*
"Those who desire a precious gem will not obtain it by polishing wood.
Eagerly trying to arouse the bliss that requires no effort
--there is no greater debility than this."

The All-Creating Monarch
*

*
"If all beings throughout the three realms
came to perceive natural mind as suchness,
they would attain the level of atiyoga in that very instant,
since buddhahood does not abide on the level of words."

The All-Creating Monarch
*

*
"From the point of view of relative truth, all phenomena, external or internal, are from the outset seen as illusions fashioned by one's own conceptualization, or they are like magical projections, arisen by conditioned origination. Still, in an absolute sense, they are without any substantial reality. Having no substantial reality, they do not arise; not arising, they do not cease. That which neither arises nor ceases is the Reality, the Suchness of all phenomena."

Mo Ho Yen
*

*
"Whatever you think is delusion."

Katagiri Roshi
*

*
"Liberation is not a matter of acquisition, but a matter of faith and conviction that you have always been free, and a matter of courage to act on this conviction."

Nisargadatta Maharaj
*

*
"You are the one, pure intelligence. The universe is material and unreal. Ignorance is also non-existent. Then what wish to know can there be for you?"

Astavakra Gita
*

*
"There is no need of a way out! Don't you see that a way out is also part of the dream? All you have to do is see the dream as dream.... Wherever it leads you, it will be a dream. The very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory. Why go anywhere? Just realize you are dreaming a dream you call the world and stop looking for ways out. The dream is not your problem. Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another. Love all, or none of it, and stop complaining. When you have seen the dream as a dream, you have done all that needs to be done."

Nisargadatta Maharaj
*

*
Well...?
*

*
"Awareness vibrates into different forms and patterns and cognizes itself."

Bob Adamson
*

*
"You see, the very word [matter] shows we already know this innately. When something 'doesn't matter,' it doesn't concretize. When something doesn't matter, you're not concerned with it. The same thing with when you say, 'I don't mind.' But when something does mind, you focus on that, and it does matter."

Bob Adamson
*

*
"What's wrong with right now, unless you think about it?"

Bob Adamson
*

*
We probably view the term 'cognizing emptiness' as implying that 'we' are cognizing emptiness. How about if we turn it around and see it as emptiness that is cognizing? Thus, 'cognizing emptiness' becomes a whole different thing (seemingly). Then, if we (seemingly) join these (seemingly) two cognizing emptinesses, who are we?
*

*
"From the moment the awakening produces itself, you know more about the six billion inhabitants of the planet than they know about themselves because you know the exact nature of the dream they are dreaming. You know the mechanism of the hallucination that holds them spellbound. All that because this mechanism is precisely the same for everyone."

Stephen Jourdain
*

*
Words are only pointers at the Truth. The Truth is beyond words. Right here. Now.
*

*
"It ain't why, why, why, it just is, it just is, it just is..."

Van Morrrison
*

*
"...the awareness that you are...is silent, luminous, bright, clear, empty, and yet the foundation of all that appears. ...'cognizing emptiness'. That is one of my favorite terms for it. Right at the center of you is a silent, lucid, clear and sky-like presence of awareness. It is totally empty and yet utterly existent and aware. That never leaves you, and you cannot get out of it. It is what you are, and it is never affected by thoughts and appearances. It is always radiant and clear.
*"All the words are just pointing to you, to your present nature. ...pointers to the one essence, which is with you all the time."

John Wheeler
*

*
Don't know.
*

*
Gently embrace your doubts and fears, and rest in who you truly are.
*

*
"The only true statement the mind can make is, 'I don't know'."

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
*

*

If your heart is bright, then even in a dark chamber there is blue sky. If your thoughts are gloomy, then even in broad daylight cruel demons appear.

Hong Zicheng
*

*

You are never not always already awake.

*

*
"One who turns inward with untroubled mind to search where the consciousness of 'I' arises, realizes the Self and rests, like a river when it joins the ocean."

Sri Ramana Maharshi
*

*
The sun of wisdom must at all times shine.
Erroneous thoughts come because of passions;
When correct thoughts come the passions are cast aside.
Use neither the erroneous nor the correct,
And with purity you will attain to complete nirvana.

