Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sadness and True Compassion by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy," - My Sweet, Crushed Angel by Hafiz

 
Sadness and True Compassion by Katie Davis
 
Just let the dream fall apart. 

It is disappearing anyway. 

The pain is in the holding on and in the resistance. 

It is breaking down this very moment ... 

Perhaps to reveal another. 

Can you just allow this moment to be as it is? 

When the body falls to sleep every night, 

The daytime dream falls away anyway. 

Yet, you love it! 

Just let go. 

If you would just surrender; 

There is great beauty in the breakdown. 

Perhaps in the surrender of what appeared to be person, 

A profound detachment from all form may appear. 

Detachment should not be understood by the mind as separation. 

Instead, the magnificence of the witness comes to the forefront. 

Detachment happens spontaneously by itself, 

Rather than one contrived by the idea of spiritual practice, 

And then enforced by the ego. 

Detachment allows the fullness of being-consciousness-bliss, 

That is free of all form and as an experience is one of complete connection. 

This is still only a reflection of course, 

Since a reference point of subject persists. 

The pure attention that the witness is, 

Naturally turns to its formlessness, 

Still in search of its perfection. 

Its fascination is the empty void of all experience. 

Maintaining its subject reference point, 

The void appears objectively. 

It is the Heart dimension appearing as separate and still subtle experience. 

The witness always has an object and this objectivity disappears with the witness. 

When the void appears, sometimes a deep fear and sadness arise. 

The witness is completely free of the appearance of the world of form, 

It is free of the ego-I and its personal dream that is apparently falling apart. 

Free of the delusion of the personal suffering, 

We are invited into the deeper well of the collective. 

One of the most beautiful gurus on the inner way appears. 

Her name is Sri Sadness. 

Brave Heart that she genuinely is, 

She is willing to suffer the story of all mankind throughout all time. 

O, humanity's sweet sadness, 

How utterly deep and empty you are! 

So completely alone, 

The darkness seems endless. 

Yes, I see you appearing there helplessness and despair. 

It takes utter misery to allow you ... 

Or perhaps the most courageous, curious and welcoming heart. 

Even hope has scurried away to some other divine dimension 

That has always seemed just out of reach in some future time or space. 

Is hopelessness what you imagined it to be? 

To truly know you, I become you. 

 Such magnitude! 

Beauty arises as emptiness births true compassion. 

Never has there been such an infinite silence! 

Realize directly once and for all, 

That there is a heart to darkness. 

No one seeks, no one escapes and no one knows. 

The radiant love that the universal witness is, 

Merges with sadness and the darkness cannot survive the love of the merger. 

This is not the ultimate reality, 

Yet it offers greater understanding, 

For what still may appear as some other. 

You are more able to offer gentle kindness, 

And a genuine and true helping hand. 

Having known the deepest collective pain, 

You are consciously set free. 

Unless you cry, you will never discover, 

That tears gently dry in the Morning's sunlight. 

By the way, Sri Sadness is not fulfilled until you know her completely. 

One could say, she is one of the last gatekeepers. 

Tears may still flow ... tears of pure joy.

My Sweet, Crushed Angel by Hafiz


You have not danced so badly, my dear,

Trying to hold hands with the Beautiful One.

You have waltzed with great style,

My sweet, crushed angel,

To have ever neared God's Heart at all.

Our Partner is notoriously difficult to follow,

And even His best musicians are not always easy

To hear.

So what if the music has stopped for a while.

So what

If the price of admission to the Divine

Is out of reach tonight.

So what, my dear,

If you do not have the ante to gamble for Real Love.

The mind and body are famous

For holding the heart ransom,

But Hafiz knows the Beloved's eternal habits.

Have patience,

For He will not be able to resist your longing

For long.

 You have not danced so badly, my dear,

Trying to kiss the Beautiful One.

You have actually waltzed with tremendous style,

O my sweet,

Oh my sweet, crushed angel.

