Sunday, May 30, 2010

this which you see before you---Huang Po

"The TRUTH" can not be hidden at all.

"Where" could "Totality" be hidden,

and from "whom" ?
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11 comments:

  1. Diane AZMay 30, 2010 at 5:51 PM

    Does Totality play a seeking game with itself?"

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  2. tom sullivanMay 31, 2010 at 12:40 AM

    Hi Diane, perhaps I should remind you that Non-dualism, as I talk about it, is not the answers to questions that would really give you knowledge about Totality or anything else.

    It is simply a motley assortment of imperfect means which, if and when you're lucky, point you back to "Naked Awareness."

    Does the concept of "Totality playing a seeking game with itself" do something for you? If so, that's completely valid, in my opinion.

    In any case, no one is meant to be carrying any of this stuff around with them like baggage.

    Bye for now, Tom

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  3. Colleen LoehrMay 31, 2010 at 8:25 AM

    Thanks for posting this illuminating quote from Huang Po. The last three words were especially startling, "and from 'whom'?". In looking for truth I tend to miss it, I just can't believe how incredibly easy and obvious and accessible what is is. It's shocking!

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  4. Diane AZMay 31, 2010 at 9:15 AM

    I am reminded of something by Adyashanti, "When someone asks me who they are or what God is, I smile inside and whisper to the Light: There you go again pretending."

    And I wonder why it would pretend. But maybe questions about "what" are more important than "why."

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  5. tom sullivanMay 31, 2010 at 9:18 AM

    Your welcome, Colleen ! Actually, only the title was borrowed from Huang Po.

    The verse is a comment I made to one of Diane's recent blogs in which the Buddha stated in a poetic fashion that truth could not long be hidden.

    I guess we can "play with the big boys."

    Thanks again for your lively feedback !

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  6. Colleen LoehrMay 31, 2010 at 9:48 AM

    I love that Adyashanti quote Diane- it often comes to my mind too. I often pretend to be a miserable separate person- and unfortunately I tend to forget I'm pretending! Then I really believe I am that separate character having confusion and conflict. These wonderful blog posts and dialogues help me to wake up out of the pretending.

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  7. tom sullivanMay 31, 2010 at 10:09 AM

    Hi Grandma, I don't believe that this sort of poetic expression need be taken too literally.

    But on the other hand, there is a long "tradition" of posing these kinds of questions.

    Are you familiar with the writing of Ken Wilber? He has updated the traditional idea of The Great Chain of Being in which creation descends from Source and eventually ascends back.

    Also, Joseph Campbell has written extensively and vitally on these kinds of perennial questions, and the "best answers" that humanity has come up with.

    I also have enjoyed the writings of Robert Pirsig. In his book Lila, along with the "whats" of Life, he dares to propose a "why" for Evolution, which is that "Life wants to be free."

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  8. Colleen LoehrMay 31, 2010 at 12:53 PM

    ...Hey- who's Grandma? Me or Diane? Or are you just pretending? Maybe you've found me out. I'm not yet a Grandma, but I have a 10 yo son, and I was 43 when I gave birth to him. I am old enough to be his grandmother and he is used to his friends saying when I pick him up at school, "Jack, is that your Grandma?", to which he patiently replies, "No, it's my mom."

    Thanks for the referrals to Wilber, Campbell, and Pirsig, I may well check them out.

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  9. tom sullivanMay 31, 2010 at 5:00 PM

    Sorry Colleen to cause confusion, though your story about your son did make me smile. I thought you knew that Diane has been expecting her first grandchild.

    Moreover, I don't have control over the sequencing of these comments - they don't get published in the order that I would like. I'll have to be more specific about who I'm adressing.

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  10. AnonymousJuly 14, 2012 at 5:40 PM

    Loved this one! Purely and succinctly non-dual.
    Also, I liked your first comment. For me, all self-refering pointers help me to non-disalign with the 'Now' (like the Absolute is perceiving itself by itself etc.). I wrote a whole blog post about such (dualistic) mind 'blowers'. I am absolutely fascinated by them...

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  11. tom sullivanJuly 22, 2012 at 11:18 AM

    Thanks TLT, nice to meet you!

    ReplyDelete

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