I have friends who are Quakers, friends who are Unitarian Universalists, friends who Dialogue in the Bohmian tradition, friends who are Mystics, friends who are Poets, and so many other friends who live lives of wisdom and wonder... this is my account of the meeting with these friends...

Sunday, March 22, 2009

when I tell you that I am a sufi


when I tell you that I am a sufi
why do you want so badly to believe that its true?

when I tell you that Im a mystic
why does your eyebrow raise up?

when I tell you that Im a tree
why does your finger begin to reach for a book of names and addresses?

when I tell you that I love you
why do you begin searching the attic trunks, to see if there is
something old in there you can let me wear?

when I tell you that Im hungry
why does your stomach begin to clench?

when I tell you how Im feeling
why do you reach for the radio to turn to a song you like better?

when I tell you of years that vanish into cloudforms
why is a brighter light suddenly called for?

when I tell you of the closeness of the soil, beneath the foot of a mantis
why does your lower lip tremble from the word "god"?

when I tell you I am homeless
why do you feel a sudden need to travel to the sea?

when I tell you that one needle from a single norway spruce, is enough to brighten my thoughts
why do you ask me what I do for my living?

when I tell you of the song that Ive yet to write
why do you give me tales from your wedding night?

when I tell you what the spring breezes were trying to whisper to me
where did you think you would hide?

will you meet me now,
that you know what mysteries have poured from the heart?
can you still your cheek, or your eyelids, through one meal
and listen to the sound of the sun crossing the sky?

here is where it waits- here is where it was left for you to find
that very day you put the distance of three thousand lifetimes
between us

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Profound

From The Natural Contemplative:

Watching Whales, Watching Ourselves

Meditation isn't really worth anything unless it exhausts all of our strategies and concepts and opinions and plans and ideas about who we are and what the world is, and leaves us with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Leaves us with nothing at all to grab onto, no safety net, no life raft, no "self." Nothing but this moment in its marvelous, incomprehensible actuality.


I love the root of the word "Profound" ... it could be said to mean "before the bottom" - I can imagine it as, "lets get to the bottom of this" - or - "the ground of all being" perhaps-- there seems to be several ways in which this etym can infuse the metaphor...

so, I loved that John's metaphor of watching and learning the way of whales, as capturing the essence of meditation, fits in so nicely with this image of diving into the ocean and exploring all of what is there "before the bottom" - this has always been the way Ive enjoyed the root of the word Profound- as a "diving in"... there is an ocean of life here to be lived, and we may never get to the bottom of it- but its clearly the dive itself, where the true meditation lies...

______________________

and too, I found this a perfect thing to share for a delightful thread at Blisschick's (Help Answer a Reader's Question!) - you must check this out too!

The Doorway

what a wonderful coincidence!

Ive been following MysticSaint's blog (Inspirations and Creative Thoughts) for several months now, and Ive just posted my first comment there- it is a marvelously rich and love poured work of Sufi inspiration...

and today, we find talk of the doorway! "We are a door that’s never locked" How fun!

so, I shared my poeticized version of part of one of my postings below, that now Im obliged to put it here too- although, I keep repeating this, "its still in draft form" ... (I guess now, its not a draft any longer ... sometimes poems will whisper to the pen, "ready or not, here I come!")


the only way to convey
a truth-completely-seen,
is to BE that truth,
completely

one must be like a janitor
one may have the keys to a truth
but it is just a doorway-
the only job for the one
who has seen the other side
is to leave the door
open

if the truth
from the other side
should be pulled into the hall
for delivery
then our poor janitor has failed
at his job-
treating the contents of
that truth
as his own property, and
as such, he
has stolen it away

this is how it is to create
hierarchy, out of that
which was never subject to it

-the truth

it cannot be a
proper stewardship of truth,
to make the truth one's own
to enter into the debate

the true janitor
opens the door
and leaves

our participants in the hall
are to find the doorway
for themselves-
to go through
themselves

there is a great humility to being the janitor
this is what makes him the “keeper”
of truth… the debators
may have clever means
for “success”
at their disposal
but for their sadness
they may never come upon the truth
(we will only get to see
what we've come to find
in our debate-
more of our own “not enough”)…

this is why
the janitor
is found to be
mumbling to himself-

his conversation has been
with unseen
unknown things, that others
in the hall
have yet to discover






