no go

                                                           I'm disappointed that so few of you are interested in this morning's topic .  I will suspend my activity on this topic for a later time .

Sensory Deprivation

                                                          So----------what is the Nature of the 'Truth' for which we Search ?    Zen Master Seung Sahn teaches that Meditation results in finding one's "True Self", a True Self that "transcends 'likes' and 'dislikes' " ,   a Self that is "Enlightened" .   Sufis describe a 'state of Mind' that is ONE with the ONE, another word for God .   

                          Recently, we have been supplied definitions, explanations and description of Reality.   This is the Common Reality of day-to-day Existence .  Now we must look at the Reality of Meditation, and there is no Greater Description than the Heart Sutra, where we find this Diamond Description of the BEST State of Meditative Reality :   "No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no Mind, --- no color, no sound, no taste, no touch, no object of Mind,, no realm of eyes and so forth until no realm of Mind consciousness" .   To properly conceive this State, simply close your eyes and put yourself in a silent sound-free room with the lights off .   THIS is Meditative Reality .   NOW thoughts arrive and depart of their own accord ---Nothingness exists --- Mind is Free to roam or be still --- here it is where "Stillness IS Bliss" .   Now GETTING THERE and STAYING THERE are different things, and STAYING in the "ULTIMATE REALITY" is NOT ---->  Practical .   We must work to Live .   

                       

"ATONEMENT" [AT-ONE-MENT]

                                                           I was delighted and RELIEVED that there are parallels between Zen-ism and Sufism, the most important of which is the Necessity to "look inside" one's Being to locate Truth .   Zen phrases "IT" this way :  "Seeing into one's Self and the Attainment of Buddhahood", while Sufis describe, "...a form of direct perception of the Truth which has nothing to do with mechanical Intellection".   Compare these to Gnosticism's  "Direct and Immediate {Personal} Experiential Knowledge of the Divine" .    Gnosticism is Ancient, the 1st and 2nd Centuries A.D.,,,  and the question may be asked if what may be considered Modern Christianity, specifically the Synoptic Gospels, contains such an articulation of these Mystical -----> Alternatives can be found .   Not exactly, but I argue and have argued that the Parables found in said Synoptic Gospels are certainly close enough to qualify as SOMEWHAT Mystical, in that trying to Understanding the Parables is the same as trying to Understand Koans {Kong-ans in Korean} .   In All of the above MEDIATATION is Required to first Penetrate and then GRASP the Spiritual Significance of the Stories, Kong-ans, Messages and Parables .   ALL Require INTENSE Focus and Concentration, a Focus of One's ENTIRE Being .   Remember the Goal :  Truth .   The Truth of BEING "Nearer to God" where God is Code for The Infinite Divine {my tag} .   Being at ONE with the One, God, GUARANTEES "Inner Peace" which means "EVERYTHING IS EASIER TO DEAL WITH" .

                          

Silver BELLS

                                                           I will inject >Self Absorbed< into this narrative as in "The man was so self-absorbed he did not see, feel, or hear the thief approach nor cut his tether ."   Further, his concern was directed toward >material gain< and he literally thought of nothing else .   Is this man, then, a true Innocent ?   I say NO .   The thief saw him as an easy 'mark' and took advantage of it straight-away .

                       The man arrives at a well and sees someone who he thinks is in distress .   We now know the thief is not only practiced but has KEEN vision and so seeks to "play" this man once more .   First he tells the man he has "dropped" FIVE HUNDRED SILVER COINS into the well and then offers him 100 should he manage to retrieve them .    The thief is believed by the man, trusted even, but upon what is this trust based ????   The man asks NO Questions, like, HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DROP A SACK OF COINS INTO THIS WELL ????  Even better WHY DIDN'T YOU try YOURSELF ???????   

                      The man's justifies this perilous effort with a common cliche "One door shuts while many are opened" and with this he strips and "plunges" into the well .   He made Effort to AVOID THE OBVIOUS, that is, WHO THE FUCK IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD BE CARELSESS ENOUGH TO DROP A SACK OF SIVER COINS INTO A WELL ???????????????????  Innocent ???   Hardly .

