Nuggets of Wisdom

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It is everyone's experience that the basis of daily living is facing life from moment to moment, necessarily accepting whatever the moment brings sometimes pain, sometimes pleasure. The inter- connected opposites of pain and pleasure, along with the opposites of every conceivable kind, beginning with male and female, form the very basis of life and living; and, therefore, it is impossible to separate one from the other. What the human being wants is one and not the other - pleasure and not the pain. And this pursuit of one as against the other is the main cause of why religion flourishes, various god-men flourish, promising the impossible and leading to frustration.

My Dear Ramesh.

Ten years ago on April 24th 1994, I had the profound opportunity of first meeting you.

A friend had given me the book Consciousness Speaks, and when she asked if I would like to meet you, I jumped at the chance.

Although I was eager to meet you, I could not imagine what an amazing impact this meeting would have on my life.

We met in the morning and there was only you and myself. At some point, early in the conversation, I felt that my entire being broke open and out spilled tears of gratitude. It was not as I had experienced gratitude before. 1.e being grateful for something. But rather gratitude as I had never experienced it-as a fundamental ground of being. The tears kept flowing and at some point, it was time to conclude our meeting.

I left, really in an altered state. I had not gone two blocks when I sought out a telephone to call you and see if I could come back the next day.

As you may remember, I sought out opportunities to be at your morning talks whenever I was in India with my work.

The first several years after meeting you, I could not stop reading - and re-reading and re-reading all of the books on Advaita. I loved it and love the teachings. It was the first and only time that I felt at one with "an understanding".

Life during the past 10 years has been life - that is an expression of the interlocking polarities of the universe. What's transformed is that "I" am less involved and when involvement happens, it is of less duration.

I've stopped trying to make life "work" or "turn out". A pursuit in which previously I was actively engaged.