I just learned from Tom, of KosmicTom.com fame, and from PR Web that Adi Da has died. An email from one of his followers has been circulated telling us:

Just a minute before, He had been Giving Instructions relative to His Divine Image Art. A few minutes before that, He had been speaking humorously and laughing. And then He silently fell over on His Side and within a very short period of no more than a couple of minutes, He had entered into His Mahasamadhi.

Bows to all that he pointed us toward, both good and bad. As both a teacher and a committed practitioner, I find that Adi Da exemplifies the blessings of deep realization as well as the dangers inherent in its expression.

May his successes and failures illuminate us.

Over at Blinkwax.com, Ian posts some suggestions for fulfilling more than just our action items:

Every blog you read these days seems to consist of self proclaimed experts writing pithy bullet point lists on ways to improve slash organize slash monetize slash popularize your life. With so many people seemingly having distilled so many effective quick-fix solutions, its a wonder we are all not happy slash highly respected slash rich.

So read it and go make a life between the bullet points.

When shampoo attacks…

David Marshall writes an intelligent response to one of my recent posts that I thought I’d share.

To my assertion that the Source of all agency might be a more accurate, albeit partial, representation of what we often call God, he says:

I think this is debatable if I am understanding you correctly.

Of course he’s right on this one. My opinions, especially according to my wife, are entirely debatable.

Some people see an “evolutionary impulse” or creative impulse that emanates from the Source and that they are really two sides of the same coin and that one can’t be called God and not the other. This impulse is neither the witness nor is it the personal will. Rather it is an impersonal, some would say “divine” will.

Fair enough. But the impulse is not any more or less of the Universe, or God, or Spirit, or whatever we may choose to call it. For that matter, it may not be “the witness” but it can be witnessed especially when we open to its divinity and consciously allow its impersonal nature guide our personal will.

Traditionally, people have said that the deep state is God. The “witness” is God or pure subjectivity is God. I think there can be a bias toward state training there, a bias toward Nirvana that is perhaps a little outdated. I am not saying that this is what you are saying, just that when people say that Nirvana or “pure subjectivity” is God but the evolutionary impulse is not is a little outdated.

Couldn’t agree more. Our concept of Nirvana and its meaning is outdated insofar as it’s ultimately a beginning not an end and this notion is supported when we come to recognize that all states are God. There is “no thing” on the other side of God. Both subjectivity as well as objectivity, pure or not, are equal expressions of the Infinite. The same is true for Source and agency, evolutionary impulse and egoic contraction.

David wraps things up by saying:

So I think we could say, from one perspective, that the personal will or ego is not God, but that the evolutionary impulse or creative impulse, arising out of emptiness, is God, though of course God language can be quite misleading.

This dualism is one of the many traps that can confuse and snare us as we navigate the Path. I talk about this toward the end of my recent book. The perceived separation of Spirit from its natural impulse to manifest is at the root of our suffering. Realizing this fallacy we Awaken into and out of a spaciousness that supports our ability to integrate the impersonal impulse of divine Selfhood into our daily lives.

Then we go make dinner.

The International Herald Tribune offers an interesting piece on the implications of this past week’s attacks. The major theme shouldn’t surprise any one.

The terrorists’ barely concealed ties to Pakistan suggest that a key objective of the Mumbai assault was to fan the dying flames of Indian-Pakistani conflict.

Because of this, neither the Pakistanis nor the Indians will serve themselves or the world at large if they give in to the politics of attachment. This necessitates much needed communication among all parties and offers  India’s PM Manmohan Singh a chance to show some leadership by articulating to his people that the Mumbai attacks, while probably Pakistani in origin, should not be allowed to refuel the engines of hatred that destabilizing forces so badly desire.

… extremist Pakistani groups as well as Al Qaeda have a strong interest in provoking fresh hostilities between Pakistan and India. A revival of India-Pakistan tension could relieve much of the domestic pressure on those groups; it could justify a renewal of support for the Taliban on the part of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence; and it could return the domestic focus in Pakistan to the plight of Muslims in Indian-ruled Kashmir.

Bows to all that are hurting in this process, and blessings to those with the courage to let tragedy open their eyes, hearts and minds.

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In this evening’s talk, Michael talks about how the study of our negativity frees us from its hooks and barbs.

Love & Wonder

Happy Thanksgiving!