Great Throughts Treasury

"The progress of the sciences toward theories of fundamental unity, cosmic symmetry (as in the unified field theory) ? how do such theories differ, in the end, from that unity which Plato called ?unspeakable? and ?indescribable?, the holistic knowledge shared by so many peoples of the earth, Christians included, before the advent of the industrial revolution made new barbarians of the peoples of the West? In the United States, before the spiritualist foolishness at the end of the last century confused mysticism with ?the occult? and tarnished both, William James wrote a master work of metaphysics; Emerson spoke of ?the wise silence, the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal One??; Melville referred to ?that profound silence, that only voice of God?; Walt Whitman celebrated the most ancient secret, that no God could be found ?more divine than yourself.?"

"The river is sombre, with broken waterfalls and foaming rock, in a wasteland of sere stubble and spent stone, and wonder why, in this oppressive place, I feel so full of well-being, striding on through the rain, and the grateful on some unnameable way- to what? On the path, the shadow of my close-cropped head is monkish, and the thump of my stave resounds in the still mountains: I feel inspired by Milapera as described by one of his disciples, walking free as an unbridled lion in the snowy ranges."

"The search may begin with a restless feeling, as if one were being watched. One turns in all directions and sees nothing. Yet one sees that there is a source fro this deep restlessness; and the path that leads there is not a path to a strange place, but the path home ? The journey is hard, for the secret place where we have always been is so overgrown with thorns and thickets of ?ideas?, of fears and defenses, prejudices and repressions. The holy grail is what Zen Buddhists call our own ?true nature?; each man is his own savior after all."

"The secret of the mountain is that the mountains simply exist, as I do myself: the mountains exist simply, which I do not. The mountains have no "meaning," they are meaning; the mountains are. The sun is round. I ring with life, and the mountains ring, and when I can hear it, there is a ringing that we share. I understand all this, not in my mind but in my heart, knowing how meaningless it is to try to capture what cannot be expressed, knowing that mere words will remain when I read it all again, another day."

"The sherpas are alert for ways in which to be of use, yet are never insistent, far less servile; since they are paid to perform a service, why not do it as well as possible? Here, sir! I will wash the mud! I carry that, sir! As GS says, When the going gets rough, they take care of you first. Yet their dignity is unassailable, for the service is rendered for its own sake- it is the task, not the employer, that is served. As Buddhists, they know that the doing matters more that the attainment or reward, that to serve in this selfless way is to be free. Because of their belief in karma- the principle of cause and effect that permeates Buddhism and Hinduism (and Christianity, for the matter: as we sow, so shall we reap)- they are tolerant and unjudgmental, knowing that bad acts will receive their due without the intervention of the victim."

"The snow leopard is a strong presence; its vertical pupils and small stilled breaths are no more than a snow cock?s glide away. GS murmurs, Unless it moves, we are not going to see it, not even on the snow- these creatures are really something With our binoculars, we study the barren ridge face, foot by foot. Then he says, You know something? We?ve seen so much, maybe it?s better if there are some things that we don?t see. He seems startled by his own remark, and I wonder if he means this as I take it- that we have been spared the desolation of success, the doubt: is this really what we came so far to see?"

"The sutra honors the most revered of all those mythical embodiments of Buddhahood called Bodhisattvas, the one known to Phu-Tsering as ?Chen-resigs? ? In the Japanese sutra inscribed upon this plum pit, this Bodhisattva is Kanzeon, or Kannon (in China, Kuan Yin; in southeast Asia, Quon Am). To Hindus, He is Padmapani, and in Sanskrit, He is Avalokita Ishvara, the Lord Who Looks Down (in compassion). Like all Bodhisattvas, Avalokita represents ?the divine within? sought by mystics of all faiths, and has been called the Lord Who is Seen Within."

"The writers whose perceptions and evocations stirred me most when I first read seriously were probably Conrad and Dostoyevsky. Tolstoy and Gogol, too, of course?I loved all the great Russian writers with a passion, and certain more recent ones, as well, Babel and Akhmatova and Tsvetayeva (though I remain woefully ill-read in poetry, which I regret). And that?s just Russia! There are so many fine writers, including too many?a glum realization at my age?whom I haven?t got to yet. It is very, very exciting to be a reader!"

"There are channels of communication, ways of seeing, for which our very limited idea of reality has no vocabulary, and there is nothing ?supernatural? about these channels; they are natural attributes of mind that can be reopened through yoga or zen meditation training, or by the Eskimo technique of carving big circles of soft stone, or by the dances of the Bushman and the Dervish and the Pueblo, which oblitirates the structures of the intellect, allowing what an Indian has called ?the big heart powers? to rush in."

