The Seer

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When Andre Previn was a very young pianist and a whiz-kid in Hollywood, there was a suggestion that he should give a performance of the Gershwin Piano Concerto with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra conducted by the formidable Hungarian exile, George Szell. But Szell was not so sure. So Previn flew to Cleveland to convince him and was ushered into Szell’s apartment.

The conductor glowered at him across the table and said, “Mr Previn would you be so kind as to play the solo part for me.” Andre Previn replied, “Certainly … but where is the piano?” Szell said, “There is no need for the piano — just play it here on the top of the table.” So Previn set to and fingered the entire solo part of the Gershwin piano concerto on the table while Szell watched fascinated.

At the end there was a pause, and Szell said: “No, no, very sorry, long journey, waste of time, very sad, no.”

Andre Previn paused for a moment and then said, “I can only tell you it sounds a lot better on my table at home.”

Now listen to another prodigy, Nathan (cellist, age 11) gracefully commenting on Saint Saens’ “The Swan” … beautiful!

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Q) What you say about Being aware of where you are and of what you are feeling, sounds like Mindful Meditation; why do you not call it this?

A) Because I do not meditate and I do not want to encourage people to become regimented, sitting for a few hours a day meditating only to be unconscious the rest of the day. Instead of practicing Mindful Meditation, why can you not simply be mindful, and leave out the meditation? Otherwise it becomes about the meditation and not about the mindfulness, which is why you asked the question.

It doesnt really matter what you do, as long as you are conscious while you do it. That is, assuming you are trying to be more conscious.

From Q&As by Nick Roach

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Most of us recognize or strongly suspect that we are more than simply a body. Seekers, like almost all people, have the conviction or maybe a simple belief that they are something more real or profound than the lump of protoplasm seen in the mirror. The body tells us that we are hungry, but if we are fasting, the mind can override the body’s repeated calls for food. If we are a marathon runner, and our muscles ache along the way, the mind’s determination can overcome the body’s call to stop running and rest. Thus, we may be forced to conclude that we are a “something” beyond the body that is far less tangible than the body. We find ourselves holding the belief that we are the mind, or a center of awareness located somewhere in the head, that has both the mind (“my” mind) and the body (“my” body).

In the mind, we generally find our existence as more real and alive. We identify with the mind, or our mental experience, and further identify the experience as the self or “I.” We become totally involved and get carried away in what appear to be “our” thought processes and the drama of life. Very few people ever suspect or discover that a realm exists beyond the mind and mental experience.

“Mind stuff” consists of worded thoughts, thought pictures, memories, dreams, visualizations, and ultimately, our entire experience. With sufficient effort, we may be able to witness and catalog our thoughts. In Richard Rose’s terminology, we can become a Process Observer. That
is, we become someone who identifies — not with the body or with the thoughts and emotions passing through the mind — but with the awareness that is able to witness both the body and the thought processes that transpire in the mind. In essence, we become or find ourselves to be an awareness that is beyond both the body and the mundane mind as we know or conceive it.

The description of this condition pales in comparison to the sudden and stunning realization that we are watching our thought processes. Momentarily, we become an awareness that is far superior to our ordinary, day-to-day, way of being in the world. This change in perspective
generally only comes after an intense period of meditation, in which we attempt to examine our thoughts as the subject matter for meditation.

Those who find themselves suddenly able to witness their thought processes may revel in this newfound ability to “be the Watcher.” They may mistakenly believe that the goal is to spend more and more time watching their thoughts until they become “self-aware” throughout all their waking hours. As desirable as this condition may seem, it is only a step along the way to the discovery of our true Essence.

What is the next step? What can or should we do once we recognize thought-forms as reflections, or objects, in our field of awareness? We have found that thoughts arrive, and if we are diligent, we can witness them as they pass before our awareness. We reside in or identify with the awareness that witnesses thought. At some point, we will realize that thought is inescapable while we are in a human body.

Even those who have Become, or entered into Union with the Absolute, return to a thinking mind, albeit with a vastly different perspective. Any sense of a personal self is left behind when entering the timelessness of the Absolute. Upon return to the mundane world, the mind again becomes active, and the thought processes come back to life with all their confusions, conundrums, and comparisons. Unfortunately, we have no alternative while living in this relative world of polar opposites.

by Paul Constant and Michael Casari

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Delicious soups are a feature of the lunches enjoyed by workshop attendees at Gurukula. Here are a few quick soup tips that you may or may not have seen before:

Vegetables added to a soup taste better if you saute them in a little butter first.

Did you know that Lettuce loves fat: Fat can be removed from hot soup by floating a large lettuce leaf on the surface. Another way to eliminate fat from soup and stew is to drop ice cubes into the pot. As you stir, the fat will cling to the cubes. Discard the cubes before they melt.

