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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    i

    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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    ii

    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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    1

    All of mysticism comes down to this:

    to recognizewhat is alreadyand always there.

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    2

    You cant think your way to heaven.

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    3

    Be willing to drop all addictionto mental chatter

    and the tranceit creates.

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    4

    The Divine is experienced by the heart.

    The intellect,at best,

    can only trail behindand take notes.

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    5

    If love does not rule your heart,all activity is just the spinning of wheels.

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    6

    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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    7

    The ego itself

    is the veil of Maya,both hiding and, ultimately, revealing

    Divine Reality.

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    8

    How can you settle into yourselfwithout

    self-acceptance?

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    9

    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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    10

    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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    11

    We arent so much individual beings

    as individual points of perceptionwithin one immense being.

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    12

    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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    13

    You are God

    moving within Godexperiencing God.

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    14

    There is a perverse sort of blessingthat comes from calamity:

    You just might give yourself permissionto surrender.

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    15

    Dont take your joys and suffering personally.We are all of us stories

    told by Godto himselfto illuminate himself.

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    16

    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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    20

    The purpose of spiritual practiceis to intelligently strain your systemwhile giving your awareness the courage

    to leap into silence.

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    21

    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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    22

    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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    23

    Liberation is already brought about.

    It is already here.

    What is truly essential is to fully engage yourself.

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    24

    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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    25

    When you pray,dont ask for enlightenment or wisdom or divine love.

    Claim them!They are yours by right!

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    26

    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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    30

    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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    33

    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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    34

    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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    38

    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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    51

    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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    58

    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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    67

    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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    84

    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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    88

    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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    99

    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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    102

    The great burden in lifeis the false self.

    Drop it and seehow limitless you are.

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    103

    What is there to do

    but to be?

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    104

    Your most secret wound

    is the doorway.

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    105

    See -- you are

    a lamplost in light.

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    106

    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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    108

    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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    111

    Brick by brick

    break down the walls

    that divide youfrom the open Mystery.

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    112

    That Mysterydevastating in its immensity,

    it whispers:"I am your very self."

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    113

    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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    114

    No one gets to heaven

    by following the rules-- or breaking them.

    Heaven must burst forth from your breast.

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    115

    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.