Gurus, Guides, Teachers

Hindus make a distinction between what are called upagurus and what are called satgurus. A satguru is what we’ve been talking about here as the guru; it’s the one who is the doorway. … Along…

Mirrors

CLEANSE THE MIRROR OF YOUR HEART AND YOU WILL SEE GOD.  –Neem Karoli Baba, in Ram Dass, Miracle of Love, 249 The heart-mind of the ordinary person is like a dirty and stained mirror. One…

Getting Free

We are caught in the prison of the mind. If we are to escape we must recognize that we are in prison. If we think we are free, then no escape is possible.—George Gurdjieff, quoted…

Letter to a Barista

Dear Fräulein Sabine, I read a book I think you might appreciate (as if you don’t have enough to read with your Civil Engineering course and your Higher Mathematics course and your reading Spinoza for pure…

Notice What You Notice

Primo Levi:  I never stopped recording the world and people around me, so much that I still have an unbelievably detailed image of them. I had an intense wish to understand, I was constantly pervaded…

June Journal 2019

Hanna Krall: “All my books are about how very good human beings can be, and about how very abd they can be—something we are constantly discovering over and over again.” Chasing the King of Hearts,…

Making Everyone Happy

Melita Maschmann, Encountering Bliss: My Journey through India with Ānandamayī MāDelhi : Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2002 It is as difficult to escape the grace of a Guru, as the revenge of a tiger.Indian proverb Last…

This Is It !

My friend who is a Buddhist said once after coming out of a meditation retreat, “The colors were so much more vibrant afterward.” Her meditation teacher said, “When you are present, the world is truly…

The Teachings Are Infinite…

I vow to learn them all.–from Bodhisattva Vows “You Are That Person” A student asked Soen NakagawaDuring a meditation retreat: “I am very discouraged. What should I do?”Soen replied, “Encourage others.” At the beginning of…