|
It is morning, and slowly the mountain moves to make way for the sun. Its light
embraces the river and the waters slowly pass by, becoming the field, the trees, the sky.
It is a new day. The waters are not the waters of yesterday. It is all new.
The sound of all things suddenly becomes alive. One looks up to see a pair of giant
eagles in pursuit of a white gull. There is action and time disappears. The world is
alive. Many crows gather together and chase the eagles around and around the blue sky
until the white gull is free of his attackers. Now crows come from all directions and
group together to drive the eagles back to the hills. One can feel that the crows are
saying to the eagles, "Go away, we don't want you here." They seem to be looking
after the other birds and to know exactly what's going on. Now the eagles have gone and
things are continuing as before the attack. The white gull has forgotten all about his
ordeal and has become the river. He does not appear to even think that the eagles might
return and have him for lunch.
It is a new moment. Suddenly from behind, some small stones and clay hit the earth
close by. One looks around and sees a family of monkeys sitting along the bank. We look at
each other and one tells me that they have come down to drink, that the forests are dry.
One by one they come and kiss the river and the water willingly gives itself. Large stones
come rolling down the bank now, and one has to move quickly to avoid them. Then with a
splash and a deep-sounding OM they become the river.
Something is happening inside oneself that is too much to express. One has felt many
changes over the years, but is it possible for such a disturbance to take place inside
that makes past changes seem to be no change at all? Just a circle game, a trick of the
mind. Everything has been washed away. All sorrow, all pain, along with the things one
enjoyed and thought previously, have gone. All desires, ambitions, goals and motives have
gone. There is no searching, no confusion, no wanting, no opinion, no beliefs, no hope. In
fact, there is no separate me anymore wanting or judging anything. And all this has
happened through no effort, no desire, no motive to be anything but what one is now.
For years, one was searching and wanting. One thought it was thought, experience and
knowledge in which one found peace. So many things were built and destroyed, with the
importance on the more. Different places, people, work and situations, but all this was
blinding. One was not looking at the present.
"Now living" is in the present; it is this moment, a fresh, living thing.
Every day is a new day. But what happens when a man wakes in the morning, and he is full
of yesterday or tomorrow? The past is a dead thing; it is an image, like tomorrow. So then
we have this image which collides head on with the real, the present. This is where the
conflict arises. We can see all of this very clearly and look at it without it being
grabbed and analyzed by the mind, which is the old. The old kills the new. Everything one
has been taught and has done, good and bad experiences, are all in the past.
The past is dead. To rid oneself of the ego is the same as dying to the past. We hear
the words and that's all they are to most of us -- the image. We are told that the mind
must be quiet, fresh, innocent, clear and pure to obtain peace. How can a mind be fresh
and new if it is always busy remembering, gathering facts and figures, wanting, comparing,
hoping. Surely this peace or awareness we have at birth. It is a natural thing we all had
before we were told anything, or saw the world, or had any experiences.
It is there within. The holy books all say to look within, but we are told to look in
the holy book. So, in fact, all outward searching would appear completely useless. All
that's needed is to look at what is now, without the authority of yesterdays. Then one
will find that he is the world and that all the battles and hate in this world exist in
oneself. The inner is the outer. We alone are responsible. We make war every day by our
actions. We are destroying the world and ourselves by dividing ourselves and that's what
makes for war. It would appear that to demonstrate against war is a useless waste of
energy. If one looks around and realizes that one is going to be atomed off the face of
the planet, one is full of fear. Does love come through fear? One does not want the bomb,
but one wants everything to remain the same. That's what put the bomb there in the first
place.
Surely when the awareness is total, the action is also. Ban the bomb, save the whale,
plant a tree; all these so-called separate groups are fighting the same problem -- greed.
The world needs love and you are the world. We must never divide them.
When action is only in the present, there will never be a tomorrow with its image. How
can one fear tomorrow when it is not known? But maybe it is for a lot of people, because
they cling to the past, to the old, and this will not bring about anything new. We have to
look at the present totally. Our physical needs are food, clothes and shelter. There is
enough for everybody on the planet but now thousands die of hunger every week. Why is
this? Is it Reagan's fault, or the Russians? Or what? It's our fault, because we want
more. It's wanting more that's the root of the problem, the only problem. If we look
closely that's all the action needed. If one understands that he is the world, and that to
change ourselves is to change the world, then we wash away the divisions, the war, the
envy and greed which is our past conditioning, past ego.
Die to the past, so that every morning you become new and innocent, and look at what
is. Man is the whole -- we are the sun, moon, stars, whatever else we want. We are
everything and it's here now, in the present, a moving thing. But as soon as we separate
it into the past or the "I" we have destroyed it and spend our time living with
words and images of a better world tomorrow. More division, more conflict.
One has just this instant learned much -- the birds care for each other, protect each
other, always in the present. When the eagles came down to the valley and attacked the
gull the crows came at once, without a plan of action, and fought the eagles. The seeing
was the call to action and that was the only moment. Energy filled their bodies and they
were living only for the moment, the present. The gull sat on the water and continued on
his way and the crows looked around. It was a new moment, another river, without trace of
that which was before. The gull flew off up the valley following the path that the eagles
took shortly before. And he did not seem to be on a special lookout for them -- he seemed
to have forgotten all about his brush with death.