---------------
and too, Ill repost this note:

the image (and thus, the word) of Janitor keeps coming to me by way of its etymology:

1584, "an usher, doorkeeper," from L. janua "door," from janus "arched passageway"

and so,

Janus: ancient It. deity, guardian god of portals, patron of beginnings and endings, 1508, from L., lit. "gate, arched passageway," perhaps from PIE base *ei- "to go" (cf. Skt. yanah "path," O.C.S. jado "to travel"). He is shown as having two faces, one in front the other in back. His temple in Rome was closed only in times of peace.

the metaphor is so utterly rich- the "two faces" being a metaphor for that which has no opposites, or the mirror within oneself, if you like...

Friday, March 20, 2009

one molecule of peace

When one molecule of peace will change the whole field...

PLEASE, see this posting from Elena: Outer War, Inner Peace

Thursday, March 19, 2009

what is "spiritual"?

There are a lot of things that can be said about the word "spiritual", and for me, ALL of them are probably true... (in the sense that when one goes deeply inward, it is seen that nothing is true, and everything is true)...but, here is what I would like say about the word just now:

if it is not willing to go inward, and (self) examine the "what about me" thought, then it is not "spiritual"...

hopefully, you are seeing the irony here- this very statement that I just made can be called into question by its own position- "does this statement go inward, and examine the "what about me" thought, or does it posit a certainty about the matter?

seeing the truth of this, however, may be enough to let it be... seeing the falseness of language itself, and seeing this with great immediacy and care (compassion), itself and alone, may counter the shortcomings of language, to allow for what is spiritual to come to the meeting...

agenda, however, will simply acknowledge the shortcomings of language, and carry on with making its point- bound to coming into conflict with all the other "points" and "positions" out there... in agenda, there is no real Listening- there is just more of the "whats in it for me" thought... agenda cuts off the spiritual, and then makes argument for why it was "right"... it will be telling the truth of that, certainly- but it will still be partial, and not of the whole... when one listens, without agenda, one is participating in the whole...

this is the essence of collaboration- this is what comes to truly meet you...

Jalal ad-Din Rumi said:

There is a way between
Voice and Presence
where information flows

in wandering talk, it closes
in disciplined silence, it opens


so, what do we do, when we come upon another's insistence- another's request for compassion from us, BEFORE they will listen to us? Do you see this? this is the essence of agenda- of the "what about me" thought... "First, YOU give me, THEN, I will give you in return"... there are things in life that come to this and are still called "knowing" or "non-negotiable"... but they are delivered out of the "what about me" thought, and that itself will close off any possibility of meeting... so what then?

how will we meet with this closedness?

what happens, when open meets closed?

do you see this? it is very clear... only the agenda, the "what about me" thought itself, will not be able to see the truth of what happens when open meets closed...

look with me...

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Something more on Hierarchy

The conversation on hierarchy with Will Shetterly continues here:

Will says:
“If both the far right and far left oppose you, you’re probably doing something wrong”

I could be saying this here to myself, couldnt I? or, something much bigger than we can commonly see is at play here- embedded into the structure of what is unfolding… how will we find out? how would we come to know if we are seeing something that is simply not seen by ANY “sides”? something beyond the notion of “sides”…

Will says:
“this isn’t meant to persuade. It’s meant to say I believe I understand why they behave as they do, and if there’s a way to get through to them, I do not know what it is, because so far as I can tell, their fundamental beliefs preclude it.”

