Mindfulness and Survival Instinct

[There is a] level of raw anxiety about survival that manifests in us constantly second by second, minute by minute. You breathe for survival; you lead your life for survival. The feeling is constantly present that you are trying to protect yourself from death....Instead of regarding this survival mentality as something negative, instead of relating to it as ego-clinging,,,[here] the survival struggle is regarded as a stepping-stone in the practice of meditation. Whenever you have the sense of the survival instinct functioning, that can be transmuted into a sense of being, a sense of having already survived. Mindfulness becomes a basic acknowledgment of existing....In this way, meditation becomes an actual part of life, rather than just a practice or exercise. It becomes inseparable from the instinct to live that accompanies all one's existence. That instinct to live can be seen as containing awareness, meditation, mindfulness. It constantly tunes us in to what is happening. So the life force that keeps us alive and that manifests itself continually in our stream of consciousness itself becomes the practice of mindfulness. ~Chogyam Trungpa

OSHO

One of my contributions to human evolution is to live without expectations and life becomes a sheer dance. I believe neither in logic nor in faith. I simply believe in the irrationality of existence, because a rational existence would not be worth living. Existence remains a challenge, a continuous provocation for the courageous, an invitation for those who are ready to go beyond the mind and appreciate the beauty of a rose without asking for any explanation.

Kojisei

At the sound of the bell
in the silent night,
I wake from my dream
in this dream world of ours.

Gazing at the reflection
of the moon in a clear pool,
I see, beyond my form, my real form.

J. Krishnamurti

Understanding is now, not tomorrow. Tomorrow is for the lazy mind, the sluggish mind, the mind that is not interested. Transformation can only take place immediately; the revolution is now, not tomorrow.

Poonja H.W.L.

There are many false seekers so many false guru's are needed!

Ramana Maharshi

Grace is always present.
You imagine it as something high in the sky, far away, something that has to descend. It is really inside you, in your heart . . .

When the mind rests in its source, grace rushes forth, sprouting as from a spring within you.

Empty Mirror

When there is no reflection in the mirror of consciousness, when the mirror is utterly empty, that is the moment of turning, the moment of revolution. Suddenly all that was dark before becomes light and all that was misery becomes bliss and all that was death becomes eternal life. ~Osho

Chuang Tzu

Flow with whatever is happening and let your mind be free.
Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing.
This is the ultimate.

WHO ARE YOU?

Q: Who are you?

A: There is no ‘you'. There is no one here! Here is a presence. But your very question's sub-text, is that there is an identity with Steff. That there is a concept of a ‘me' with Steff. Otherwise you could not ask this question. It is Steff's experience of an identity, that also carries with it the belief that there are other entities that are real. The mind always wants to create a structure of parts, parts that are recognizable. Therefore it becomes necessary to place a ‘who' on all, and ask this question, particularly of one who is not. But the real part that is exposed by your question, is that you need to turn your focus 180 degrees and ask this question of yourself, the question "Who am I?" With this question, and with this question asked with intensity, this sends the mind on a search for its own source, sending consciousness back onto itself in Silent Awareness, back deeper and deeper into the very silence of its origin, deep into that place that is Silent Awareness. Silent Awareness has no words, and so is indescribable. All concepts of the self, are simply creations of the mind, and therefore abandoned. Such concepts are then no more, where this question destroys this question. And then with the mind turning back into itself, back to its source, all the mind's creations, that is all the mind's creations and also the very mind itself, all these evaporate, creating a Satori. ~Umi

You Are Meditation

Slowly slowly, meditation becomes your very life, your very heartbeat. That day is the most blessed day when you don't have to meditate - you are meditation. Your very being, whatever you are doing or not doing, is silent, peaceful, loving, alert and aware of its eternity. ~Osho

Meditation is the Meditator

Why make meditation into some holy and separate ritual when you can sit, stand, walk, and lie down in awareness?

My beloved, leave behind all this fruitless thinking
And come lay down here in the silence of Being.

Sicarius

Other people are happily gathered, as if readying to partake in an exquisite banquet, to view a spring parade. I stand alone, quietly, inconspicuously. Innocently, as if an infant not knowing how to smile; Aimlessly, as if a wanderer not knowing where to go. Other people have much to spare; I, alone, am bare. Perhaps my foolish heart. Common people glow; I, alone, am in the dark. Common people are alert; I, alone, am stark. Other people are skillful; I, alone am clumsy and bashful. I am different from others; I treasure being embraced by Direction. ~Lao Tzu

Maitreya

Seekers are vulnerable to collecting premature beliefs about truth. Experiential verification is far more arduous than belief, but there is no other way to be free. Seekers who claim to be finders just by changing beliefs are certain to be stuck with an enlightened ego.

Dogen

A flower falls, even though we love it;
and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

Hui-Neng

As one lamp serves to dispel a thousand years of darkness, so one flash of wisdom destroys ten thousand years of ignorance.

Tune In

Your Real Me is special and profound, but you must be sensitive to see it. This sensitivity which could allow you to meet yourself face to face is not activated yet. You have been living too long in a dream state. You have been so long disconnected from yourself that there is no longer any bridge between you and you. You need to mature. You cannot be forced to mature - you must mature. Awaken the longing for the Self! We cannot make you long for the Self. This longing needs to awaken in your Heart and within your intuition. Most people are too immature to long for the Self. They want to have more money, girlfriend, a new car...etc. But to long for the Self...what to hell you are talking about? Where is the Self? We have never heard about such a thing! Is it a new type of computer?
Who is ready to the enter silence? Most are intoxicated with their noisy minds. The only hope for them is time, time, time and more suffering. Dear friend, tune in. Feel that which is the most intimate...that which is so silent inside that you cannot grasp it but you can feel... and for this you must become silent. It is like to feel the silence of deep mountains we need to become completely tranquil. These mountains are already silent but only through our silence we can access their silence. Here the outer silence and the inner silence become One Silence. ~Anadi Kristof

