Wise Words 1

Here are some sayings of Idries Shah:

TRUTH: ‘From time to time ponder whether you are unconsciously saying: ‘Truth is what I happen to be thinking at this moment’

COMMON KNOWLEDGE: ‘The more you look at ‘common knowledge’, the more you realise that it is more likely to be common than it is to be knowledge. No real knowledge is common’

SOCIETY: ‘You say that this society will come to an end, because societies always have done so. I wonder whether they have ended because they were not really societies at all’

BOOKS AND DONKEYS: ‘Anyone can see that an ass laden with books remains a donkey. A human being laden with the undigested results of a tussle with thoughts and books, however, still passes for wise’

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: ‘One of the big differences between questions and answers is that, a question may be asked at almost any time and place, but its answer may come at a special time and place’

We are but dust, unless...

i) Above all, we may acknowledge, for once and for all, that we are but dust, unless we are living in Love. This helps one to deal with sorrows that inevitably visit our lives. We are not supposed to be in control, or perfect, or any particular thing, but just those who continue to love, through whatever confusion there is. Sheer persistence in faith, regardless of the illusion, is the key to many blessings.

ii) Patience cannot be overvalued in the spiritual journey.

Words of Carla L. Rueckert

Thoughts of These Times

'The evolution of man is the evolution of consciousness and 'consciousness' cannot evolce unconsciously' G.I. Gurdjieff

'Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken' Frank Herbert

These times give us the opportunity to learn and grow: to re-assess life priorities: life; love; goals; self-evolution. Nothing can be achieved while in a state of sleep. We are the drivers of our own change. From changing ourselves we change how we see and act in the world - and this changes how the world and people act towards us and themselves.

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The Water Rat

This is my Chinese sign - The Water Rat:

This intuitive, adventurous rat likes to travel, but once it finds a safe haven, it will settle and won’t be shifted. The water RAT is creative, enjoys literature and is a good diplomat

Is this me??

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Illumination

- Where should I seek the illumination?

- Here

- And when will it take place?

- It is taking place right now

- Then, why don't I feel it?

- Because you don't look

- And to what should I pay attention?

- To nothing. Simply watch

- Watch what?

- Anything on which your eyes settle

- And should I watch in a special manner?

- No. It's enough if you watch normally

- But don't I always watch normally?

- No

- What the devil?

- Because to watch you must be here, and you are very seldom here.


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High Knowledge

ANIS was asked:

What is Sufism?

He said: 'Sufism is that which succeeds in bringing to man the High Knowledge'

But if I apply the traditional methods handed down by the Masters, is that not Sufism?

'It is not Sufism if it does not perform its function for you. A cloak is no longer a cloak if it does not keep a man warm.

So Sufism does change?

'People change and needs change. So what was Sufism once is Sufism no more. Sufism is the external face of internal knowledge, known as High Knowledge. The inner factor does not change. The whole work, therefore, is the High Knowledge, plus capacity, which produces method. What you are pleased to call Sufism is merely the record of past method.

Tis good the know the difference...

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Have the Courage...know what you truly want to become

We are where we are right now to self-realise:

Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

A brief excerpt from the Commencement address at Stanford University by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005 - go here for full speech.

Wisdom

SUFIAN said:

The wisdom which is invisible but which sustains is a hundred times better than the appearance of wisdom, for that has itself to be sustained

We are immersed in a matrix of signs, many of them invisible to us. And yet we expend so much energy investing in the appearances we sustain and are sustained by.

Rather than submitting to the stories that enforce our roles - should we not be dreaming into being our new stories, our inner goals?

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How Hungry Are You?

The Hungry Wolf

A skinny and hungry wolf, by chance met a well nourished dog. After the salutation, the wolf asked:

- You look so good, where do you come from? What do you eat to be of such a good spirit? I am stronger than you and I starve.

- You would have the same fortune - the dog responded simply - if you wanted to serve my master the way I do it.

- What services are these? - the wolf asked.

- To guard the door and at night defend the house against the thieves.

- Good! I'll do it. I bear rain and snow in the forests leading a miserable life. How much easier it would be to live under a roof and calmly satiate my hunger with abundant food!

- Allright - said the dog - come with me. While they walked, the wolf saw the bare neck of the dog, caused by the chain.

- Tell me, friend - it said - where does that come from?

- That's nothing.

- Please, please tell me.

- When I am too unquiet - the dog replied - they tie me during the day so that I sleep when there is light and I watch when the night arrives. When the twilight comes, I walk wherever I want. They bring the food to me without asking for it, the master gives me the bones from his own table, the servants give me the rests and the sauces which nobody wants anymore. This way, my belly fills up without having to work.

- But if you wish to leave and go wherever you want, do they allow you to do that?

- No, not at all - said the dog.

- Well then - said the wolf - enjoy your goods. I don't want to be king in exchange of my freedom.

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Breathing the Web

The Chinese Character for Love

Breathing the Web. Here is a simple, yet powerful way of connecting with the Earth Web through breath. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine a sparkling, energetic web connecting the deepest essence of all people in the world. Consider placing your hands over your heart or the center of your chest as you do this. Take a few deep breaths as you open to this image.

Now, while taking a slow, very deep inhale, say to yourself:
Your sacred love flows in to me.

Then slowly exhale fully while thinking and feeling:
My sacred love flows out to you.

Taken from 'Connecting with the Web of Love'

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Taking Responsibility for Our Lives

It's not what happens to you that matters, it's what you do with it.

W. Mitchell, Inspirational Speaker

Water Music

Like water that reflects the light, so too does the cosmos reflect our thoughts.

We are all shimmering, like notes that chime when a bell is struck.

In a symphony of souls, we search for the perfect pitch.

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Our Times

In 1948 Krishnamurti wrote that:

You, the individual, are the world problem...because all the other problems are created by your unwillingness to tackle yourself first...

Our minds and hearts must be simple, creative empty, and watchful. Only then can love come into being. Love alone can bring peace to the world, and then will the world know the bliss of the real.

Krishnamurti was talking about objective unconditional love, not mawkish love, as a way of raising the conscience of the individual. Our times require such individual and collective human conscience.

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Each Single Thing

Every thought; each action; every heartbeat has an effect upon the cosmos.

The universal field reverberates with each input and presence.

We do not exist alone - rather, we are all-one - this is the universal law: The Law of One.

There is no void: only throw-away words 'pour from the empty into the void'...

yet thoughts remain like markers...

This energetic field we find ourselves in is subtle yet powerful: music and scent; compassion and bewildering. It is and it becomes.

Through all and everything we begin to learn.

These are some thoughts this evening, as the heart beats...

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