So, this is what Im talking about-
you are saying that you have seen a truth that you also know intuitively, cannot live within the energy of “debate”- that as soon as debate is brought to it, it burns it up- debate consumes this truth, it is that rare, it is that delecate.. but at the same time, it is THAT overarching…

Will says:
“I have fundamental beliefs of my own that aren’t subject to logic: that everyone’s equal and everyone should share. They want a better form of hierarchy; I want to end hierarchy. There should be room for us to work together in some places, but their system doesn’t allow for allies as the rest of us understand the term”

Yes! this is what Im talking about- IF you can say that youve seen the end of hierarchy, THEN you simply cannot go back into the debate- debate itself is nothing BUT the attempt to “place oneself”- to position, to “take a stand” and test that stand… this will all continue to feed the energy of hierarchy… the ending of this is a completely different truth- when one comes upon this, and truly sees this within oneself- THATS when debate ends, because hierarchy ends within oneself…

as long as there is a sense of debate- a sense of “my logic is over arching, and they SHOULD get it”, it doesnt matter HOW TRUE that may be, the “they should” is what shuts out that overarching logic found at the end of debate… “they should” is what will invite debate right back in to the looking… the delicate (but HUGE) truth that is seen at the end of hierarchy, cannot withstand that invitation…

the end of hierarchy is humility- and humility by definition, will not debate with anyone- it will not try to convince in any way- it cannot carry a “should”… the should will shut it out so quickly- like those doors that used to slam down on the opening credits of “Get Smart” (original version) - SLAM- closed- when debate meets humility- meets the end of hierarchy…

Will, Im saying that what youve seen is true, but it cannot be carried- the truth of the end of hierarchy, comes with the truth of the end of debate- the end of certainty- the end of the “what about me” thought- as long as these things continue, it is the “truth carrier” that is crushing the truth- that is bringing a closed to that which was opened… these things live within US, and are not an “out there” that can be debated against… or else, what youve seen, is what you continue to see “out there”, and was never really true in the first place…

this is called “missing the mirror”- the very act of seeing that the overarching truth (the end of hierarchy) is being missed by “out there”, is ones own missing it “in here”- it can only be MY OWN insistence- and this is really who the “should” is being leveled at… missing the mirror- missing my own seeing of a truth that is so much bigger than me- and my own pitiful attempts to carry this, and make it “mine”…

the only way to convey a truth-completely-seen, is to BE that truth, completely… one must be like a janitor, one may have the keys to a truth, but it is just a doorway, and the only job of one who has seen what is on the other side of that door, is to open the door and leave- if the truth of the other side of that doorway, is pulled into the hall and delivered, then the janitor has failed at his job- he has made the contents of that truth his own property, and as such, stolen the truth- this is how it is to create hierarchy, out of that which was never subject to it in the first place- the truth… this is not proper stewardship of the truth- to make the truth your own in order to enter into debate… the true janitor opens the door, and leaves the participants in the hall to find the doorway for themselves- to go through themselves… there is great humility to being a janitor, and this is what makes him the “keeper” of the truth… the debators may have clever means to “success” at their disposal, but they will never come upon the truth- they will only get to see what they came to find- more of their own “not enough”…

(this is why the janitor is always found mumbling to himself… his conversation is with unseen and unknown things, that the others in the hall have yet to find)



Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Cult of "More"

A "must see" article- LET IT DIE: Rushkoff on the economy

I was just calling this a "natural correction" in my post below- this is very much the part of the cult I was speaking of (as well as Academia, which feeds these illusions)


From the page:
Now that the scheme we have mistaken for the real economy is collapsing under its own weight, however, it’s a whole lot easier to make these arguments. And, if anything, it’s even more important for us to come to grips with the fact that the system in peril is not a natural one, or even one that we should be attempting to revive and restore. The thing that is dying—the corporatized model of commerce—has not, nor has it ever been, supportive of the real economy. It wasn’t meant to be. And before we start lamenting its demise or, worse, spending good money after bad to resuscitate it, we had better understand what it was for, how it nearly sucked us all dry, and why we should put it out of our misery.