You can camouflage the burnt taste from your soups & Stews by pouring the liquid gently and carefully into a clean pan and flavor it with curry powder or mustard or some chutney.

Salty Soup - Place a raw potato in the bowl & it will absorb the extra salt.

Thickening for the Soups - Put instant mashed potato and gravies to thicken. Stir thoroughly and Keep on adding as much desired.

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I see what a wonder you are.
You are infinite potential playing at being a person.
You are the mystery of life made manifest.
I celebrate you.
You are different from me and yet we are one.
And it is only because we are both separate and the same that we can love one another.
That’s beautiful!

From Lucid Living by Timothy Freke
A series of videos of a talk Tim gave on lucid living in Bath, England, has just been uploaded to youtube. They are truly inspiring and you can check them out >Here.

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The Infinite Smile Sangha, in California, is offering a helpful mp3 talk by Michael McAllister, spiritual teacher and author of “Awakening in This Life: A Guide for those Climbing the Mountain of Spirit” on Welcoming Negativity. To hear or download this talk, >Click Here

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My mother-in-law, Scotty, would sometimes tell me stories about her childhood in Glasgow, and once she told me of the old lamplighter who was known as “The Leary” from R L Stephenon’s famous poem. Every evening at dusk the old man would move down the street with a long pole that had a tiny flame at the end of it, lighting one lamp after another, bringing light to the whole district. Scotty ended her story with the remark, “… and after a while, Son, the Leary would be completely out of sight way down the street somewhere, but you could always tell which way he’d gone by the light he left behind.”

Pete Sumner

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This cannot be understood. It can only be recognised. Until recognition, there can be a trying to understand or grasping at the words, which are pointing to what is beyond words. Recognition cannot be forced and no particular circumstances are necessary. But there can be a tiring of trying to understand that which can never be understood. Sometimes it can take years before trying to understand is exhausted. Sometimes this only needs to be heard once or sometimes there is recognition ‘out of the blue’ with no apparent connection to anything in the story.

In recognition there is never any connection to anything that has come before this. In recognition, there is no story of past or future. There is no time. Any apparent story is recognised as simply a story. Nothing causes recognition because any apparent cause is simply a story. Recognition is the end of the belief in the story. Recognition is a leap beyond concepts. Beyond belief. Beyond what has always been assumed. It is a leap into the unknown. It is a leap into what has always been known but simply overlooked. I can recognise what is being pointed to in these words, because I am that. This is what I am, beyond any story of ‘me’. This is how I know that which is pointing, and that that is pointing to what l am.

From I am Life Itself by Unmani Liza Hyde????????

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When I walked into the coffee shop,
I saw God sitting at a small table
Sipping espresso and reading a newspaper.
She was about seventy years old.

I couldn’t believe it.
No one else seemed to realize that God was in the room,
Closer than four tables away,
Closer than life itself.

I took a deep breath,
And watched God take another sip of coffee.
I wanted to stand up and shout in a loud voice,
“Listen, people; this is a very special coffee shop!
This is where God chooses to drink coffee
And read the newspaper.
This place is sacred.”
But I remained silent.
No need to scare everybody.

Then, I looked at the sunlight coming through the front window,
And the way it lit up dust motes in the air—
Millions and millions of individual particles
Dancing.

From behind the counter came the tinkling sounds
Of silverware being dumped into a sink.
Small groups of people talked quietly at their tables,
And a cash register rang up a sale.

I suspected that this was the only morning in the history of all time
That it was going to happen just like this.
I thought to myself,
“It’s a lucky thing I came here this morning.”

After a while, I got up my courage and walked over to God’s table.
I said, “Hi, what’s your name?”
God said, “Jane Smith.”
I said, “Really?”
She said, “No, not really.”
We both smiled,
And then I walked out of the coffee shop and into the street.

Some people go to church to find God,
And you can find her there if you know how to look.
But you can also find her at the coffee shop.

by Bob Harwood

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Q) How do I forgive people for the things they have done to me?

A) First you need to begin to see that everyone, including you, is only doing what they can, according to what they are. If a person is filled with anger or resentment, they are likely to do things to others from that stand point. If you are not careful this will result in you judging them for what they have done and you will pick up this stand point. Thus you too become filled with anger and resentment.

Stop the cycle now. See that whatever a person does, they do according to their own limited experience and level of self-knowledge. That does not mean you have to like them or what they have done. Just let go of the judgment in you. If you do this, then there is nothing to forgive, as you just see and understand what is. One day you may do something which another person feels they will need to forgive you for, when you could not help but do what you did.

It is arrogant and egotistical to feel that you will judge another as having wronged and then proceed to decide whether to forgive them or not; while in the meantime holding on to your resentment and blaming them for you feeling like this. Dont forgive anybody for anything. It is not your place. Just see that some (all) people do some things from their own position of hurt (or just lack of self-awareness) and let it go.

Q&As by Nick Roach