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8/22/2019 The Silence Will Teach You
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the si lence wil l teach you
sayings and artwork byIvan M. Granger
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Important Note:
This book is available in electronic format for free.
Please dont hesitate to share copies of this book so long as
you include this page.
A donation of $5 or more is requested if you can comfortablyafford it. Donations can be made online at:
www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com
Checks can be mailed to:
Poetry ChaikhanaP.O. Box 30486
Bellingham, WA 98228
All text and artwork is copyright 2007 by Ivan M. Granger.
Please contact the author for permission to reprint.
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Foreword
About five years ago, several things in my life seemed toconverge into a spiritual crisis for me. At the time my wife andI were living on the island of Maui. A friend sent several tapesof David Whyte's talks, a very engaging combination of poetryand personal anecdotes. Although Mr. Whyte lives in the PacificNorthwest, he still retains a wonderful, mellow British accentthat pools and ferments in the mind. So, I was driving thecountry roads of Maui, among cane fields and cow pastures,listening to David Whyte.
I also started reading the poetry of Ramprasad. I had nevercome across poetry like that before, deeply devotional, butfilled with exuberance, irony, sometimes playfully petulant,even moments of outrage. Ramprasads songs felt like a fullrelationship with the Divine. Every emotion, every thought was
allowed; not just allowed, but fully utilized upon the spiritualpath. Ramprasad's poems were devout and fierce all at once!For me, it was an electrical combination.
Also around the same time I came across the work of the Sufipoet Shaykh Abu Said Abil-Kheir. Again, I was stunned by thebeauty, and humor, and cutting insight.
But in the midst of reading this poetry, I was also goingthrough a personal collapse. I felt as if I had lost all direction.The feeling wasnt new, but this time I was no longer such ayoung man. My excuses seemed frail. Instead of fighting thatlurking despair, something in me found the courage to justsurrender. I found myself thinking, maybe this is all I am,maybe this is all my life is. Not bad, but nothing special. It'sjust as it is.
That surrendering created an unexpected and profound spiritualopening in my life. Almost immediately I dropped into a stateof deep silence and inexpressible joy.
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I started journaling about this transformed awareness and
perspective as it quietly unfolded within me, but I soon foundthat what really wanted to come out was poetry and theseshort sayings.
I now share them with you in the hopes that they carry thesame terse truth and quiet power they continue to hold for me.
Ivan M. Granger
Bellingham, WashingtonJanuary 2007
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All of mysticism comes down to this:
to recognizewhat is alreadyand always there.
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You cant think your way to heaven.
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Be willing to drop all addictionto mental chatter
and the tranceit creates.
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The Divine is experienced by the heart.
The intellect,at best,
can only trail behindand take notes.
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If love does not rule your heart,all activity is just the spinning of wheels.
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The goal of the ego is not perfection.
Its ultimate goalis to fade away
in order to reveal the perfectionalready present.
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The ego itself
is the veil of Maya,both hiding and, ultimately, revealing
Divine Reality.
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How can you settle into yourselfwithout
self-acceptance?
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You can never be separated from your Self, your being,God.
The only work there is to dois to become fully awareof this immutable fact.
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Build up a tolerance for the unknown.
How can you be at home in the immense, mysterious,and formless Self,
when you are only at ease with what the mind has defined?
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We arent so much individual beings
as individual points of perceptionwithin one immense being.
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Each one of us does not exist
except as an empty fieldin which God meets God.
We are the flash of self-recognitionthat lights the face of the Divine.
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You are God
moving within Godexperiencing God.
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There is a perverse sort of blessingthat comes from calamity:
You just might give yourself permissionto surrender.
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Dont take your joys and suffering personally.We are all of us stories
told by Godto himselfto illuminate himself.
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Outwardly, determined effort is necessary.
But within, nothing is neededexcept to yield.
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What you lack in natural devotion,make up for with fierceness for the Divine!
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Faith is recognizing that we are always, irrevocablybeing drawn into the Divine Embrace.
Grace is what occurswhen we stop obstructing that natural process.
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Bliss is the vibrant stillness of the full awareness.
What we call happiness, on the other hand,is an agitation of the mind followed by a partial release.The giddiness of that release we call happiness
-- and then it is gone.