The Cult of Measurement

This post is a response to another of Will Shetterly's that comments on "The Culture of Cults"- which caught my interest, in that I can see myself agreeing with much of what I see there...

From the page:

Cult belief systems are typically:

Independent and non-accountable - believers follow their own self-justifying moral codes: e.g. a Moonie may, in their own mind, justify deceptive recruiting as 'deceiving evil into goodness'.

Aspirational - they appeal to ambitious, idealistic people. The assumption that only weak, gullible people join cults is not necessarily true.

Personal and experiential - it is not possible to exercise informed free choice in advance, about whether the belief system is valid or not, or about the benefits of following the study and training opportunities offered by the group. The benefits, if any, of group involvement can only be evaluated after a suitable period of time spent with the group. How long a suitable period of time might be, depends on the individual, and cannot be determined in advance.

Hierarchical and dualistic - cult belief systems revolve around ideas about higher and lower levels of understanding. There is a hierarchy of awareness, and a path from lower to higher levels. Believers tend to divide the world into the saved and the fallen, the awakened and the deluded, etc.

Bi-polar - believers experience alternating episodes of faith and doubt, confidence and anxiety, self-righteousness and guilt, depending how well or how badly they feel they are progressing along the path.

Addictive - believers may become intoxicated with the ideals of the belief system, and feel a vicarious pride in being associated with these ideals. Cults tend to be cliquey and elitist, and believers can become dependent on the approval of the group's elite to maintain their own self-esteem. At an extreme, believers fear they will fall into hell if they leave the group.

Psychologically damaging - when established members leave or are expelled, they may develop a particular kind of cult-induced mental disorder, marked by anxiety and difficulty in making decisions. The disorder exhibits similarities to (but is not identical to) post-traumatic stress disorder, and certain types of adjustment disorders. [ICD 10, F60.6, F66.1, etc.]

Non-falsifiable - a cult belief system can never be shown to be invalid or wrong. This is partly why critics have low credibility, and why it can be difficult to warn people of the dangers of a cult.



My comment on Will's blog:

These attributes of a cult are probably perfect in how they are seeing the situation- and Im sure they can probably be attributed to any "ism" that we can think of, and still hold water

the thing they seem to be missing, is what Ive been calling the "mirror"- that is, the ability to self reflect, to look and see if the things that are being put forth are likewise applicable to the place where those attributes are being seen FROM-

for instance, this would be akin to going into a doctoral dissertation defense, and having your dissertation be ABOUT the Falsity of defending doctoral dissertations- this should be a perfectly valid experiment, but can the academic system allow such self examination while in the very process of producing what is being challenged BY what it produced? (ie, expertise)

Im saying the aspect of this mirror, the extreme willingness to self-examine WHILE in the process of putting forth self, is like watching a drop of pigment fall into a clear glass of water- there is no chance of taking the pigment back out by the same methods that got it there...

one must END all notions of "us" and "them"- and from there, a new learning comes into it... as long as we insist on using "us" and "them" language, no matter how pure the original seeing may have been, it will be tainted by a separation that is itself infused with the same energy that was seen as false in the first place...

this is what I call "carrying the insight"... an insight cannot be carried into the next moment, and made into knowledge- this is simply not the nature of insight... an insight is an opening, pure and simple- an opening into non-separation, that must stay put in the very moment that it is seen... the moment one attempts to "carry" this opening with one, into the next moment (to make "knowledge" out of it) it becomes as closed to the truth as that separation which gave it birth...

END the "us and them", the "-isms" and "-ists", the need for expertise of any kind, within one self... END them, and then compassion acts... compassion will act of its own accord- without our need to make it into something - into something "special" or "better"- the movement of making "special" or "better" is still of the same energy that created hierarchies in the first place- there is still underneath all of that, the "what about me" thought, that is itself infused with the same hierarchy...

