The Thing of Everything "Isness" Card

“That everything is included within your mind is the essence of mind. To experience this is to have religious feeling. Even though waves arise, the essence of your mind is pure; it is just like clear water with a few waves. Actually water always has waves. Waves are the practice of the water. To speak of waves apart from water or water apart from waves is a delusion. Water and waves are one. Big mind and small mind are one. When you understand your mind in this way, you have some security in your feeling. As your mind does not expect anything from outside, it is always filled. A mind with waves in it is not a disturbed mind, but actually an amplified one. Whatever you experience is an expression of big mind.

“The activity of big mind is to amplify itself through various experiences. In one sense our experiences coming one by one are always fresh and new, but in another sense they are nothing but a continuous or repeated unfolding of the one big mind.”

                                  – Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

“Looking deeply, we can contemplate one thing and see everything else in it. We are not disturbed by change when we see the interconnectedness and continuity of all things. It is not that the life of any individual is permanent, but that life itself continues.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh, in Present Moment, Wonderful Moment 
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

“If you really understand emptiness it means everything is always here. One whole being is not an accumulation of everything. It is impossible to divide one whole existence into parts. It is always here and always working. This is enlightenment.”

“By looking tirelessly, I became quite empty and with that emptiness all came back to me except the mind. I find I have lost the mind irretrievably. I am neither conscious nor unconscious, I am beyond the mind and its various states and conditions. Distinctions are created by the mind and apply to the mind only. I am pure Consciousness itself, unbroken awareness of all that is. I am in a more real state than yours. I am undistracted by the distinctions and separations which constitute a person. As long as the body lasts, it has its needs like any other, but my mental process has come to an end. My thinking, like my digestion, is unconscious and purposeful. I am not a person in your sense of the word, though I may appear a person to you. I am that infinite ocean of consciousness in which all happens. I am also beyond all existence and cognition, pure bliss of being. There is nothing I feel separate from, hence I am all. No thing is me, so I am nothing. Life will escape, the body will die, but it will not affect me in the least. Beyond space and time I am, uncaused, uncausing, yet the very matrix of existence.”
                                                           - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

The EveryThing is another name for the Thing of Everything.

Cheers!
~ Tom :)

All is One: The EveryOne EveryBody EveryWhere!

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~ Tom :)

An Extra-Mathematical Note on “The Thing of Everything”

Cheers! 
~ Tom :)

Consciousness is a fundamental thing, the fundamental thing in existence — it is the energy, the motion, the movement of consciousness that creates the universe and all that is in it — not only the macrocosm but the microcosm is nothing but consciousness arranging itself. For instance, when consciousness … forgets itself in the action it becomes an apparently “unconscious” energy; when it forgets itself in the form it becomes the electron, the atom, the material object. In reality, it is still consciousness that works in the energy and determines the form and the evolution of form. When it wants to liberate itself, slowly, evolutionarily, out of Matter, but still in the form, it emerges as life, as animal, as man and it can go on evolving itself still farther out of its involution and become something more than mere man.

— Sri Aurobindo, quoted in Matthijs Cornelissen (2008), “Evolution of Consciousness in Sri Aurobindo’s Cosmopsychology,” in Helmut Wautischer. ed., Ontology of Consciousness: Percipient Action, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; http://www.ipi.org.in/texts/cyk/mc-sa-evolution.pdf.

The visualization and creation of the Mandala receives its consecration when the individual realizes himself as all things, knowing that the Mandala has been embodied within him…. there is a return to the point of origin. The return depends upon the transference of the mind-contents to the projected Mandala so that the mind becomes transfigured into the Mandala. Because of this mental change the process of the everyday slowly becomes mandalized. Basic bodily functions are experienced as an interrelated whole; feelings and emotional dispositions receive their colors and cardinal points; modes of perception are distinguished and take their places in the compass of being; the will and volitional tendencies become harmonized accordingly; consciousness is transformed into a discriminating tool at once beyond all condition and conception, and at the same time immersed in the perpetual flow of change. The world and its inhabitants are realized as integral facets of one Mandala…. The mandalic attitude is neither egocentric nor necessarily anthropomorphic. Nothing is excluded; everything finds its place and is understood as an integral aspect of a whole process. And because everything is interrelated and derives meaning only through relationship, things in themselves are seen to be void of any self-nature [i.e., they are anatta, as the Buddhists would say]. This openness is the basis of all things and is at the very center of the Mandala [that is to say, the Self is pristine openness in its true nature]. It is what makes the mandalic attitude a perpetually transformative vision, for it is rooted in no-thing, and can adopt itself to whatever configurations the life-flow presents.

