pictures for thought

7/29/2019 Pictures for Thought

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Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950),

Advaita sageOf all the thoughts thatarise in the mind, the 'I'thought is the first. It isonly after the rise of this

that the other thoughtsarise. It is after theappearance of the firstpersonal pronoun that thesecond and third personal

pronouns appear; withoutthe first personal pronounthere will not be thesecond and third.


2/34

Robert Adams (1928-1997), Advaita

sage, knew Ramana Maharshi

Problems just mean that the

world isnt turning the way you

want it to. But in truth, there are

no problems. Everything is

unfolding as it should.Everything is right. You have to

forget about yourself and

expand your consciousness

until you become the wholeuniverse. The reality in back of

the universe is pure

awareness. It has no problems.

And you are that.


3/34

Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897-1981),

student of Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj,

and Advaita sage"The seeker is he who is in search of

himself. Give up all questions exceptone: Who am I? After all, the only factyou are sure of is that you are. The Iam is certain. The I am this is not.Struggle to find out what you are in

reality. To know what you are, you mustfirst investigate and know what you arenot. Discover all that you are not -- body,feelings, thoughts, time, space, this orthat -- nothing, concrete or abstract,which you perceive can be you. Thevery act of perceiving shows that youare not what you perceive. The cleareryou understand that on the level of mindyou can be described in negative termsonly, the quicker will you come to theend of your search and realise that youare the limitless being.


4/34

Wei Wu Wei (Terence Gray, 1895-1986),

Irish aristocrat, student of Ramana Maharshi

and of Chan Buddhism, and Advaita sage

Why are youunhappy?

Because 99.9 percentOf everything youthink,

And of everything youdo,Is for yourself -

And there isn't one.


5/34

Jean Klein (1916-1998)

student of "Panditji" Rao, and Advaita sage

The only obstacle [to realizing

freedom] is your belief that you arean independent entity. You are

stuck in this belief. It belongs to a

personality invented by society,

education, experience, beliefs,

second-hand information and all

kinds of reading. You have

identified yourself with this

fictitious I and you live from this

point of view. You look at andcontact the surroundings from this

viewpoint. Because the personality

is an object like any other, you live

in object-object relationship.


6/34

Francis Lucille (1944- ), student of

Jean Klein, and Advaita sage

Advaita is a sanskrit word thatliterally means "not two". Synonymsof Advaita are non-duality(nonduality, non duality). Advaita is

not a philosophy or a religion. Non-duality is an experience in whichthere is no separation betweensubject and object; a "me" and therest of the universe; a "me" andGod. It is the experience of

consciousness, our true nature,which reveals itself as absolutehappiness, love and beauty.Consciousness is defined as that,whatever that is, which is aware ofthese very words right here, right

now.


7/34

Rupert Spira (1960- )Ceramicist and nonduality teacher

Experience is all we have andConsciousness is the primal andmost intimate fact of experience.

Every experience that we ever have,that we ever could have, that we everwill have, is experienced by this

Consciousness. Meditation is simply to abide

knowingly as that. It is very easy. Infact it is the easiest thing because wealready are that. It would beimpossible to be anything else.

We just remain as we are, as wealways have been. And we allow themind, the body and world to be justas they are.


8/34

Adyashanti (Stephen Gray, 1965- ) Zen

student of Arvis Joen Justi

Truth is only discovered in

the moment.

There is no truth that canbe carried over to the next

moment, the next day, the

next year.

Memory never contains

truth, only what is past,

dead, gone.


9/34

Greg Goode (1953- )Philosophical counselor and nonduality teacher

I experience no edges or borders or limits.I cannot experience a difference between"me" and "you." Your inquiry will confirmthis as "your" experience as well. It is notpersonal, but global, unlimited. It isalready that. That is, inquiry will reveal the

lack of difference between a "you" and an"other." Ironically, the desire to attain thisas a personal experience is as close toseparation as you'll ever get - and eventhen it is not truly separate. The desire toexperience what another experiences isbased on unsubstantiated beliefs, all ofwhich lead to suffering. Wanting toexperience what we project "anenlightened person" experiences is thevery feeling of suffering; it's not the path tothe ending of suffering.