It takes an act of great Love and curiosity to end the separation of "us and them"- to end it ALL, within oneself, before any thought of communicating an insight comes into play- a great faith in truth is necessary, and integral to that truth-faith is the knowing that we cannot ever know- a willingness to look inward, to the mirror, and see that everything that is measured is already there in oneself...

this act of Love that looks, cannot be born of hierarchy and separation- it is prior to all separation - prior to all measurements, it is the source of any insight- and it will not carry to the next moment- it must be brought to the meeting NEW, each time...

this is what will end war- by ending the conflict that is inherent in pointing outward from oneself- by risking it all, to find that which was never separated from its source, from the ground of all being- to find it HERE, and NOW, without any call to expertise, without any act of agreement or disagreement- just to look inwardly, and see the mirror of relationship- this is the ending of hierarchy- finding out where it cannot live- depriving it of its energy, completely, within oneself, BEFORE there is any requirement that the other do so... this is what will bring true peace


A deeper listening to my labels

The "conversation with God" post (two below here) was deleted from its source post by the owner of that blog- as well as some other comment-posts that I made there by way of explaining my not needing to hang on the word "God" for what I was meaning to say. It seems my explanations were not effective- everything got deleted, apparently for the use of the word "God" (Im sad that I did not save my "explanation" posts, they are lost) ... so, this has been with me since the day of the post, as well as the irony that all of this was around our human propensity to "Label"...

I also promised Val, in my comment to her comment (below)- that I was holding her "Labels" post with my lookings, and that I would have more to say "later"... this took some time, to absorb the ironic nature of all of this looking, and what my own comments might be... put another way, my promise to Val got caught up in the deletion of my comment from Forest Wisdoms blog...

below, is what came to me this morning about all of this- it is what came to me as I looked again at Val's posts (If there's one thing I hate... and Words Reduce Reality) and all of the comments there, about "Labels" - and true to form, it ended up quite lengthly- so Im putting it here rather than burdening Vals blog with such a long comment...

_________________

It seems to me to be an important thing, that when I see what is false about labels (or words which as Tolle and others have said, are also labels in their way- more essential to the problem perhaps) ...when I see what is false about labels, its important that I trace it back to as far as I can possibly go- to get to the root of whatever might create conflict with "what is"...

when I trace back words and labels to their root, and look at how they create conflict, it seems to always come upon this movement of "agree/disagree"- accept/reject- fight or flight- what a friend once called the "purr and flinch"- ... this movement of opposites takes many forms, but these forms are, at their base, just opposites... this is what seems undeniable about them...

its not a meaningless paradox to notice that even in this, one might have the impulse to agree or disagree...

this movement seems to be near the very source of labels... indeed, of words- of language itself...

so when we move to "do something about" labels, then the simple question comes to the fore, "have I just labeled labels?" - as good/bad - acceptable/unacceptable - worthy of keeping as is/worthy of needing to change- on and on we go with the movement of opposites...

I think we can trace back this movement of opposites to a "Prime Opposite"- that which supersedes all others- "I/other"... and this may be the thing that inevitably creates conflict with "what is"

here, Im saying "what is" is the world AS it is- without opposites... here, Im saying that in order to understand more of what is, one must find the place within oneself that can rest with what is, WITHOUT the use of agree/disagree... WITHOUT the purr or flinch...

this has been called many things- space- silence- listening- peace- looking... whatever part of the human engages with the world that has not yet created a label, made a word or a thought out of it- whatever that place in the human experience might be, that place can see what the world without opposites really is... that place can consider what it is the sage sees when he says "you ARE the world"... that's the place that can understand deeper things... it may return to the world of words in order to communicate what was seen, but it has nothing invested in those words- there is no longer a movement of "agree/disagree" ... when the gateway of that paradox has been gone through, there is no longer conflict with "what is" - no separation from "you" and "me" and "them" and "us"...

here, everything is telling the truth...

this understanding can only ever be held "lightly" - ever so delicately, gently - as an invitation, not ever as a claim... as soon as something contains the energy of a claim- then it goes back into the world of opposites again, and it has no life to understanding the world as it is, without opposites... this is what I mean when I ask "why do we measure?" - its not to suggest that we "shouldnt" measure, because then we have merely created another opposite out of it... its a true invitation into that silent place, where there is no separation from you and me- its been called "oneness" as well, and thats as good a word as any...

