Archive for September, 2008

Free Nonduality Newsletters and Magazines

September 27, 2008

If I missed yours, please send notice of your free online newsletter or magazine to Jerry Katz.

The Nonduality Highlights – Affiliated with this website, Nonduality.org and Nonduality.com. Published daily for over nine years, The Nonduality Highlights consists of one email per day. We feature a wide variety of writings bearing on the teaching of nonduality. Each issue may feature original contributions, selections from online forums, blogs, websites, books, news stories, announcements, articles, and podcasts. Receiving The Nonduality Highlights is like getting a single page from a nonduality magazine each day.

Friends of the Heart Newsletters – Articles on Advaita, awakening, non-duality, enlightenment, Self-realization; poetry and music, monthly articles by Katie Davis, author of Awake Joy and Sundance Burke, author of Free Spirit. Sign up for our free monthly newsletters.

The Nonduality Nowsletter – Charlie Hayes’ letter. Questions, responses, pointers with a focus on Charlie’s work, of course, and also the pointings of John Wheeler, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Tony Parsons, Bob Adamson, and others from the so-called Neo-Advaita way of nondual expression.

The Radical Happiness Newsletter – Gina Lake’s letter. This free monthly newsletter offers inspiration and support for waking up out of the egoic state of consciousness and living from divine essence. It contains articles about spiritual awakening, healing conditioning, embodiment (living the Truth), relationships, finding true happiness, and other related topics. It also announces events and new publications.

Wide Awake Living – Alice Gardner’s letter. Spiritual Awakening, Realization, Enlightenment, Liberation… the name just depends on what your spiritual tradition might be. Maybe it is better to call it waking up to what is already so and has been so all along. This is beyond religion. We are simply finding again who we are–what Mother Nature has known all along and is telling us in the flowers, in the birdsong, in the circumstances of our down-to earth lives and everywhere we look.

HarshaSatsangh Magazine – HarshaSatsangh is dedicated to the joy of fellowship in Ahimsa as exemplified in the purest Advaitic teachings of the Jnani Sage of Arunachala, Sri Ramana Maharshi. We emphasize the universality of the doctrine of nonviolence and the teachings of compassion as these themes are found in all major spiritual traditions and religions of both the East and the West.

TAT Forum Magazine – A monthly spiritual magazine of essays, poetry and humor that inspires seekers to action in the spiritual search. Founded in the very nondual teachings of Richard Rose.

The Nowletter – An occasional paper which is, nevertheless, published nearly every month. It first appeared in 1993 as an extension of group meetings we decided to hold in Sydney following the visit of Douglas Harding in late 1991. It started out as an experiment to find out whether we could extend our dialogue and enable participation by people too far from Sydney to attend the meetings. We also wondered whether a journal based mainly on reader contributions would gain the necessary support. We found the contributions of John Wren-Lewis particularly helpful and an archive of his contributions is provided as a separate section on this site. The Nowletter title is taken from the verse above and the publication started out as a hard-copy postal newsletter and later expanded through the addition of an email version. The email version is now posted to this site. The aim of the Nowletter is summarized on the front page of every issue as follows: The Nowletter appears between 10 and 12 times every year and is a vehicle for news and views about awakening to what is really going on.

The statement ‘awakening to what is really going on’ is a clue to the Nowletter connection to Thomas Traherne and his insistence on our need to enjoy the world aright by awakening into Capacitie. The content of the Nowletter is a combination of readers’ own letters and articles plus work by non-readers on subjects which our contributors find interesting and relevant to the subjects which arise from time to time in the Nowletter.

Center of Timeless Being. Richard Miller’s letter. The true test of awakening comes not in the meditation hall or while we’re on retreat, but in daily life. While the initial movement of meditation is to recover our innate nondual ground of Being, the more difficult challenge is how we embody this realization into daily life when we return to job, family and day-to-day responsibilities. Stay informed of news about the CTB community, research, classes, retreats and trainings by joining our mailing list. We communicate through regular mail (newletters and flyers) and email (Constant Contact) to keep you informed of ongoing events at CTB.

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The Ministry of Vicki Woodyard

September 24, 2008

#3298 – Tuesday, September 23, 2008 – Editor: Jerry Katz

The Nonduality Highlights

Vicki Woodyard

You’re better off if you know certain people, and, for me, Vicki’s one of those people.

Vicki has the gift of showing us our heartbreak and our natural state.

Out of crushing heartbreak, most people would run from God. Vicki “ran to” God, or Self. Not as an escape, not to deny that any heartbreak ever happened, but to go deeper into the darkness.