One has also learnt something about words. A feeling to describe to you, my brother,
what is going on inside oneself. One cannot put it into words. It can never be told to
anyone because words break everything up, until in the end all we have left is the words.
Silence is when thought is not, when nobody is looking. Silence is present, it cannot be
expressed in words, but it is there. And from this silent heart, silent mind, comes
something natural which was all there was, and comes without effort, without the mind. It
comes by letting go of the separate self with all its knowledge and experience, good and
bad. Then there is only what is now, and this would appear to create much energy, because
it's not going all places at once.
To the east, the dazzling sun steadily rises, throwing its heat onto the vast plains
that appear with its light. Solitary coconut trees stand tall and naked except for a
cluster of giant leaves right on top which dance gently in the early breeze. A small
village is there, with its rows of thatched houses. Some buffalo lie nearby. People appear
with huge water pots balanced on their heads. They walk proudly as they make their way to
the well. If the heavens permit they shall have water today.
Life is a gift which is given to us. A mystery to be enjoyed, not a problem to be
solved. Life and death are not separate. To live is to die. Mind will say, "this is a
valley", "this is a hill". But really it is one. Nothing is good, nothing
is bad. Inward duality ceases, no divisions, so no conflict. Our ignorance causes us much
suffering. Love is understanding. Love is when you are not. God is truth; truth is God.
Truth will strip you naked -- you will lose much. It will take away all that is false. You
will find your original face -- the one you were born with. Pick up a mirror and look. We
are many faces, always changing.
Love is being ourselves. But, you see, this is so simple and therefore very difficult
for our clever minds. Why is this? Go deep and maybe you will see it. It is because not
one child is accepted as he or she is. He is told don't do this, do that. His whole being
is divided and confused by society, because society lives on divisions. As we are, we are
no good. So we always feel that we have to become somebody else. Destroy ourselves, be
better, have more, etc. Escape from ourselves. The foundations are very deep, and it could
be the root cause of all of our pain. To love is to be yourself. How can we love anybody
else, if we don't like ourself? Society has separated us, but inside you and me and Mr.
Jones there is one consciousness, therefore not separate. We are one.
How blissful life is. Truth destroys the false. Then there is no separate
"I". This is the great illusion. Can you see yourself in the other? Can you
treat the other as you treat yourself? Love is when you are not -- then there is only
love. And you know something else? -- love has no tomorrow. Neither does love break
hearts. How can love hurt? If it does, then it is not love at all, so what's everybody
singing about?
Namasté. Stop, look, listen, without thought. That silence is golden, untouched by the
hands of man. Virgin ground where nobody has walked before. In that silence love is,
prayer is, meditation is. You are it, respect and enjoy it.
We have jumped into the ocean of understanding and it is much bigger than us. One can
dive deep, but when you surface you find nobody there. You become part of the ocean, a
wave amongst waves. Individuality drowns in the ocean of understanding. And then you see
that it never really existed anyway. The wave was always a part of the ocean. It just
thought that it moved about on its own. So the birth of the wave is also the death of the
wave. Do you understand? Can you feel the freshness of it all? Life is different now. We
can feel something inside that's bigger than both of us. The truth can never be wrapped up
and labeled. Like the ocean it's a living thing, ever flowing, fresh and beyond measure.
These days are filled with learning.
Life is unknown, free from the known. For many years we staggered around blindly. Life
was sorrow and confusion. The world is full of it. We may have been a success in the outer
world (decent jobs, etc.), but deep down we have all suffered and still do. We have to
break the chain. Try something completely new. We have done many things so we know what
not to do. It is possible as a fact, to live in this world without sorrow and conflict. We
have to look into the inner world -- go deep down and find the cause.
If you listen to your heart you will be a "failure" in this world. You will
give. You will trust. You will lose the ambition to be somebody else. You will not
compete. In fact, you will be of no use to society. You will become an outsider, a
solitary person. You will see that attachment will not be there. You will lose very much
in this outer world. You will undergo a death. You will cling to nothing. You will
realize, in fact, that which most people don't realize until the moment of death. Death
takes all the things that we have gathered, doesn't it? It kills the ego. You will realize
what life is. You will know that which does not die. You will see that you are not this
body, separate and lonely, wanting and not wanting. You will come across a jewel. A lotus
in the mud. And then you won't run around crying for this or for that, because you will
see how perfect everything is. He who loses all, gains all. It would appear that this
world is upside down. The richest are the poorest, and the poorest are the richest. To
know yourself is to know the world. To live in a peaceful world, we have to rid ourselves
of duality. There is no other way. We have to be prepared to die to all we know. The real
jewel is inside yourself. Please do not be deceived. All that is precious is inside you.
Worldly success, power and money only show you more just how empty you are. The wealthy
man is lonely and mad. His life has been a business deal. The mind ruled and the heart was
left to suffocate. Then death comes and takes all. Life is not a bus going up and down the
same old road. Life is a stream that arises in the mountains and rushes towards the sea.
We are going to have to stop writing now. These are some pieces of a story without
beginning and without end. Thoughts come and go. Just sit by a river and watch them flow
by. Too many words have been written, and as long as you are reading this you are not
aware of what is around you now, so I will finish. Please, my friend, look for the false
that's been written, and, maybe, we will discover the truth together.
Don't look back. OM.
|