10/34

Ramesh Balsekar (1917-2009), student of

Nisargadatta, and Advaita sage

A simple examination of one'spersonal experience will revealthat what usually disrupts thepeace and harmony in life is athought about something wethink we or someone elseshould or shouldn't have done.What mystics have said forages, is viewed from theperspective of modern living:

that actions are 'happenings'and not something done bysomeone. This understanding iswhat actually contributes to andhelps us in discovering the stateof equanimity and peace whichwe most ardently seek.


11/34

Wayne Liquorman (1951- ), student of

Ramesh Balsekar, and Advaita sage

You have probably spent your whole lifetrying to control and modify the eventsyou see are connected to your guilt andsuffering. You try to be more patient,more honest, more loving, more chaste,more generous, more open, more

tolerant, more productive or moreeffective. Despite your efforts it is likelythat some, perhaps many of the eventsconnected to your suffering and guiltcontinue to occur.

Look deeply into the assumption thatyou COULD have acted/reacteddifferently in the moment that you didwhat you did. Examine the claim by theego that you were the author, theindependent source of that event forwhich there is now a feeling of guilt.


12/34

Candice ODenver

Great Freedoms teacherRest as flawlessawareness, seeing all asflawless awareness, until allis flawless awareness. Inother words, rest as theawareness which is theunderlying essence of allthoughts and emotions,seeing the anger and lust asforms of that awareness,and eventually you will findthat the anger and lust arenothing but pure awarenessin disguise.


13/34

Scott Kiloby (Advaita teacher)

In seeing that awareness isever present, we realize that

awareness is our real identity.

This naturally and effortlessly

releases the tendency toidentify with the various

appearances that come and

go within awareness.

Appearances include thoughts,

emotions, sensations, statesand experiences.


14/34

Papaji (1910-1997), student of Ramana

Maharshi, and Advaita sage

Again and again we speak of this thing:only get rid of your impediments, andsimply stay quiet, thats all. With thevery burning desire, like somebody

who is burning, and will run to a well,or a river, or a stream, only for water.Someone who is burning must go tothe water; he will not go anywhereelse. Like this, if you have the burningdesire, I want to be free, in this life,

before the end of this life, this mustbe a longing always in your mind, thenyou will be successful. You will havewon the game and you will be veryhappy always because freedom andhappiness and bliss go together.


15/34

Gangaji (Merle Antoinette ("Toni")

Roberson,1942- ), student of Papaji, and

Advaita sageI truly have nothing toteach you. There havebeen many teachers whohave taught exquisite and

useful codes of conduct,methods of meditation,ways of living andmanifesting in the world. Iam simply pointing to the

stillness that is alive inthe core of your beingand inviting you to turnyour attention to That, tolet That live your life.


16/34

Ram Dass (Richard Alpert, 1931- ), student

of Neem Karoli Baba, and guru of selfless

service and compassion

Ram Dass changed the world in 1971with the publication of his hugelyinfluential Be Here Now - a book thatquickly brought spiritual practice andmeditation to millions of Westerners.

Not only did its stunning informationand design impel readers right into arealization of the essential present, itintroduced Eastern spiritual practice tothe West in a totally accessibleway. The book still stands as thehighly readable centerpiece ofWestern articulation of Easternphilosophy, and how to live joyously ahundred per cent of the time in thepresent, luminous or mundane. It isstill part of the timeless present. Beinghere now is still being here now.


17/34

Swami Muktananda (1908-1982),

disciple of Nityananda, and controversial guru of

siddha yoga

In this world of desires, a personbecomes his own enemy and begins totorture himself. He himself becomes asinner and then groans. He himselfserves the poison of ignorance to himself

and thus commits suicide. While he ishostile to himself, he blames others. Whydo you commit suicide for lack ofknowledge? Give up your illusions andsee yourself as you really are. Upliftyourself by means of knowledge. Serve

the nectar of wisdom to yourself. Achievegreatness. The soul dwells as theperceiving Consciousness in everybeing. Reflect on the inner Truth. Exploreyour own depths. Direct your seekingwithin. Revel in your own being.