— Jose and Miriam Argüelles, Mandala, Berkeley, CA: Shambhala, 1972, quoted in “The Mandala and Mandalization” by Timothy Conway; http://bit.ly/dWjFr

“All painful things frighten us, because we love the world without understanding its mystery and purpose.  But when we behold everything as God, we have nothing to fear.”  
                   ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

According to art critic Arthur C. Danto, who wrote the introduction for Susan Peterson’s book, Jun Kaneko: 

There is a principle that can be said to govern all the artistic decisions Kaneko’s works display — a principle Kaneko says of which he has grown increasingly aware over the years until it became plain to him that it defines his entire practice as a painter, sculptor, designer and ceramist. The Japanese name for the principle is ma — a term that derives from what one might call the metaphysics of Shinto. In its original usage ma meant 'spirit'. Each thing has or is a 'spirit'…. Kaneko’s insight is that not only do what we think of as things have spirits — the space between things has ma as well. It is not nothingness. Or if you like, nothing itself is a kind of something.

Anything is many things*. 

Love is the highest and holiest action because it always contains that which is not love within itself, it always and ever moves to include the unloving.

    — Thaddeus Golas, The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment
http://freespace.virgin.net/sarah.peter.nelson/lazyman/lazyman2.html

Consumerism will not just magically disappear from its central place in our culture. It needs to be supplanted by something. A shift away from consumerism, and toward this something else, would obviously be a dramatic change for American society. But such grand cultural changes are far from unprecedented. Profound transformations in the definition of “the good life” have occurred throughout human history. Before the spirit of capitalism swept across much of the world, neither work nor commerce were highly valued pursuits — indeed, they were often delegated to scorned minorities such as Jews. For centuries in aristocratic Europe and Japan, making war was a highly admired profession. In China, philosophy, poetry, and brush painting were respected during the heyday of the literati. Religion was once the dominant source of normative culture; then, following the Enlightenment, secular humanism was viewed in some parts of the world as the foundation of society. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the influence of religious values in places like Russia and, of course, the Middle East. (Details can be found in John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge's new book, God is Back — although, for many, he never left.) It is true that not all these changes have elevated the human condition. The point is merely that such change, especially during times of crisis, is possible. …

To become a different kind of person is to experience the world in a different way. When your mind changes, the world changes. And when we respond differently to the world, the world responds differently to us. Insofar as we are actually not separate from the world, our ways of acting in it tend to involve feedback systems that incorporate other people. People not only notice what we do; they notice why we do it. I may fool people sometimes, yet over time, as the intentions behind my deeds become obvious, my character becomes revealed. The more I am motivated by greed, ill will, and delusion, the more I must manipulate the world to get what I want, and consequently the more alienated I feel and the more alienated others feel when they see they have been manipulated. This mutual distrust encourages both sides to manipulate more. On the other side, the more my actions are motivated by generosity, lovingkindness, and the wisdom of interdependence, the more I can relax and open up to the world. The more I feel part of the world and genuinely connected with others, the less I will be inclined to use others, and consequently the more inclined they will be to trust and open up to me. In such ways, transforming my own motivations not only transforms my own life; it also affects those around me, since what I am is not separate from what they are.

— David Loy, a professor of Religion at Xavier University and an authorized Zen teacher. The Tricycle article (http://tr.im/poen) from which this excerpt is taken is from his new book Money, Sex, War, Karma: Notes for a Buddhist Revolution (Wisdom Publications).