These talks last five minutes each:

Listen to “An Important Talk.” Reclaiming the power of your inner world, of your inner wisdom. Honoring one’s limits and losses rather than overcoming them. In that honoring we are brought to our knees and we recognize the one truth. One of the great source teachings of VW.

Listen to “Zits, Incorporated.” Vicki mixes silliness, the nuts of bolts of life, death, and real reality. “With zits and gas, I think it’s time to start dating again.”

Listen to “The Voice Inside.” “The inner voice is unerringly right. … The world lies to us. This voice is the voice of your guidance.”

Listen to “It’s About the Music.” “I knew that my daughter was gone, but I knew that God was not gone. So I set on a path of inner discovery. This path is never ending. But for some of us it is music.”

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The Stale Buzzwords of Nonduality, Like “Understanding.”

September 21, 2008

Whatever happened to “understanding”? Remember when that was a buzzword a few years ago? People were divided between those who had understanding and those who didn’t. I don’t think I had it because I talked about donuts a lot.

When I used to hang around the Muktananda ashram in Santa Monica in 1980, there were people who were “receiving the light” and those who weren’t. I know I wasn’t receiving the light because … because I wasn’t receiving a damn light, that’s why.

Another buzzword: “Are you free?” Someone asked me the other day whether I was free. I said, you mean do I have the time to go get a beer or something? He said, “No, are you FREE.”

“Oh, I got you,” I said. “I don’t know if I’m free or not. I don’t know if I have understanding. I don’t know if I’m receiving the light. I don’t know if I have clarity. But if you want to hang out for a few minutes, fine, If not, fine.”

Another popular thing is the ability to see what’s obvious and to recognize it as “this.” There’s some kind of connection between “obvious” and “this.” Like you’re walking with a fellow nondualist and one of you goes, “Yeah, like it’s all just ‘this’.” Yeah, I get that. I don’t get the other buzzwords, but I get that one.

In a few years we’ll be all nostalgic about the days when “this” was such a cool buzzword. And it’s the only one I get.

I don’t think I had understanding, I was never in the Be Here Now, I definitely didn’t receive the light, and I’m not Free especially if it means I have go around asking people if they’re Free. I’d rather have a cell in San Quentin, thank you.

What I do have is my finger on the pulse of all the buzzwords. I can tell you that they go stale as quickly as a half eaten donut underneath the seat of your car. But when they’re hot and fresh we sink our teeth into them, one after another. Mmmm, the good greasy sugar of carnival food.

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Authentic = Well Contrived

September 17, 2008

Some definitions….

Contrived: Ingeniously or artfully devised or planned.

Contrive: To devise, invent, design (a material structure, literary composition, institution, etc.).

The following is from the Oxford English Dictionary, showing examples of ill-contrived and well-contrived (bold highlight has been added):

1632 LITHGOW Trav. IV. (1682) 135 A loathsom contrived place. 1664 BUTLER Hud. II. III. 400 In Mansion prudently contriv’d. 1713 OCKLEY Acct. Barbary 2 The Houses are large, but very ill contriv’d. 1760-72 tr. Juan & Ulloa’s Voy. (ed. 3) II. VII. xii. 130 Most of the houses are of stone, well contrived.

My contention is that what is well contrived is known as authentic. The well contrived stone house noted in the quotation above might be known as an authentic creation and the architect as an authentic artist.

A statement by Nisargadatta is well contrived. It’s a house of stone. It’s perceived as authentic.

However, contrived is contrived. Why else would sages tell you to not waste your time reading, to not look for Truth in words? Books and strings of words are contrived.

No Sage or Master ever said Truth is found in art, in doing art, in reading a book, or in contriving anything. No Sage or Master ever said Truth was contained in their own teachings, words, or practices. Why? Because they are contrived. Beautifully contrived in some cases, but contrived.

No Sage or Master ever said to “be authentic,” or to “be your true self.” Why? Because there is no you.

So that’s why I say that even things perceived as authentic are nothing more than well contrived.

Posted in Art, Nondual Perspectives | 2 Comments »
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Namaste for the Gods, the Guru, and Kelly Ripa

September 14, 2008

I was watching Meg Ryan on the Regis show and as her interview ended she signified her departure to Regis’s co-host Kelly Ripa by bringing her hands together prayer-like in front of her forehead. That is to say, Meg presented the sign meaning Namaste.

Namaste means “my soul and your soul are one,” according to nonduality teacher Dr. Jean Klein. Further, Klein points out in the video Discovering the Current of Love, that when the hands are held at heart level it is intended for your neighbor and all people. When the hands are brought to forehead level it is a namaste for the Guru. When the hands are held over the head, Klein says, this is namaste for the gods.