when we measure our existence, we kill what we are- life itself- we make a dead thing out of what was just alive within us- in order to carry it to the next experience - in order to "have" it, so that it might keep us safe- this is what our labels intend to do, to keep us safe by keeping us separate from that which the brain (thought/word/measuring center that it is) is helpless to miss- utter connectedness...

all of the agree/disagree that we do misses this connectedness- it separates by its very nature... if you agree with me, then you have done the same thing as if you disagreed with me- you have killed the invitation to life- this movement of opposites is what keep us missing life- it may create wonderful cathedrals and bridges and art and culture and rockets to the moon, when in its place- but it slips out of its place so easily, into the psychological- into a belief that we are separate from everything else- and this creates the "what about me" thought, that in turn leads to every war this planet has ever experienced...

life is an invitation... we kill it when we meet it with anything but like invitation... if we insist on any conclusion, then we are not living in this invitation- we are insisting on opposition- this will drive us deeper and deeper into self-involvement, as is quite evident by the world we see around us... there are natural corrections to this, but when we strive for "better/more/faster" in any way, then the intelligence that is natural to this universe is laid aside, so that the "what about me" thought can reign supreme...

this language... this poor poor language- it's so innocent of its shortfall... it is built to make claims- it is so very difficult to hold invitation... but if we look, if we look carefully, those of us who have been as thoughtful as we can be about all of this- we will see that its not the language that attracts us, that resonates within us- but the poetry... the energy of connectedness... that which is willing to drop the words, and look again, in silence- in space- in peace... just that looking alone, will see into the truth of what we are...
_________________


Monday, March 16, 2009

I have permission to post part of an incredibly beautiful poem that Elena wrote- Im so very pleased to have this here- her blog, Wandering Monk, Reluctant Gyrovague, is just terrific- deeply insightful, and full of Peace and Love- please go give her a visit...

The Dead Come Out in March

In winter everything sleeps under cover – so quiet and clean, so empty. I love the sharp, black calligraphy of plant stems rearing above the snow: asters, milkweed, or regal prairie dock. But with March, the sordid dead come out. Cold rain runs uncaring through rotted leaves, sodden sticks and matted grass. Any lingering snow turns gritty dark from the decay heaved to its surface. It might as well be road debris.

Birds swing joyously by, but who else could believe this is the path to life?

Just so the spiritual journey. When in the March of it, I sometimes long for the time I still slept - when I didn’t have to daily sort through yesterday’s corpses. And I wonder why some have their feet placed on the path to wakefulness, with all the pain of learning to see what is. Yet others sleep until the end, never glimpsing what else they could be

...

~R. Elena Tabachnick



theres more to the poem, go check it out!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

a "conversation with God"


There's a "conversation with God" that came to me today- born here at Forest Wisdom's blog... (please know, Im both and neither, an atheist and/or a theist- it simply doesnt matter to me- the word "God" is sometimes helpful for a poetic soul to use, and so thats all...)

me: "why do I measure?"

God: "are you saying you think you shouldnt measure?"

me: "no, but Ive been seeing that measurements are always coming up in me- and that they always fall short of the truth"

God: "what is the truth?"

me: "what if I said 'You'?"

God: "thats right- but do you know me?"

me: "no- I doubt you completely"

God: "I wouldnt have it any other way"

me: "I know- I know that about you- and for that, I think youre cool... so, why do I measure?"

God: "Let me cut right to it for you, ok?"

me: "sure, please!"