Grasping and Nonduality

The real glory of meditation lies not in any method but in its continual living experience of presence, in its bliss, clarity and, most important of all, complete absence of grasping. The diminishing of your grasping is a sign that you are becoming freer of yourself. And the more you experience this freedom, the clearer the sign that the ego and the hopes and fears that keep it alive are dissolving and the closer you will come to the infinitely generous wisdom of egolessness. When you live in that wisdom home, you'll no longer find a barrier between I and you, this and that, inside and outside; you'll have come, finally, to your true home, the state of nonduality. ~Sogyal Rinpoche

Anadi (former Aziz Kristof)

Observe your mind and enquire into the truth of your Me. In order to want awakening, you have to see how important it is.
No one ever asks the question 'who am I?' because no one is interested in knowing the answer. Most people only want to have a good time! Where can I go for a holiday? How can I get a new girlfriend? This is because these questions relate to psychological gratification, through which the emotional body gets satisfied or the physical body gets pleasure. The average human being cannot see any benefit in asking, 'who am I?' That's why, most students who come here are not really aligned with this process. Their questions have not yet been born. Therefore, they are not ready to receive the answers.

Enquiry Not Belief

Holding unverified belief in irrational doctrines is not the way of authentic religion. Unverified beliefs are not your salvation but the barrier to it.
Belief is a poor substitute for a passionate thirst for truth. Unverified belief separates religion from reason.
Unity does not require unverified belief. The new religion of Unity is rational and experiential. You are asked to verify the teaching with reason and with direct experience. After your mind is satisfied that the concepts are rational, you embark on an experiential odyssey of self-discovery to enquire into the most significant existential questions: Who am I? Where do I come from? What is truth?
Self-enquiry is the foundation of authentic religion. All unverified beliefs are a hindrance to enquiry. Belief limits your intelligence and is not needed.

What is required is a thirst for truth. Unity invites you to put aside your beliefs and to embark on a quest for truth.
The hypothesis of Unity is that ultimately you are God. Become a seeker of truth with one hypothesis to verify empirically: God is all there is and I am already part of Him. This verification heralds the end of religious division and creates the foundation for a rational understanding of religion that we all can share.
Past founders of religions have not created Unity. The reason is timing. Unity is scheduled for the dawn of the third millennium. The time for Unity is now. ~ Maitreya Ishwara

You can find out more about Maitreya's Teachings and access his book at his website: www.ishwara.com

Simply Notice

Instead of trying to stop your judgements, practice the simplest form of awareness: notice your thoughts and beliefs as they arise and inquire into their truth.

In inquiry ...

Inquiry is not simply “thinking about” or conceptualizing. It belongs to the very intuitive part of our intellect. Understanding takes place when the experience or “being the experience” and intellectual insight, intuitively become one.
In inquiry, the understanding can not be reached - it must be revealed! Even so, we are not merely passive; in a very subtle and empathetic way, our intellectual sensitivity triggers the knowing to present itself. This is very significant, for it shows us how the mind-ego, from its layers of deep sensitivity, participates in the process of shifting to the dimension of the no-mind. ~Anadi

Sri Nisargadatta

Unless your time has come, you will have neither the desire nor the strength to go for self-enquiry wholeheartedly.

Anadi Kristof

When our intelligence is faced with the question 'who am I?', we immediately look inside. The aim of this question is nothing else but to direct the energy of attention in. It is not an intellectual question but a teaching device used to direct attention to its source, to the centre behind the mind. The essential enquiry is into the source of our mind. Silent Consciousness.

Baal Shem

In Judaism there is a rebellious school of mystery called Hassidism. Its founder, Baal Shem, was a rare being. In the middle of the night he was coming from the river that was his routine, because at the river in the night it was absolutely calm and quite. And he used to simply sit there, doing nothing – just watching his own self, watching the watcher. This night when he was coming back, he passed a rich man’s house and the watchman was standing by the door. And the watchman was puzzled because every night at exactly this time, this man would come back. He came out and he said, “For give me for interrupting but I cannot contain my curiosity anymore. You are haunting me day and night, every day. What is your business? Why do you go to the river? Many times I have followed you, and there is nothing – you simply sit there for hours, and in the middle of the night you came back.”
Baal Shem said, “I know that you have followed me many times, because the night is so silent I can hear your footsteps. And I know every day you are hiding behind the gate. But it is not only that you are curious about me, I am also curious about you. What is your business?”
He said, “My business? I am a simple watchman.” Baal Shem said, “My god, you have given me the key word. This is my business too!” The watchman said, “But I don’t understand. If you are a watchman you should be watching some house, some place. What are you watching there, sitting in the sand?” Baal Shem said, “There is a little difference; you are watching for somebody outside who may enter the place; I simply watch this watcher. Who is this watcher? This is my whole life’s effort; I watch myself.” The watchman said, “But this strange business. Who is going to pay you?” He said. “It is such bliss, such a joy, such immense benediction, it pays itself profoundly. Just a single moment, and all the treasures are nothing in comparison to it.” ~Osho

Nothing Exists Outside the Now

Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.

Without the story of a past, who are you in this timeless present? Without a projection of an imagined future, who are you now?

~posted to Mahamudra

Beloved friends, what is meditation? It is nothing! It is to be at the zero point. It is to abide within the vortex of the Now, the essence of the Now, which is your own existence.
The ability to rest in the Now is the foundation of sanity. ~Anadi Kristof

From Where Did This Come Forth?

A monk asked,
"The mountains, the rivers, and the great earth,
from where did all of these things come forth?"

Tiantai said,
"From where did this question come forth?"