edition 2014
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Introduction
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Roots and Wings ~ 11 (extract)
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| 1
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Many Diseases, Only One Medicine
- What is meditation?
- Why am I always running so fast? Is there something that I don't want to see?
- Will you say something more about relaxation? I am aware of a tension deep at the core of me and suspect that I have probably never been totally relaxed. When I heard you say that to relax is one of the most complex phenomena possible, I glimpsed a rich tapestry in which the threads of relaxation and let-go were deeply interwoven with trust, and then love came into it, and acceptance, going with the flow, union, and ecstasy.
- I am becoming more and more conscious of the barriers I have built up in myself over the years against being a joyful, self-loving, open being. It feels like the wall in me is getting stronger and stronger the more I am aware of it, and I can't come through. Do I first need more courage? Could you please help me with your understanding?
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| 2
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Be Ready to Be Surprised
- How to see what is?
- Do I have to forget myself to lose my ego?
- Would you please speak a little on witnessing and the heart. Can they be experienced simultaneously?
- You have told us that the mind becomes more and more quiet if we meditate regularly. Last year, when I was living in Europe on my own, thoughts became stronger and stronger during my meditations until I began to dread sitting. Now that I am with you and your commune again, this problem has gone away. But I wondered: how can one be a sannyasin for ten years, meditating every day, and have a mind which becomes more and more noisy?
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| 3
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Mindfulness in the Modern World
- Are some people more stupid than others?
- What is the difference between introspection and self-remembering?
- You seem to be fulfilling two roles: an outer one in which you provoke and expose the structure of our society, and a more intimate one in which you encourage your disciples toward the ultimate. Could you please comment?
- When we drop the attitude of judging people negatively, it follows that acknowledging the positive in people has to be dropped too -- the whole package has to go, does it not?
- Exactly how do you not do it?
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| 4
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The Watcher Is Never Part of the Mind
- Can you please speak on discipline and meditation?
- Why am I scared to accept myself the way I am?
- Is there any possibility that I will ever grow up?
- How you talk about the same old things day after day and yet produce a new revelation with each sentence is to me the greatest miracle in existence. Would you care to comment, please?
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| 5
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Bitter in the Beginning, Sweet in the End
- The technique of self-remembering seems easier for me than witnessing. Do they both lead to the same goal?
- Although what you say seems to be the very truth, when I tell this to my friends who belong to the more educated levels of society -- doctors, professors, engineers, and administrators in the city -- they think I have been hypnotized or brainwashed. Every time I apply logic to this, then they are at a loss. But why can't they accept you when they are unable to argue? Why are they so against you?
- You have said that without a master it is almost impossible to attain the truth. But how did you, Buddha, Jesus, and many others attain to the truth without any help from a master?
- How do I know if my sexual energy is transformed or just repressed?
- How come everything is going so well?
- Is there another way without death and insecurity?
- To be open and to be witnessing are two different things. Is it so, or is this a duality created by my mind?
- I have been your disciple for two and a half years now, and all the time I have longed to be in your presence. Now I have met you for the first time, and everything has changed. I want to run away from you. I am totally confused. Please comment.
- I heard you talking about a Sri Lankan mystic asking his followers to stand up if they wanted to go the shortcut toward enlightenment. I want you to know that I'm waiting for the chance to stand up as soon as I hear you asking -- knowing that my legs will most likely be trembling, my body perspiring, and my heart beating like mad.
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Epilogue
- You continuously tell us to "be aware," to "be a witness." But can a witnessing consciousness really sing, dance, and taste life? Is a witness a mere spectator of life and never a participant?
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Appendix: Five Techniques to Support Mindfulness
- 1. Change Your Mind 2. Toss Out the Trash 3. Be Here 4. Eat and Drink Consciously 5. Just Listen
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