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The purpose of spiritual practiceis to intelligently strain your systemwhile giving your awareness the courage
to leap into silence.
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Real spiritual growth begins with an act of betrayal.
You drop the assumptions
that govern the world around you.Watching the world collapse, you see beauty
where others see only a gaping hole.To the rest of the world, this is a betrayal
of the highest order.
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Stop playing dumb.
Just admit to yourself the truth you know(whether or not you have a right to know it).
Youre not as lost as you think.
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Liberation is already brought about.
It is already here.
What is truly essential is to fully engage yourself.
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Be greedy for God!
Demand all of the Divine One, whole and undivided.Do not be content with the common satisfactions;
they are mere slivers of the Eternal Bliss.
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When you pray,dont ask for enlightenment or wisdom or divine love.
Claim them!They are yours by right!
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Constancy establishes reality.
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Simple contentmentunlocks so many doors
along the way.
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The more simple and naturalyour spiritual efforts,the better.
Ultimately, we become what is natural to us.
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God inhabits the space between our thoughts.
Mental concepts are an attempt to slice realityInto neat parcels,
giving an artificial sense of control.
God is that whole reality, undivided.
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Dive deep into the present.
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Keep faithwith the living present,
even if you must renounce the pastand abandon the future.
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Step freefrom the muddy flow
of history.
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Psychic stillness is so difficultbecause it makes us nakedto ourselves.
This is why self-acceptance is essential.
Otherwise, we never give ourselves permission to be still.
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Security and comfort existonly for the ego.
The Self is boundless,invulnerable,
free!
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Dont externalize your power.Dont externalize your delight.
Dont externalize your purpose.
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Enough deals and half-measures!
Hand over everythingto that divine ember
burning in your chest!
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The ego is not a necessity.
It is not even a real thing.
The ego is only a bad habit.
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Imagination is essential.
It is the psychic flexibilityto see with new eyes.
Imagination can break the tranceof the ego.
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Make a supreme effort!
What are you hoarding all of your energy for?
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Holiness is born of love,not discipline.
Discipline only increasesyour capacity
to love.
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The awakened heartis the true church.
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The Mystery is you.
The vast, divine Unknown is you.
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You can only perceivewhat you already are.
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We become what we love.
Everything else is just movement.
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We are always doing the best we can imagine.The problem is that we arent always doing
the best we CAN.
Unleash the imagination!
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Even our masks reveal us.
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Whatever you seek,you seek God.
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The only valid motivation is love --love for God,
love for humanity,love for the living Earth.
Anything less will fall short of your goal.
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Action proceeds from stillness.
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We are always floating in the Divine Sea.
All you must doat any timeis drink!
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The path of forgiveness
is the path of freedom.
Forgiveness is a rebellionagainst the egos self-importance.
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Are you one who seeks,
or one who finds?
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Bliss is not some philosophical idea.
It is real, tangible,felt in the body
as well as the soul.
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The ego is a deep tremor that disrupts the awareness.
When the mind is so stillthat not even the thought of I arises,
then divine perception occurs.
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Once you have gathered enough silence,silence gathers you.
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What we call the egois the individuals particular wayof not being fully present.
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The ego is a tension in the awareness.It is a psychic muscle spasm.
When you finally relax out of it,the relief is so immense
that you are overcome with bliss.
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Find the holy heartof the moment.
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You dont acquire enlightenment;
you recognize it.
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Ask yourself
What if reaching enlightenmentwas no reach at all?
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Do thatwhich makes your life
holy.
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Divine purpose, dharma, moves through you.
The only question iswhether you pretend to fight it.
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Dont strain toward enlightenment.
Relax into it.
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Deep awakeningrequires a tremendous journey,
but nothing muchneeds to happen.
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A mystic must be supremely pragmatic:
Use what works,
whatever opens the heartand fires the spirit.
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Knowing God requires no thought.Embracing God requires no grasp.
The road to God requires onlythat you step aside.
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Love everyone and everythingwith the last ounce of your being.
Love all until you are shatteredby love
and only love remains.
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Sift your life
until it becomes simplywhat it is
and you become a thing unnamed.
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Death comes
only to claim your story
and takes you toowhen you cant let go.
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Follow the trace of time
until the start
collapses with the endinto the space of the heart.
