

and sometimes quite new ideas, 

a quite new connection 

with time and one's surroundings, seemed to form. 

One was shown what it meant to be more free.

~Rodney Collin, Theory of Conscious Harmony

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At Times...

 

"At times,

our own light goes out

and is rekindled by a spark from another person.

Each of us has cause

to think with deep gratitude 

of those who have lighted the flame within us."

~Albert Schweitzer

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The Idea Of Essence

 

Edgar Degas

The idea of essence is an important one, 

because if we are fortunate, 

we may come across 

various aspects of our essence early on in our work. 

If this happens, 

it is important to nurture these aspects, 

as this will indeed quicken our evolution 

and aid in the shedding of false personality. 

This is why photographs are important, 

for they not only show us when we are in false personality, 

being negative and so-on, 

but they can also help show us 

when we are in essence. 

Essence is useful to the Gods, 

the school and to our well-being. 

It is much easier to be less negative 

if we are enjoying life.

~O

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Feet...

 

"Feet, 

what do I need you for

when I have wings to fly?"

~Frida Kahlo

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Everything Good...

 

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

"Everything good or true 

that the angels inspire in us is God's,

so God is constantly talking to us. 

He talks very differently, though, 

to one person than to another."

~Emanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven 1

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It Is Not Enough...

 

Alice Neel

It is not enough to study, 

or to find a "way". 

We must make that higher effort to "be at home" 

or be present, 

in order to actually have the teacher 

or teachings manifest in ourselves. 

A poignant reminder to be ready 

to be called upon to embody spirit, 

to be available to be of use to the Gods.

~J

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A Great Musician...

 

Ludwig van Beethoven

A great musician I knew once said 

that if you cannot comprehend the depths, 

you cannot comprehend the heights. 

And without these two, 

you cannot be a great musician. 

~J

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So Grow Where We Are Planted ...

Danielle Clough

 

So grow where we are planted 

and Love what is here and now 

with us in this moment are wonderful aspirations. 

I take meetings 

as a place to be purely present without interruption, 

a place to practice being present 

and remember you all that are with me - 

our little caravan to the stars. 

Each of us in the universe in our present 'now'. 

~M

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Inner Peace

 

Inner peace can be reached 

only when we practice forgiveness.

Forgiveness is letting go of the past, 

and is therefore the means

for correcting our misperceptions.

~Gerald Jampolsky

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I Have A Great Fondness...

Vincent Van Gogh

I have a great fondness for Van Gogh. 

Recently I learned some new information 

about him from a movie, 

“Eternity’s Gate” I think, 

with William Defoe, playing him. 

There was a scene where Vincent 

climbed up some very craggy 

and difficult rocky landscape 

(a proper Hike!!!) with all his painting gear. 

And then he saw the entirety 

of the landscape about him from up high, 

and painted it, like a map, 

the fields the houses all the borders between. 

It reminded me of Growth in being 

and how as we take in pain, 

suffering impressions life itself. 

We must give back and look to a broader view. 

Like lightening, 

the intense energy entering the container of the body, 

it has to be grounded, interpreted. 

And I love his effort in doing that.

~C

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I Had Two Very High States...

 

Vincent Van Gogh

I had two very high states with Van Gogh - 

one in LA at LACMA at a very robust exhibit 

and one in Amsterdam at the Van Gogh museum. 

What struck me most 

was the *light* in his paintings. 

The light pierced me. 

Lifted me. 

Hydrogrens living on the canvas lifted my inner world. 

Art is such an incredible medium 

for transforming emotion and experience. 

Making beauty and pain digestible.

~E

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As The New Year...

 

As the New Year is about to begin 

we need to cry out, 

to show that we are alive, 

moving, aspiring, and growing. 

On this day of renewal and reset, 

we are moving from the death of the old 

to the birth of the new, 

and thus we give a loud cry, 

like a newborn babe. 

~Rav Pinson 

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We Often Judge...

 

Michelangelo

We often judge types similar to ourselves, 

as their weaknesses reflect back on us. 

~C

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You Will Never...

You will never do anything in this world 

without courage. 

It is the greatest quality of the mind 

next to honor.

~Aristotle

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When Mervyn Wrote...

 

Allison Spencer

When Merrvyn wrote to us or spoke, 

especially in his later years, 

he spoke from his own experience and being. 

These words of his above he lived them, 

he understood. 

It’s really beautiful, 

it was "Living Words". 

When 'the nameless' draws near - 

that is when we 'abandon the system' 

to enjoy the fruitful joys of Mystic life, 

when we return to a lower level 

then we re-engage with the system - 

the foundation that supports our inner spiritual embodiment 

of that which is nameless.

~M

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I Was Listening...

 

I was listening to Eckart Tolle today 

and he was doing the sensing the body exercise. 

And he said God is as close to you 

as inside your body. 

And this presence is who we truly are. 

We don’t have to do anything (in a way), 

it is our very essence. 

I loved that reminder from him today. 

It’s already Here. 

It always has been. 

I love to be reminded of this.

~S

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Years Ago...

 

Years ago at a retreat in Mexico

 we had an exercise of playing soul songs. 

We were asked to choose a song 

with or without lyrics in advance of the workshop 

and bring a recording. 

At the event many cds were in a box 

and they chosen at random. 

The person whose soul song was chosen 

sat in the middle of the circle 

while their song was played 

and we sat around in a circle with them in presence.

It was a very powerful exercise of presence together. 

Years later I still remember several student choices. 

I wonder if now they would be the same or different? 

Has evolution changed the choice of song? 

It would be something 

we could do at zoom meetings sometimes. 

People could bring along their soul song 

and we could put them in speaker view 

and share in presence with them 

their current soul song. 

If it has changed from years ago, 

they could tell us if they wanted, 

what it was 

and the difference between now and then. 

For those with a new song, 

we could revisit this exercise every couple of years.

~M

 

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