18/34

Satchidananda (1914-2002), founder of

Integral Yoga and of Satchidananda Ashram

There is only one cause for allmental problems, worries andanxieties: selfishness. Restlessnessof mind is caused bydisappointments. Only selfishness

can cause unhappiness. Tomaintain your tranquility you mustkeep your mind away from dualitypleasure, pain; profit, loss; praise,blame. If you can keep your mind

away from duality, you can still haveideas and perform actions, but theywon't affect you. When yourenounce your attachment, there isnothing to shake you. It is thefeeling of possession, of clinging,

that disturbs the mind.


19/34

Leslie Temple-Thurston (1950?-), awakened

through TM, and Advaita sage and founder

of Corelight

Using our capacity to be in thewitness, we must use vigilance towatch ourselves throughout theday. We must observe

dispassionately what sort of statewe are in all the time. The criteriawe would be watching for aretiredness or tension in the body; aslumping posture; irritability;

exhaustion; tunnel vision on amental, emotional, or physicallevel; or feelings of overwhelm,depression and boredom.


20/34

Catherine Ingram (1950?- ),

Advaita teacher

Love gets twistedsometimes. And it showsup in all kinds of sad andtragic ways when it hasbeen perverted,suppressed, and denied.Though love is everyone'sessence, not everyone is

aware of that at all times.Stay with your own knowingof love. It transforms yourvision of the horrors.


21/34

Tenzin Gyatso (1935- ),14 th Dalai Lama of

Tibetan Buddhism

I believe that thepurpose of life is to behappy. From themoment of birth,

every human beingwants happiness anddoes not wantsuffering. Neithersocial conditioning

nor education norideology affect this.From the very core ofour being, we simplydesire contentment.


22/34

Sharon Salzberg (1952- ), Buddhist

meditation teacher and cofounder of Insight

Meditation Society

It is hard to look at our ownproblems, negativities, hatreds,fears, and to admit they arethere. We tend to cut off these

parts of ourselves, to push themaway. Or we succumb to themat times. But there is a way oflearning how to see these thingsin ourselves without taking them

so to heart, so to speak. We canlearn to say, "This is a habit ofthe mind or this is a conditioningof the mind and it doesnt feelgood."


23/34

Joseph Goldstein (1944- ), Buddhist

meditation teacher and cofounder of Insight

Meditation Society

I don't think there'sever an escape from

the world as long aswe are alive. Thegoal is freedom fromattachment. It's

being free from thethirst of desire. It'snotnonexistence.


24/34

J K b Zi (1944 ) i df l di i


25/34

Jon Kabat-Zinn (1944- ), mindfulness meditation

teacher and founder of the Center for Mindfulness

in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at University

of Massachusetts Medical SchoolThe two fundamental thingsthat most people get out ofthe Mindfulness Based Stress

Reduction program,independent of symptomreduction, are these. First, thebreath is an ally and can beused to calm down and see

more clearly. The other,related discovery, is that youare not the content of yourthoughts. You don't have tobelieve them or react to them.That's incredibly liberating.


26/34

Master Charles Cannon (1945- )Student of Muktananda, Founder of

Synchronicity FoundationFaber, VA

"Life is Divine...Youare alive.You are Divine...Alland everything isDivine.Honor the divinity

of Life".


27/34

Next

some autobiography

P l G S h lh (1904)


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Poplar Grove Schoolhouse (1904)

Plum City, WI (my dad is in front row, 6th

from left)

Parents and three oldest of nine


29/34

Parents and three oldest of nine

children in 1933, at house where I

was born in 1930

In 2003 after remodeling and


30/34

In 2003, after remodeling and

under different ownership, the

house looked like this


31/34

Another 2003 view of my birthplace

One of two other things Pierce County


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One of two other things Pierce County,

WI is noted for: The birthplace of Laura

Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)Little house in the big

woods, reconstructed

on original site near

Pepin WI.


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The second other thing is:

In 1984, the Ellsworth Cooperative

Creamery was proclaimed the "Cheese

Curd Capital of Wiscons in

Our Mantra:

Cheese Curds in Every Home

Cheese Curds in Every Store

Cheese Curds in Every Restaurant

Cheese Curds in Every Life Style


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Namaste

I as Awareness/Presence saluteYou as Awareness/Presence

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