With some skill in observing the contents of the mind, one finds that thoughts and mental images arise by themselves, with no voluntary intervention or control by a separate agent or self. Psychophysiological causes and conditions come together to generate these mental events, but there is no evidence that a separate “I” is among those causal influences. To be sure, some thoughts and desires do appear to be under the control of an autonomous self, but as expertise is gained in this practice, this illusion fades away, and everything that arises in the mind is seen to be a natural event, dependent upon impersonal causes and conditions, like everything else in nature.

— B. Alan Wallace, Hidden Dimensions: The Unification of Physics and Consciousness. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008; p. 45:
http://www.alanwallace.org/hdch4.pdf

Düdjom Lingpa (1835–1904), a Dzogchen master of the Nyingma order of Tibetan Buddhism, wrote, “The substrate consciousness, with its vacuous and clear nature, abides as the cause of everything that is emanated. The psyche that emanates from that substrate consciousness presents forms, which are stabilized by a continuous stream of consciousness.” According to the experience of such contemplatives, there is a principle of conservation of consciousness that manifests in every moment of experience. The material constituents of the brain, such as neurons and electrochemical processes, do not transform into immaterial mental phenomena, such as dreams and hallucinations. No patterns of neuronal events actually become mental events. But nor do mental phenomena emerge from nothing. Rather, this empty, luminous, substrate consciousness transforms into the mental images, discursive thoughts, perceptions, emotions, and so on.

— B. Alan Wallace, Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007; p. 16:
http://www.alanwallace.org/contemplativesci.pdf

The Buddhist spiritual path entails the cultivation of wholesome behavior and the attenuation of the unwholesome. In this way one comes to live increasingly in accordance with reality, in which all things exist as dependently related events. Unwholesome action, on the other hand, is motivated by mental distortions, primarily ignorance. By increasingly living in accordance with reality, one gains ever-deepening experiential insight into the nature of that reality. 

As we follow the implications of this worldview, we may ask: how did consciousness first originate in the evolution of the cosmos? If no stream of consciousness is freshly created, this would imply that each continuum has no conceivable beginning! This is precisely the conclusion of Buddhist contemplatives.

— B. Alan Wallace, Choosing Reality: A Buddhist View of Physics and the Mind. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1989; p. 186:
http://www.alanwallace.org/ChoosingReality23.pdf

On the whole, it is important to find and follow a path that makes the heart sing. When breath awareness starts to go well, it becomes enjoyable. In simplicity you find that the scent of spiritual progress is strong and pure. But you can also develop an attachment to simplicity. You may start yearning for solitude and want to disengage from the world, thinking, “This feels so good — all I need is the breath.” That may alienate you, keeping you from engaging with others, making you less inclined to offer what you can to those around you. It’s important not to devalue engagement with others or the reality of our interconnectedness with them. We have something to offer others and there is something to be received from them. That is a key element in the meaning of life, and you don’t want to shut that out because you enjoy mindfulness of breathing so much. 

Buddhism is not just meditation; nor, for that matter, is any contemplative path merely a set of techniques, a cookbook for the soul. Meditation becomes woven into the whole fabric of life. And, generally speaking, spiritual practice brings with it a mood of focusing critically on how we live. Why do we engage in the kinds of things we do from day to day? Among the many desires that come to mind and the many that we may pursue, are there some that are not worth investing a life into, things that we do merely out of habit?
…

Keeping our feet on the ground, becoming psychologically more healthy and less neurotic — that alone will bring a greater sense of well-being. And there is a smooth curve flowing from mental health to spiritual maturation. That implies that even taking the first baby steps toward mental health is part of spiritual practice. 

Going beyond desires for things that are merely symbols of true happiness leads to deeper understanding. We begin to see that we are interrelated with our fellow human beings, other sentient beings, the entire environment. We are now, and have always been, inextricably interconnected with those around us. In Buddhism the notion of an isolated, independent individual, an autonomous ego, is not based on reality. Such an ego has never existed; it’s nothing more than a habitual mental construct, and a deluded one at that.