~ Hafiz ~
I Heard God Laughing ~ Translated by Daniel Ladinsky  

You are invited to the Katie Davis Website at www.KatieDavis.org
(Free videos, free downloads, free monthly Friends of the Heart Newsletters)


Thursday, April 22, 2010

Nisargadatta on Ambition - AwakebyKatie Blog by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Causes and results are infinite in number and variety. Everything affects everything. In this universe, when one thing changes, everything changes. Hence the great power of man in changing the world by changing himself.

For this [seeking Reality], you need a well-ordered and quiet life, peace of mind and immense earnestness. At every moment whatever comes to you unasked, comes from God and will surely help you, if you make the fullest use of it. It is only what you strive for, out of your own imagination and desire, that gives you trouble.

Accept life as it comes and you will find it a blessing.

You are convinced of the reality of your circumstances, of the world in which you live. Trace the world to its source and you will find that before the world was, you were and when the world is no longer, you remain. Find your timeless being and your action will bear it testimony.

This is the most urgent task. You cannot see yourself as independent of everything unless you drop everything and remain unsupported and undefined. Once you know yourself, it is immaterial what you do, but to realize your independence, you must test it by letting go all you were dependent on. 

The realized man lives on the level of the absolutes; his wisdom, love and courage are complete, there is nothing relative about him. 

Keep quiet, undisturbed, and the wisdom and power will come on their own. You need not hanker. Wait in silence of heart and mind. It is very easy to be quiet, but willingness is rare.

You people want to become supermen overnight. Stay without ambition, without the least desire, exposed, vulnerable, unprotected, uncertain and alone, completely open to and welcoming life as it happens, without the selfish conviction that all must yield you pleasure or profit, material or so-called spiritual.

Abandon every attempt, just be; don't strive, don't struggle, let go every support, hold on to the blind sense of being, brushing off all else. This is enough.

Refuse attention [to what comes to the surface], let things come and go. Desires and thoughts are also things. Disregard them. Since time immemorial the dust of events was covering the clear mirror of your mind, so you could see only memories. Brush off the dust before it has time to settle; this will lay bare the old layers until the true nature of your mind is discovered. It is all very simple and comparatively easy; be earnest and patient, that is all.

Dispassion, detachment, awareness - free from memory and expectation - this is the state of mind to which discovery can happen. After all, liberation is but the freedom to discover.

Excerpted from Chapter 95 "Accept Life as it Comes," I Am That, Nisargadatta

Photo Credit: Timothy Conway, www.enlightened-spirituality.org



Friday, April 16, 2010

Deep Being by Sundance Burke, Author of "Free Spirit"



~ Silence ~

It is not so much that one should be quiet, as opposed to noisy.

Rather, the depth of one's Being is silence.




~ Stillness ~

It is not so much that one should be still, 
as opposed to active and changing.

Rather, the depth of one's Being is unmoving awareness.


~ Spaciousness ~

And, it is not so much that one should pay more attention 
to space than objects.

Rather, the depth of one's Being is pervading light.


~ Free Spirit ~

It is not so much that one should seek to be free and oppose being bound.

Rather, the depth of one's Being is unfathomable.


~ Transcendence ~

The trouble seems to be that the human mind sees 
two options in every position; either for or against.

However, one's Spirited Being 
simply does not have one place, let alone two.





Monday, April 12, 2010

Bathed in Love's Light, All Is Beautiful by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"


 In one instant of quietude and self-surrender, the great stillness consciously emerges.

Previously unnoticed, the light shines through somehow.

This profound stillness is here right now, yet if you are reading with the mind, you are probably overlooking it. Instead, listen as within and join us.

The first glimpse of the sublime is so divinely quiet and radiant that every thought in the universe is humbled. The sense of awe and wonderment silences the mind. Since the divided mind has never experienced anything more powerful than itself, it falls to its knees in gratitude, devotion and adoration. When it then dissolves as the illumination, the bliss of pure being is all that remains. Bathed in love's light, all is beautiful!