Hui Neng
*

*
Consider this, from Thomas Merton:
*

If you don't want the effect, do something to remove the causes. There is no use in loving the cause and fearing the effect, and being surprised when the effect inevitably follows the cause.

And then consider this, from Esther Veltheim:
*

Why would you need to get rid of something that doesn't even exist?

*

*

Love is really not different than wisdom. Love is seeing all beings equally. Wisdom is seeing all things equally.

*

*
*"Perception follows judgment. Having judged, we therefore see what we would look upon."

A Course In Miracles
*

*
The ego is entranced by all these names and ideas, but
*the subtle truth is that the world and what it is made of are the
*same; neither one vast, neither one tiny.
Every thing is equal to every other thing.
Names and concepts only block your perception of this
*Great Oneness.
Therefore it is wise to ignore them.
Those who live inside their egos are continually
*bewildered: they struggle
*frantically to know
*whether things are large or small,
*whether or not there is a purpose
*to arising and passing away,
*whether the universe is blind and mechanical or the
*divine creation of a conscious being.
*
In reality there are no grounds for having beliefs or
*making comments about such things.
Look behind them instead, and you will discern the
*deep, silent, complete truth of the Tao.
Embrace it, and your bewilderment vanishes.

Lao Tzu

*
"From the point of view of the one who imagines himself to be separate and a seeker, there are many questions that seemingly need to be understood. From the point of view of your actual nature as awareness, everything is simple, direct and clear. Don't worry too much about the questions and issues that the mind raises. The answer is not in the mind. The grace and realization you are looking for is the ordinary awareness shining at your core right at this moment. Understand this and you understand everything."

John Wheeler
*

*
Here's one for you. I had just finished the posting below, and picked up a book I've been reading by Phil Cousineau on synchronicity, and this is what was on the page. It's a story about the Sufi wise-fool Mulla Nasrudin, by Idries Shah:
*
*"He prepared the soil and planted the seeds of many beautiful flowers. But when they came up, his garden was filled not just with his chosen flowers but also overrun with dandelions. He sought out advice from gardeners all over and tried every method known to get rid of them, but to no avail. Finally he walked all the way to the royal gardener at the sheik's palace. The wise old man had counseled many gardeners before and suggested a variety of remedies to expel the dandelions but Mulla had tried them all. They sat together in silence for some time and finally the gardener looked at Nasrudin and said, 'Well, then I suggest you learn to love them.' "
*

*
An improvisation for your request, Molly:
*
*They're pounding the nails through his hands into the cross, and Jesus just looks at them with love. He just loves them, and the pain turns to bliss. That love removes the remaining doubt, but not just yet --not before he voices it.
*After they hoist the cross with Jesus nailed to it up and he hangs there for a while, the bliss recedes and the suffering returns. "Father, why have you forsaken me?" he cries.
*And then, it drops away. The true Last Judgment comes and goes. No more doubt. One moment, he's hanging there, suffering, and the next, it's over. He truly realizes his own statements: "Judge not!" "I and my Father are one."
*He just smiles, and knows, without a shadow of a doubt, his True Identity. There is no difference between suffering and peace. There is no Father and me. There is only what is. No judgment. Only peace. And I am That.
*Was it Jesus' love for the so-called others that was the final piece to his liberation, that tipped the balance? His love for what is, accepting the so-called pain? He just loves them, and the suffering turns, to reveal itself as peace. "The peace that passeth all understanding", all conceptualization.
*If we just love that pain in our mind or our body, because it's simply what is, it might just reveal itself to be peace.
*Love and wisdom are like the two wings of a bird. A one-winged bird just flies around in circles.
*

*
The bottom line, according to Bob Adamson:
*

"Right here, right now
You are present and
You are aware of being present.
Realize that you are that
One-without-a-second,
Pure presence-awareness
And be what you are."

*

*
"Our true nature is that simple and undeniable presence of awareness in which all thinking, feeling and perceiving occurs. Always present and radiantly clear, it is never obscured by time, circumstances or thoughts. You are not the limited person you have taken yourself to be. Seeing this, suffering, anxiety, and confusion effortlessly drop away, revealing your own innate happiness and freedom. Understanding who you are is immediate and always available here and now."

John Wheeler
*