BY JAN HAAG

ART & POETRY - ACCUMULATIONS

INTRODUCTION + POETRY + MUSIC + ESSAYS + TRAVEL + FICTION + TEXTILE ART + HAAG'S BIO

INSPIRED BY

NISARGADATTA

All Chapter Titles (#01 through #101), quotations and page numbers are cited from:

"I Am That, Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, " recorded and translated by Maurice Frydman, edited by Sudhakar S. Dikshit, The Acorn Press, Durham, N.C., 1999

SECTION 6

#92 Go Beyond the I-am-the-body Idea

08-20-02

IDEA

"It is memory and anticipation that create problems of attainment or avoidance, coloured by like and dislike." Nisargadatta, p. 475

This morning, the kitten, Shiva,
would not let me write until he
was granted desk top access.
His sole motive, it appears, was to
steal the straw from my coffee cup

twice -- thrice. Soft-footed, whiskers illuminated,
he gazed into the flexible-necked lamp,
hopped again and again onto
my computer keyboard. Wrote his own poem:
f9kgh fgvb z43arz 7szzx` .l3723w Ñ ± mk . 8I5OPG

Then purred himself to sleep.*

#93 Man is not the Doer

08-21-02

DOER

" You are the light only...Light can not be exhausted even if innumerable pictures are projected by it." Nisargadatta, p. 481 & 482

Gaze, gaze, my child, at
the world's picture, projected on the sky,
the earth from your eyrie.
Gaze, gaze, my child, effortlessly. Realize effort
is no part of awareness, of reality.

Reality is itself. Space, time
are the kitten's leap into the light.
Reality is as soft as
the claw-cut paw: white, a downy feather,
followed by needle-teeth. They are infinity's sweetness.

#94 You are Beyond Space and Time

08-22-02

YOU II

"...pleasure is a distraction and a nuisance, for it merely increases the false conviction that one needs to have and do things to be happy when in reality it is just the opposite." Nisargadatta, p. 487

I mused by the window
I watch the quietude of my soul
in wakeful sleep, quiet harmony
with nothing to do, nowhere to go,
empty, uncluttered with memory, trusting, at peace.

The kitten has given up.
Its claws no longer rake my thighs,
it's round, trusting, blue-violet eyes
no longer seek mine -- or signal attack.

#95 Accept Life as it Comes

08-23-02

ACCEPT

"Stay without ambition, without the least desire, exposed, vulnerable, unprotected, uncertain and alone, completely open to and welcoming life as it happens..." Nisargadatta, p. 494

The solution to kittenhood biting
is lemon, orange, possibly lime and grapefruit.
Shiva-purna and I have similar
tastes, except I love lemon and he
doesn't. Lemons become ubiquitous around my hands,

feet and electrical cords. Contentedly,
he steals my coffee straw. Should I
drink in a lemon tree?

#96 Abandon Memories and Expectations

8-24-02

ABANDON

"The search for reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings for it will destroy the world in which you live." Nisargadatta, p. 495

Don't invent austerity, play with
the kitten. Enjoy his elegant stance, his
soft white paws, his carnivorous
bite. Run for the lemons, hide, breathe.
"If you find...you turn to gold,

it will be a sign
that you have touched the philosopher's stone."

#97 Mind and the World are not Separate

08-25-02

SEPARATE

"Do not be afraid of freedom from desire and fear." Nisargadatta, p. 505

Do not try to change
the painful and transient world. Do not
identify with anybody, however illustrious.
What you think is in the world
exist only in your own cause-creating mind.

Leap higher, like the fish-kitten.

10-=[P0=/////45R

#98 Freedom from Self-identification

08-26-02

FREEDOM

"....one is no longer interested in being happy; beyond happiness there is pure intensity, inexhaustible energy, the ecstasy of giving from a perennial source." Nisargadatta, p. 511

Energy, yes, inexhaustible energy, where
is it? When I edit other's writing
out of pure love of
words -- that they should be beautiful, precise
and true -- yes, then I have energy.

#99 The Perceived can not be the Perceiver

08-27-02

PERCEIVER

"When you create, with love and wisdom, and remain unattached to your creations, the result is harmony and peace360." Nisargadatta, p. 518

3666


There used to be nothing
here when I was gone. Now there
is the kitten. In this
huge empty space is Shiva Purna -- gamboling.

#100 Understanding leads to Freedom

08-28-02

FREEDOM II

"Whatever you see it is always your own being that you see." Nisargadatta, p. 525

Tomorrow I finish my ascesis
of Nisargadatta. Has my washed brain been
rinsed and restructured? Probably? Inevitably?


OR


Tomorrow I finish my close
study of Nisargadatta. Has my washed brain
been rinsed, restructured? Probably? Inevitably?

#101 Gnani does not Grasp, nor Hold

08-29-02

DOES NOT

"...it does not matter much what happens, for ultimately the return to balance and harmony is inevitable. The heart of things is at peace." Nisargadatta, p. 527

Shiva-Purna bewitches me. No matter how
destructive, my attention remains captive.
Release manifests as blood from
a scratch -- inevitably and all but unnoticed.

Copyright © 2002 Jan Haag
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Jan Haag may be reached via e-mail: jhaag@u.washington.edu

BY JAN HAAG

ART & POETRY - ACCUMULATIONS

INTRODUCTION + POETRY + MUSIC + ESSAYS + TRAVEL + FICTION + TEXTILE ART

HAAG'S BIO

21st CENTURY ART, C.E. - B.C., A Context