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Even through intense sufferingthe Divine reveals Herself
-- exquisitely!
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Religion is not a fixed collectionof beliefs and rituals.
Religion, properly understood,is a living technology
for experiencing God.
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Through you
the world learnsto recognize itself
-- as heaven.
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Whittle yourself downto the question at your core.
Let that empty ache lead you
to ecstasy!
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Forget about what should be.
Discover what is.
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There may be actions to takeand responsibilities to fulfill,
but there is nothing to do.
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It takes immense effort
to remain distracted.
Your natural state is bliss.Stop working so hard to forget this!
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When every aspect of your life
turns your attention to the Divine,then the Divine turns to you
and draws you in.
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Ego is the fundamental trance,
the seed of all addiction.Find the secret
it so desperately hides!
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Use yourself up!
When you have spent yourself utterly-- that is the moment you seek.
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Meditation, prayer, quiet --
These train your eyes to seeby the inner glow.
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If you dont occasionallymake a fool of yourself,
youre not fully living life.
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The Divine Mother loves so unrestrainedly
that She fills even our tragedieswith blessings.
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You live in the most sacred place
in the universe:
right here,right now.
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Each day should be approachedwith amazement,
wonder,gratitude.
Afterall, what have you doneto earn the inconceivable gift of life?
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In two,there is only One.
In you and I,there are not two, but One.
In delusion,One;
in recollection,One.
What work remains but to know?
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Dont mistake information for knowledge.
Information is important,but knowledge is the stuff of life.
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Understand about sacred texts:
A map doesnt mean anythingif you dont make the journey.
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Gather your history upand carry it into the present moment.
Gather your history up,unedited, without fear,
and watch it disappear.
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Every person: God.
Every animal, every plant: God.
Everything: God, God!
The slightest contact is worship.
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Deep spiritual unfolding
may feel unbearably slow,at times painful, terrifying,
-- but what else is worth any effort?
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Stop asking, How do I get there from here?
Are you fully here?
The question is: How do I get here from there?
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You are the goal.
Where else do you think you should bebut where you already are?
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Be fully present.Be totally naked.
Let the energy flow.Feel everything.
Accept yourself completely.
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Accept othersas they are
and you will rememberyour own natural beauty.
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Its amazing what you find
in the palm of your hand
when you finallyrelease your grip.
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Where bliss begins
everything else ends.
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Your destination is immense,
but very little will fit through the doorway.
Pack lightly,and leave yourself behind.
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In this divine game of hide-and-seek
stop pretendingthere is any place to hide.
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Each day, each moment
is a step into the unknown.
How can you feel anythingbut amazement?
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Everything is an exercisein awareness.
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The great burden in lifeis the false self.
Drop it and seehow limitless you are.
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What is there to do
but to be?
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Your most secret wound
is the doorway.
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See -- you are
a lamplost in light.
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Love has no opposite.
Hate, fear,are not loves opposites;
they are its denial.
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Insight comes as the punch-lineto a drawn-out shaggy dog story.
The answer is so obviousits insulting
-- then you laugh.
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Find the joythat quietly glows in your chest,
the joy that glows with brazen disregardfor your lurching tears and laughter.
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The renunciate: God alone.The householder: God first.
Lesser prioritieslead to disappointment.
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Continuously ask: What is right here?
What is this sensation?This emotion?
This thought?This experience?
Then ask: Who is experiencing it?
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Brick by brick
break down the walls
that divide youfrom the open Mystery.
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That Mysterydevastating in its immensity,
it whispers:"I am your very self."
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All your loss, hurt and hope --gather them upinto a great pure ache
until the Beloved has no choice but to kissyour naked heart.
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No one gets to heaven
by following the rules-- or breaking them.
Heaven must burst forth from your breast.
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To truly know yourselfyou must drop the desire
to be understood by others.
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Each form clothes the Formless.Every sound covers the Silence.
Seek the naked Presencenakedly.
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May our eyes see, though our hearts break.May our hearts break, that they may open.May our hearts bleed, that we know
life flows through them.
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Don't rush.The spiritual path is an endurance sport.
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Unedited memory.
Undistracted mind.
Unbound identity.
Unlimited awareness.
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Notice everything!
