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Beyond Mind
Essays, poems, opinions and humor on seeking and finding answers to your deepest life-questions

Beyond Death
Excerpts from the TAT Forum, an online journal appearing at www.tatfoundation.org

Published by the TAT Foundation

Beyond Mind, Beyond Death
Copyright © 2008 by the TAT Foundation. All rights in this book are reserved by the contributors. No part of the book may beused or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address: TAT Foundation Press, 47 Washington Avenue #150, Wheeling, WV 26003. First Edition: 2009 Printed in the United States of America Cover design: Paul Burns Title page fonts: Goudy Handtooled BT; Times New Roman Textfont: Palatino Linotype Special character fonts: Fleurons A, Griffin Regular, Asian Dings Main entry under title: Beyond Mind, Beyond Death Index included 1. Spirituality 2. Philosophy

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007909170 ISBN: 978-0-9799630-0-1 Visit our web site: www.tatfoundation.org

Note: The above symbol of the three stepped triangles represents the Jacob’s Ladder diagram of themind described by Richard Rose in Psychology of the Observer.

Introduction

I

n November of 2000, the TAT Foundation began publishing a monthly online magazine of spiritual writings: the TAT Forum. This volume represents some of the best material from that monthly mix of essays, poetry and humor. In winnowing through seventy-seven issues and over eight hundred selections, our desire wasto create a "desert island book"—a volume to cherish for a lifetime and revisit again and again for inspiration and guidance on the spiritual path. We are seemingly born on an incoming tide and die with its outflow. What is the purpose of life? Of your life? Of death? What will bring lasting happiness or contentment? What will cure the ache in your heart? Is there a soul, a God, or anything otherthan this world of carnage and compassion? Around a corner that ever recedes we feel there is an answer to the numberless questions that haunt and drive our lives. Many are the voices in this volume, from classic to contemporary, yet all point toward a greater reality than that of which we are typically aware—a Reality that can only be hinted at with words; that must and can be discovered by yourather than described by an author. This is the insistent and inspiring message of this work: that there is hope, there is an answer and discovery that satisfies for all time our life's longing. Let your journey begin, continue and end with these pages.

Contents

Ch. 1. The Still Point of the Turning World .............................................1 Ch. 2. Clouds of Consciousness.............................................................. 15 Ch. 3. Insight .............................................................................................. 28 Ch. 4. The Thinker and the Feeler ..........................................................40 Ch. 5. The Original State ..........................................................................50 Ch. 6.Self-Honesty.................................................................................... 59 Ch. 7. Listening .......................................................................................... 70 Ch. 8. Ringing True ...................................................................................80 Ch. 9. The Penny That Blots Out the Sun .............................................. 97 Ch. 10. Becomingthe Truth ................................................................... 105 Ch. 11. Stalking Yourself ........................................................................ 114 Ch. 12. The Mind Turns ......................................................................... 129 Ch. 13. The Most Practical Endeavor .................................................... 141 Ch. 14. The Fact of...