On the Regis show, Meg Ryan brought her hands to forehead level, signifying to Kelly Ripa that this namaste was for “the Guru.”

So, what Guru do Meg Ryan and Kelly Ripa share or recognize? More broadly, what is the spiritual connection between Meg Ryan and Kelly Ripa?

How deep, diverse, and widespread is the teaching of nonduality throughout Hollywood? I think it is prevalent and takes the forms of Tibetan Buddhism, Eckhart Tolle-ism, Kabbala, and open Christianity ala A Course in Miracles. That’s only a few.

It’s all over the internet that Jeff Goldblum is reading Talks with Ramana Maharshi.

Acclaimed British actor Terence Stamp has voluntarily read the audio version of David Carse’s most nondual Perfect Brilliant Stillness.

Legendary Richard Beymer has written the wild and penetrating nonduality book, Impostor, a creation that should be made into a movie.

Since my work in nonduality over the last ten years has been to bring nonduality to “the people,” it makes sense that I would try to gauge how nonduality has penetrated the lives of people within certain groups. The mass entertainment group is interesting since it could spread the teaching of nonduality very broadly, if, perhaps, not too deeply.

Posted in Mainstream Media, Popular Culture | 4 Comments »
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Why Ken Wilber Was Not Included In My Book

September 13, 2008

Jerry,

I like your “Essential Writings on Nonduality”…excellent representation! One question. Where is Ken Wilber? Is he at odds with some nondual writers? I realize Integral Theory can be perceived as rather elitist. Could you give me the inside scoop as to why there is no mention of Wilber’s valuable work in your book? Wilber is a great admirer of Ramana Maharshi. Does Integral Theory conflict with the views of many nondualist writers? Please respond, as this whole area intrigues me. I await your kind reply.

peace, (name withheld)

Hi ____.

Thanks for reading Essential Writings on Nonduality. I couldn’t include everyone I wanted to in the book, for various reasons. Ken has written some the best descriptions of nonduality there are. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to get permission from Shambhala Publications to reprint writings. I killed myself to get permission and they ignored me at every turn. Publishers such as Random House and Doubleday, however, were quick to respond and easy to do business with.

The business of “getting permissions” is a big part of composing an anthology, and Shambhala fails miserably in the permissions department. That’s the reason Ken wasn’t in my book. The same was true for the founder of Aikido, since his work was also published by Shambhala and I could not get permission to reprint his stuff either.

Shambhala did not refuse to give permissions. They simply ignore your requests to receive permission.

Also I couldn’t get permission to reprint anything by Nisargadatta Maharaj, from Acorn Press.

The worst of the worst, though, was an outfit called Blue Dove Press. I won’t say anything more than that. I see now that their website no longer exists, so perhaps they were having serious problems. I hope they’re okay.

Besides the permissions problem, there were space limitations, which accounts for other authors not being included. I’ll have to do a second volume!

On the left hand side of this page click on the category “publishing” and you’ll find out more than you want to know about editing anthologies.

Thanks for writing.

Jerry Katz

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An entry from my journal: Volume 1:195

September 12, 2008

Volume 1. Writing #195

This all came to you when you were very young. You know all this already. And more. Read these if you like but drop them when you must. I too have dropped many writings. I’ve already dropped 194, 193, 192, 191, and I’ve dropped my dropping. I do not re-read what I write. I write, I say it, and I drop it. Only what I write now is important. But now keeps dying. These words keep on dying and new words are constantly being born, but they die as soon as they are born. Endless words are within you. Go to them. They are infinitely more essential than these words. Yet they are the same. But you must speak them for yourself.

November 12, 1980

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Girls got it right, boys got it wrong

September 5, 2008

I live across the street from an elementary school. The sound of recess is as natural as rain. The same sound as when I was a kid in the 50s and as far back and in whatever land you want to go, no doubt. The games they play are basically the same too.

Some things do change. They’re having recess as I type this and I’m laughing. A few girls are chanting in a sing song way, “Girls got it right, boys got it wrong. Girls got it right, boys got it wrong.”

We didn’t have that one in 1956. I googled the expression and nothing comes up except maybe this blog entry.

I also can’t help thinking these are the nondualists of the future. There’s a lot of “I’m right, you’re wrong,” dynamic happening in the nonduality world. “I’m enlightened, you’re not.”

Enlightenment is supposed to be about maturity. Maybe in a relative sense. Toys and games don’t go away, they only change. That’s been my observation in dealing with nonduality and thousands of people over the last ten years.

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