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Regardless of belief,
everyone is an agnostic
until gnosis.
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Pure, compassionate,
and devastating honestywith yourself
is the only way.
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Enlightenment is
not what you think.
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A year or ten yearsor ten thousand years,
what does it matter how long enlightenment takes?
It is the only game worth playing.
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Maybe the journey's endis just around the corner.
Maybe it's right under your feet.
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With everything you do,
everywhere you go,be always on the search
for that secret, giddy touch.
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Allow yourself to noticewhat you are feeling.
Then -- notice yourself feeling.
Then -- notice yourself.
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You are what you are,
not what you think you are.
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Use everything:Joy, fear, success, suffering.
A seeker hasn't the luxuryto waste life in pursuitof easy, grand experiences.
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Your life needs one crucial ingredient:
you!
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Everything is an opportunityfor awareness.
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The purpose of life is awareness.
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All objects, all peoplethat tug at your desire:
unzip them.
See what tumbles out.
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In your pursuit of God,
sometimes -- you must be extreme;always -- you must be supremely balanced.
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Let go of the world
...and see what happens to it,...and see what happens to you.
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It is impossible to settleinto the present
without first cultivatingcontentment.
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If you are not intensely dedicatedto a high ideal,
then comfort becomes your goal by default
and every difficulty becomes a crisis.
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Don't ask questionswith simple answers.
Ask the questionsthat bring you face-to-face
with the Mystery.
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Come to that confrontationwith yourself on all sides.
Come unarmed.
The secret:Embrace everything you find.
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Every person you interact with is within you.
Every object you touch is within you.
The moment of your enlightenmentreconciles the whole world.
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When you can't quiet the mind,
watch it busily vibrating.Feel the emotional heat that generates.
Notice what it is and what it is not.
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'Blind faith' is just passive belief.
We need active faith,faith that tests itself constantly.
We need faith with eyes.
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Faith is being in your feetas well as your head.
Faith is being-- present.
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The goal is to become a non-believer,to abandon belief -- and dogma and hearsay
in favor of direct knowing.
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The agitations of the mindare addictive.
Break that addictionand see what the still mind sees.
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Let every actionbe a perfect stillness
in the heart.
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The oceanic silence will do the work.
Your only job is to applyjust enough thought
to give form.
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Never confuse innocence with naivet.
Naivet must be carefully removed,while innocence is your true nature.
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Faith has nothing to do with belief.Faith is surrendering
all of your fears and hopes
to the Divine Life flowing through you.
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The challenge --to become a perfect ruin
of utter surrender to the Divine,
while remaining poised, clear, and capable.
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There is something fierce
in every saint and sage.
How else could they free lovefrom its cage?
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Don't resent the work.It gives you the strength to stand
whole and silent
before the vast Mystery.
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To be holyis to be, wholly.
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The ego departs with great fanfare,leaving you awash in bliss.
Drunk and already drawing disciples,will you notice if it tries to return oh so quietly?
Will you admit it?What then, o gurus?
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You need just this:
devotionto the essential.
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True contentment will carry youpast the wall of wordspast the blind border of self-rejection
into the very present.
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There is an inner perfection
the same for everyone.
The psyche may go through the motions,but it's journey is done.
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Every empty cup is filled.
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Sure, there may be changes worth making --
in your life, in the world.
At the same time, courageously, even foolishly,accept what is.
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Is reality broken?
Why do you think it will fall apartif you loosen your hold?
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Discover the answers
that consume the questions.
Find the questionstoo big for answers.
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Peace and joy
-- that's what everyone wants.Fear that twists that natural yearning
into the compulsionfor security and comfort.
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Every ignoble act says --
"Save me from myself!"
Every noble act saysthe same.
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Even asceticism is sensual
and potentially a trap.Whatever you experience,
Let the senses speak and be still.
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Love, compassion is effortless.
The soul is exhausted by the effortto stop this natural outpouring
of the living heart.
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Everything that exists
existsas a thought in the mind.
What is that thought-thing?
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We don't take the final step.
It takes us.
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Read these words, but ignore them.It is the silence that will teach you.
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Ivan M. Granger lives in Washington state with his wife,Michele. He is the editor of Poetry-Chaikhana.com, an onlineresource of sacred poetry from around the world.