This emerging is the end of "your" life as you had previously known it. It is also the conscious beginning of being the unchangeable mystery within which all is appearing. 

For many, when the radiance then fades, the ego begins a compulsive search for what it thinks that it attained. When in fact, it is in the absence of the mind-made self that the timeless love that we genuinely are bursts into full bloom. What has never been attained or lost cannot be reclaimed. The resolution is to be still combined with Self-inquiry.

Heart is the abode of pure love that burns the appearance of all opposites into itself. Whenever one thing changes, everything changes. Indeed, the power of changing the world lies only in our willingness to surrender and realize who we truly are.

Self-realization is our true Individuality. Pure "I" stands alone beyond all and is dependent on none. What we previously thought of as a person is in fact non-existent as far as identity and therefore no "individual" at all. That one is totally dependent, vulnerable and therefore fearful in maintaining the delusion of its separation.

This is not to say that the body, its magnificent sensing and its life situation fade away. To the contrary, free of our past conditioning and compulsive thinking, the body's intelligence is truly free of the ego's limited ideas. The senses are no longer paled by the dust of the mind and become intensely alive. The love that we authentically are flows into the life situation and everyone and everything upon which you consciously shine are likewise illuminated in love's light. After all, there is only you ... appearing as all.

In spiritual circles, the idea of detachment is widely misunderstood. The ego that is already alienated in its idea of separation hears about the concept of detachment and then dutifully tries to further separate from the body, its beautiful sensing and all so called others. This is not the detachment of which I speak. Self-realization is not about becoming an isolated nothing!

True detachment is not something that is contrived by the mind and then enforced by the ego. It occurs spontaneously and effortlessly and is in fact the end of alienation and separation.

Real detachment allows a magnificent connection, since only the ego "I" has been eliminated; the one that never existed in the first place. This glorious connection is far more than the unity of all people and things. It is so divinely intimate that even the word connection is too much separation. The spiritual realization is that there is only the divine appearing as all.

So instead of detaching from all things and people that gift this beautiful life with form, detach from the one who hopelessly is trying to separate; the ego "I" that is also attempting to own everything. Within that tiny concept of self is what appears to be "your" suffering and is reflecting as all of the lack and conflict in the world. To hold on to that separating concept is sheer selfishness and then you "own" your own limitation that is perceived as all, while blaming so called others.

Even this direction could be misunderstood. Forget about seeking enlightenment. Hold on to the "I" thought and through Self-inquiry, follow the golden thread of consciousness back home to the Heart. All departure was a delusion.

In true Individuality, our uniqueness and distinctions as human beings thrive, since we are no longer limited to that tiny image of self that at best can only be a reflection and no more than a fraction. As a fraction, we lack; as the totality, we are already whole.

Truly, we are infinitely creative and while divinely diverse, there are no differences. We are a symphony of one love in action and each has their instrument to play. It is recognized that competition and exclusion were the ego's way of living. That way can only lead to more suffering. Ego's mantra is that if you lose, I win. Instead, we can applaud the trumpets, celebrate the flutes, harmonize with the violins and truly love the global beat of the drums as they keep us in cadence with the Heart's way of living.


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Friday, April 2, 2010

Friends of the Heart April Issue, Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy" and Sundance Burke, Author, "Free Spirit"


Friends of the Heart April Issue is Now Posted At:




Monthly free articles on being now, presence, spiritual awakening, Self-inquiry, Non-duality, Advaita, Enlightenment and Self-realization.


THIS ISSUE INCLUDES:

"The House of Cards Falls When You Are Ready" by Sundance Burke, Author, "Free Spirit"
"The Changeless and the Ever Changing" by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"
"The Mystical Sky" by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"


GO NOW TO:





Free downloads of chapters and articles on spiritual awakening and Self-realization, free videos and free monthly Friends of the Heart Newsletters.