The true task of spiritual life
is not found in faraway places
or unusual states of consciousness.
It is here in the present.
It asks of us a welcoming spirit
to greet all that life presents to us
with a wise, respectful, and kindly heart.
We can bow to both beauty and suffering,
to our entanglements and confusion,
to our [...]
Homage to Manjushri!
I bow down to the all-powerful Buddha
Whose mind is free of attachment,
Who in his compassion and wisdom
Has taught the inexpressible.
In truth there is no birth –
Then surely no cessation or liberation;
The Buddha is like the sky
And all beings have that nature.
Neither samsara nor nirvana exist,
But all is a complex continuum
With an intrinsic face [...]
There is a community of the spirit.
Join it, and feel the delight
of walking in the noisy street
and being the noise.
Drink all your passion
and be a disgrace.
Close both eyes
to see with the other eye.
Open your hands,
if you want to be held.
Sit down in this circle.
Quit acting like a wolf, and feel
the shepherd’s love filling you.
At night, [...]
In terms of ephemeral manifestations, even the body
passes away, to say nothing of success, fame, wealth,
and rank. In terms of reality, all beings are oneself,
to say nothing of family members. If people can see
through the ephemeral and recognize the real, then
they can bear great social responsibilities and at the
same time be free from the bonds [...]
The heart in love remains soft and sensitive. But when you’re hell-bent on
getting this or the other thing, you become ruthless, hard, and insensitive. How
can you love people when you need people? You can only use them. If I need you
to make me happy, I’ve got to use you, I’ve got to manipulate you, I’ve [...]
New Free Satsang Recordings with Translation into Portuguese and Spanish:
There are several new satsang audio recordings from Nirmala’s recent trip to Portugal and Spain on http://www.endless-satsang.com/Satsangrecording.htm that you can enjoy for free. They are in English with translation into Portuguese or Spanish.
A New Blog Post entitled The Gap in Awareness:
Nirmala occasionally adds [...]
Continue reading about Endless Satsang Newsletter April 4th, 2009
From: Everyday Zen
by Charlotte Joko Beck
When we find our life unpleasant or unfulfilling, we try to escape the unpleasantness by various subtle escape mechanisms. In such attempts we are dealing with our lives as if there’s me and then there’s life outside me. As long as we approach our lives in this way we will [...]
In Hindu thought, there is room for everything, not only the nice,
refined philosophies. Even the simple, ordinary crude forms of
worship are accepted, because that’s where some people begin.
They believe in that, like a baby playing with a wooden horse,
taking it to the water, putting grass into its mouth and saying,
“Come on, horsey, come and eat.” [...]
“The true task of spiritual life
is not found in faraway places
or unusual states of consciousness.
It is here in the present.
It asks of us a welcoming spirit
to greet all that life presents to us
with a wise, respectful, and kindly heart.
We can bow to both beauty and suffering,
to our entanglements and confusion,
to our fears and to the [...]