"There are many paths or ?ways? to this awareness; one need not be an Indian to arrive there."

"The sun, coming hard around the world: the island rises from the sea, sinks, rises, holds."

"The stones vary in weight from ten pounds to several hundred; some are recent, while on others, the inscriptions are worn to shadow by the elements, all of these conceal the masses more that lie beneath."

"There is only a pearly radiance of Emptiness, the Uncreated, without beginning, therefore without end."

"There shall none learn to live who hath not learned to die."

"They are big handsome silver-brown creatures, one of the most beautiful of primates, with frosted faces and an expression so entirely detached as to seem disdainful- a very suitable expression?"

"To proceed as though you know nothing, not even your age, nor sex, nor how you look. To proceed as though you were made of gossamer. . . a mist that passes through and is passed through and retains its form. A mist that loses its form and still is. A mist that finally dissolves, particles scattered in the sun."

"To perceive the true nature of existence was one reason for performing a vision quest: after four days of fasting alone on a high rock, in great silence and solitude of earth, one is bound to discover that what was thought as a separate self is not separate from the trees, the rocks, the hawk, the insect peoples, that beyond the senses lies a different plane of consciousness in which all is related, simultaneous, and one."

"Though these journals remind of the date, I have long since lost track of the day of the week, and the great events that must be taking place in the world we left behind are as illusory as events from the future century. It is not so much that we are going back in time as that time seems circular, and past and future have lost meaning. I understand much better now Einstein?s remark that the only real time is that of the observer, who carries with him his own time and space. In these mountains, we have fallen behind history."

"This world is painted on a wild dark metal."

"Today most scientists would agree with the ancient Hindus that nothing exists or is destroyed, things merely change shape or form; that matter is insubstantial in origin, a temporary aggregate of pervasive energy that animates the electron. And what is this infinitesimal non-thing ? to a speck of dust what the dust speck is to the whole earth? ?Do we really know what electricity is? By knowing the laws according to which it acts and by making use of them, we still do not know the origin or the real nature of this force, which ultimately may be the very source of life, and consciousness, the divine power and mover of all that exists.?"

"Tukum is at times forgetful about his pigs, being readily distracted by other children, dragonflies, puddles of water, and wild foods."

"We cling to such extreme moments, in which we seem to die, yet are reborn. In sexual abandon as in danger we are impelled, however briefly, into that vital present in which we do not stand apart from life, we are life, our being fills us; in ecstasy with another being, loneliness falls away into eternity. But in other days, such union was attainable through simple awe."

"We have had no news of modern times since late September, and will have none until December, and gradually my mind has cleared itself, and wind and sun pour through my head, as through a bell. Though we talk little here; I am never lonely; I am returned into myself."

"We have outsmarted ourselves, like greedy monkeys, and now we are full of dread."

"When I'm in the field, when I'm working, I keep very careful notes. I wear big shirts with big breast pockets, and I carry in them two little spiral notebooks."

"You mean... Billy exclaimed at last, you mean... ? his voice rose high and clear ? you mean... ? and he jumped to his feet, and standing there under the giant trees, pointed at himself, a small outraged boy named William Martin Quarrier, aged eight: You mean I just came crashing down into Ma?s under-pants?"

"Where could that vast Smile reside if not in my own being? ?and insight into ?one?s True Nature? may vary widely in its depth and permanence: some may overturn existence, while others are mere tantalizing glimpses that ?like a mist will surely disappear.? To poke a finger through the wall is not enough ? the whole wall must be brought down with a crash!"

"Wonderfully, Jang-bu laughed aloud, as did Dawa and Phu-Tsering although it meant wet clothes and a wet sleeping bag for the head sherpa. That happy-go-lucky spirit, that acceptance which is not fatalism but a deep trust in life, made me ashamed."

"Without ever attempting to speak it, we perceive life in the same way, or rather, I perceive it in the very way that Tukten lives it. In his life in the moment, in his freedom from attachments, in the simplicity of his everyday example, Tukten has taught me over and over, he is the teacher that I hoped to find: I used to say this to myself as a kind of instinctive joke, but now I wonder if it is not true. ?When you are ready,? Buddhists say, ?the teacher will appear.? In the way he watched me, in the way he smiled, he was awaiting me; had I been ready, he might have led me far enough along the path ?to see the snow leopard.?"