The birthday cake

Teachers such Adyashanti stress that everything is here. This is the beautiful thing about the truth, ever-present, always here, totally free, given freely: It’s already there. That which is ever presently awake is free, free for the “being.” Enligtenement is here. Awakening is here. And that sounds true. Other teachers, such as Charlotte Joko Beck, on “Pushing for Enlightenment Experiences” stress the walking the way and having a deep foundation: We may believe that an enligtenment experience is like having a piece of birthday cake. “Exciting! I want to have that!” But someone has spoken of this experience as a terrible jewel. Unless the structure is firm enough to support it, the whole structure may collapse And that sounds true also

As we see It

“We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are.”
- Anais Nin

Read this quote somewhere… and as I love Anaïs and her Journals… a Pisces woman!

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE

I could have brought all expectations.. and more. It would be still far beyond everything that happened. This was an amazing experience, an amazing retreat. It was about touching “real”, looking at its eyes… and finding my eyes. This wine is within you. Everything else was so far and unreal.

The trip itself had a theme: let go. Beginning with my shampoo, parfum, etc., because of this orange alert at airports. And then, letting go of negative thoughts. All those antecipation movies we create within our minds… it’s so funny to realize most of the time they just won’t happen. The flight was belated. My schedule was tight. But things worked just fine - as if there was some sort of universal clock in charge of monitoring our actions… and doing such a good job that Sagara took the same train and we arrived at the same time at Garrison…

What to bring

Saturday I’m flying to Paris, and from Paris I am taking a plane from Air France to NY. I will attend a retreat by Adyashanti. In Zen we talk about the seeking mind. And here it goes, never stops

From Adyashanti’s site: “Adyashanti’s nondual teachings have been compared to those of the early Zen masters and Advaita Vedanta sages. Expressing both the infinite possibilities and the ordinary simplicity of a spiritually realized life, Adyashanti’s teachings are directed to those who are sincerely called to awaken to their true nature and embody this life-changing realization.”

Beginner’s mind

The first Zen book reading for many people, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, is a classic of American Zen and indeed a must-read. The book is in fact a collection of talks (teisho) by japanese Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki, founder of the San Francisco Zen center (it always strikes me how, coming to USA not so young, he made such an amazing job).

Rebirth

According to Stephen Batchelor, religions are united not by the belief in God, but by belief in life after death. Personnally, I never found out a better explanation for the question of suffering then the concept of karma linked to rebirth. For questions such as:
What is the cause of the inequality that exists among mankind?

Lazyness

 I was outside for some shopping. There is a warm wind that reminds me the wind that comes like a spell, from North African, some long, sleepless nights. I know this heat vague can be painful, but for now it just reminds me lazy moments, earth scents, Provence colours, smooth temptations.

Everywhere we hear about global warming, and we become more or less aware of its effects, but perhaps one good effect (probably the only one), it would be a most needed slowing down! And finally, perhaps finally, would we find the time to have a bath with someone we love!