                      Trump voters refused to believe that THEIR OWN MINDS accounted for the first theft, and THEIR OWN MINDS resulted in the second .   

                      I mean, one word :   TOOO Good .

A Sheep Without Man's Clothing

                                                           Had Aesop written this story, it would have had a 'conclusion' of some sort of 'Street Wisdom' .   This Story was written by one of the most Famous Sufi Masters, RUMI .

                         In Sufi Tradition this Story does not have a 'conclusion' since THAT  IS  the Teaching .  Like the Biblical Parables and Zen Koans [Kong-ans in Korean] it is up to the Reader to gain Insight and Understanding by depth Meditation .   First, I follow Scholastic Tradition by practiced and rather mundane analysis, which is my 'Wheel-House', in order to secure at least an initial understanding that results in Appreciation .   I mean, FIRST there's this :   Dude---you are having a SUPER BAD DAY ===  first your sheep then your clothes .   Thing is, can you feel any REAL sympathy for the guy ?   I don't .

                       Analysis asserts this question, WHAT was this guy thinking about, WHY didn't he sense anything BEFORE the feeling of a slack rope ???  Here it is where "reading between the lines" demands IMAGINATION ,  and where the Author has satisfaction that his words have engaged and engrossed the Reader .   Now, I think that the Man-with-sheep was taking his animal to be sold, and was immersed in receiving a handsome profit, and with that profit what he would spend it on, and was SOOO distracted he couldn't see or feel ANYTHING until he did .   

                       I liken this man to TRUMP VOTERS .   Now just hold on to that for a minute or two .

THE SHEEP AND THE PURSE

                                                           What follows is a transcription of a story that's in Shah's chapter :  "Teaching Stories" .   My first thought was to modernize it to make it more palatable but further consideration rejected that notion.  I WILL, however, make comment in the Purport .  

                                                            THE SHEEP AND THE PURSE

    A man was walking along a road one day, followed by his sheep .   A thief went after him, cut the rope, and took it away .   When he realized what had happened, the man ran all over the place looking for his animal .  Presently he came to a well, where he saw a man apparently in despair .  Although the man did not know it, he was the very same thief .  He asked him what he was doing .   The thief said, "I have dropped a purse into the well .  It contains five hundred silver coins .   If you jump in and get it back for me, I will give you one hundred silver pieces ."

             The man thought :  'When one door shuts, a hundred may open .  This chance is worth ten times the sheep which I have lost .'   

             He stripped himself and plunged into the well .

             And the thief carried off his clothes .

BLIND FAITH

                                                           After I sent out the first blog I put my machine on "Sleep" and settled into "Chairy-Chair" to receive whatever Energy would be sent my way, also, I wanted to find a Modern Day example for Sufism, and Its 'Reliance on God' component ~~~  "IT" arrived almost instantly .   "PRESENCE OF THE LORD" performed by Blind Faith the Members being :   Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker, and Rich Gretch .   Eric Clapton wrote the Lyrics and Music .   Eric used a Fender Telecaster, Rick a Fender Jazz Bass, Ginger his fav-Ludwig drum kit with Zildjian cymbals, and Steve's organ~~ a Hammond B 3 .

                              I have always regarded "Presence..." as a White Boy's > Spiritual< ,  mainly because Steve set his Hammond B 3 to CATHERDRAL in order to amPLIFY the Sense of HEAVEN and ITS proximity to GOD .   The song has deep background, as if it WAS being performed in a HUGH CATHEDRAL / CAVE .   

                              Steve records :"I have finally found a Way to live, /  Just  like I never could before /  I know that I don't have much to give  /   But I can open any door . "

                               The Way to Live is IN "The Presence of the Lord" and deeper "In the COLOR of the Lord" .

                             Eric was never gonna-get the Nobel Prize for Literature, the verses transcend Simplistic but EVERYBODY can hear and UNDERSTAND them a {Divine} Sufi NECESSITY .   Further his Solo is a SYMBOLIC Expression of his Journey that ended with his "Discovery" and ENTRY into the "Divine" .