— B. Alan Wallace, Genuine Happiness: Meditation as a Path to Fulfillment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005; pp. 19–21:
http://www.alanwallace.org/GHChapter1.pdf

When we see the beauty of our own being we are seeing the beauty of the Being that is the One of which we are all a part. And when we turn towards that One, love is the natural reaction of the heart.

God or Guru is an endless ocean of love truth and presence. First we may hear the distant roar of the crashing waves of the ocean and we're drawn to that sound. As we get closer, we can smell the ocean air and taste the sweet moisture. When we reach the beach and see the ocean for the first time, we're transfixed by the vastness and Beauty. We run and we dive in and enjoy the freedom that comes from this ecstasy. Finally we merge with that ocean of love and somehow find ourselves back on the shore, returning to ourselves so that we can share the experience with others. 

Those that have returned have given us these Names of God. These Names are the sound of the surf of that Ocean of Love. They hold the power to help us find our way back to that ocean. We don't have to create anything; we don't have to manufacture any emotions or feelings. We can't make it happen. It already is. All we have to do is Remember. Everyone has their own path to this beach, to the Ocean, but we all wind up in the same place. There is only one…One. 

The following is an excerpt from 'Pilgrim of the Heart' audio series by Krishna Das: 

“The words of these chants are called the divine names and they come from a place that's deeper than our hearts and our thoughts, deeper than the mind. And so as we sing them they turn us towards ourselves, into ourselves. They bring us in, and as we offer ourselves into the experience, the experience changes us. These chants have no meaning other than the experience that we have by doing them. They come from the Hindu tradition, but it's not about being a Hindu, or believing anything in advance. It's just about doing it, and experiencing. Nothing to join, you just sit down and sing.”

“Chanting is a way of getting in touch with yourself. It's an opening of the heart and letting go of the mind and thoughts. It deepens the channel of grace, and it's a way of being present in the moment.”

— Krishna Das 


Place your burden
at the feet of the Lord of the Universe
who accomplishes everything.
Remain all the time steadfast in the heart,
in the Transcendental Absolute.
God knows the past, present and future.
He will determine the future for you
and accomplish the work.
What is to be done will be done
at the proper time. Don’t worry.
Abide in the heart and surrender your acts
to the divine.

— Ramana Maharshi


“If we know anything about a path at all, it's only because of the Great ones that have gone before us. Out of their love and kindness, they have left some footprints for us to follow. So, in the same way that they wish for us, we wish that all beings everywhere, including ourselves, be safe, be happy, have good health, and enough to eat. And may we all live at ease of heart with whatever comes to us in life.” 

— Kirtan closing prayer by Krishna Das 


“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” 

— Albert Einstein 


“The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.” 

— Albert Einstein 


“I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am at that place within me, we shall be one.” 

— Chief Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux, 1877 

If you sweep the patio in November after leaves have fallen, you wouldn’t expect it to stay clean forever. The patio is like the mind. Mindfulness meditation practice can feel like sweeping the mind and clearing away the thoughts strewn about making a big mess.

It’s easy to get caught up in resistance and resentment toward these leaves: “Damn it, I just swept that floor!” Despite our protests, nature has another idea. Nature doesn’t care if we’ve swept the patio or how long it took us to do it. In the same way, the mind has its nature and it doesn’t really care about your agenda. The mind will continue to do what it does: give rise to thoughts. If we expect the mind to stay “swept,” we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.

Meditation will not “fix you”; it will not change things once and for all. Nothing can do this. Our job is to keep sweeping. Thoughts will continue to come and blow onto your clean-swept patio. Just sweep. No need to ask questions. No need to complain. Keep sweeping. We don’t need to analyze, interpret, or fix the leaves; time after time, we just need to sweep, returning to this moment just as it is, again, again, again.
    
With continued practice, we can start to recognize the wisdom in not reacting, or if reactions arise (as they sometimes will) of not amplifying them and feeding them.

We can learn to enjoy the coming and going of the leaves—and even of the endless sweeping as well!

— Arnie Kozak, from Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications); http://www.tricycle.com/web-exclusive/weekly-teaching/the-swept-floor-never-stays-clean

“The Thing of Everything: Emptying Reification by Inclusion”

Cheers!
~ Tom