God: "you measure because Ive allowed you to... its how you know yourself- its what you are... I gave dolphins sonar so that they can know where they are in the ocean, and where others are in relationship to themselves- they send out little "pings" and back comes the signal, and in that way, they get to know where they are at all times- 'there is a ship, there is a whale, there is a school, there is my pod'- this is dolphin-measure... I gave elephants a deep throat so they can rumble across the savannah ... I gave eagles sharp eyes so they can see into the canyons... I gave humans a frontal cortex so they can think into the very depths of their own existence... this is why you measure, so that you know who you are- so that you can know where you are- so that you can know what you are...."

me: "I get that- that makes sense- but the thing is, this can often cause such suffering... when I say "those people over there" - and I see "them" in relation to "my people over here", I see that as my own measurement- and Ive traced all human cruelty to this very thing- if I stopped doing this, would human cruelty go away?"

God: "the measurement in itself is not the problem, it is not the source of human cruelty- as I said, its just a tool that I gave you... the problem comes in that you have identified yourself completely with these measurements of yours - you think you ARE what you measure... and in that, youve forgotten something very important..."

me: "but, identification IS measurement, I can see that so clearly! so I shouldnt measure- if Im helpless to this identification..."

God: "No no... measure all you want- Im telling you there is no problem with it- I will let you do this all day, and it doesnt change anything... the thing is, the identification is a sort of forgetting- you dont seem to realize that with every measurement you separate yourself from me- from what is- from each other... every measurement you make, separates you from the simple FACT that you are not separate- you are One with me already- I am that which is inseparable- and this is what your measurement is bound to disregard- you have no choice in this matter- and this causes you suffering beyond the natural entropy of the body- this is what moves into your psychological, and then you identify with the body- you think "I am this body" and by so doing, you separate yourself again- its all a forgetting that you are not separate... and that forgetting has this aspect of "tearing" - its like tearing a ligament - separating sinew from bone, this forgetting... and this is the pain that you are trying to alleviate - the problem is, you are alleviating it by trying to perfect your measurements! how silly!"

me: "well, why dont you help with this? why do you let this go on?!"

God: "what did I just tell you dummy?! THAT would be trying to perfect another measurement in order to make the pain go away- with that VERY request, you are making ME a SEPARATE thing that can act on a YOU... and I just got done telling you- its not ME that forgets there is no separation between me and you, its YOU that forgets... I dont need to do anything - I am already with you completely... Im not the one making out this measurement- Im not the one separating us- YOU are- your very desire to have the suffering "go away" is self centered- and that is the thing that will bring about the suffering every time- that is what separates... your brain is like an athlete's muscle, and its been sprained from over tens of thousands of years of ab-use... you are just like that comedian who comes to me and says "doctor, it hurts every time I do this (*lifts up arm)" and here Im telling you - then dont DO that!"

me: "wait... so, dont think?... but you just said that I can measure all I want... its the identification thats the problem"

God: "YES- thats what I said... see, when you asked me at the very beginning of our conversation here, 'why do I measure?', you had it already in mind that you thought you had to find a way to stop measuring in order to stop suffering... you didnt see that THAT was a measurement itself... Im telling you now, when you ask 'why do I measure', if you saw that it was ME who was asking that question, and not you- that the PURE curiosity that is there in that question is the VERY same curiosity that is the sun when it comes up in the morning, of the hummingbird when it flits from flower to flower, of the flower itself when it opens to the sun- of the cock that crows- when you see that I AM that curiosity- and that I dont have a preconceived answer in my mind, that Im not trying to change anything- because I already know that I am not separate from you... when you see that- then you will remember... the forgetting will be in abeyance- it will simply fall away... there may be pain- but there will be no suffering... you and I will not be separate- you will not be separate from the sun, or the hummingbird, or the flower, or the crowing cock... you will be those things, when you remember that you are not separate from those things.... but if you TRY to remember 'SO-THAT'- so that you wont suffer any more, then you will find yourself back in the separation, and you will have created the suffering..."

me: "oh god...

I mean, Oh, God... as obscure as you can be sometimes, I think I might see what you are talking about..."

God: "you know what I call this?"

me: "umm...."

God: "let me not keep you hanging, beloved... I call this Love"

me: "I knew that..."

God: "yes... I know you did..."