Robert Wolfe writes about the nature of living without division.

Living Nonduality

Wolfe, Robert

Religion & Spirituality

Karina Library

Does The Gospel of Thomas record the enlightenment teachings of Jesus—and were they left out of the New Testament for that reason? Do conventional understandings of Thomas miss its real significance? How does the message of Jesus in The Gospel of Thomas exemplify the ancient teachings of nonduality? After more than a millenium of being lost in an Egyptian desert, might the Gospel, and the uncensored message of Jesus, finally be heard in the modern world?:: The "Fifth Gospel" ::Peasants digging at the base of a cliff along the Nile River, in 1945, unearthed a tall, sealed clay jar that had been secreted beneath a boulder. The site of the discovery—near the village of Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, about 200 miles south of Cairo—is three miles from what had been the ancient Christian monastery of St. Pachomius, founded in the 4th Century.The jar, when broken open, held thirteen leather-bound volumes, or codices, which contained 52 tractates, now collectively known as the Nag Hammadi Library.The writing on the papyrus tractates was in Coptic, an ancient Egyptian language (still used in rituals of the Coptic Church in Egypt and Ethiopia).In 1978, the first complete English translation was published as The Nag Hammadi Library, edited by James Robinson of Claremont Graduate School—“an enormous influence on the study of early Christianity,” as one scholar has remarked on the volume.As long ago as 1985, there were already 397 treatises that had been published on one of the tractates alone—the Gospel of Thomas, which has now come to be known among New Testament scholars as “The Fifth Gospel”.Here are a few of the phrases that some of the New Testament experts have used to describe the discovery of this text:“An influential and provocative source in discussions of the historical Jesus and early interpretations of Jesus.”“The single most important non-canonical book yet to be uncovered.”“A very important discovery…probably doing more as a single text to advance our understanding of the historical Jesus (and of the transmission of his teachings) than all the Dead Sea Scrolls put together.”“Any discussion of the history of the synoptic tradition today must take into account the newly discovered Coptic gospel of Thomas, for here we have a gospel radically different from the synoptic gospels.”“No composition from Nag Hammadi has generated more excitement or controversy than the Coptic Gospel of Thomas.”“One of the most important archaeological finds in the history of New Testament scholarship…every bit as revolutionary for the study of the New Testament as the Dead Sea Scrolls are for the study of the Hebrew bible.”“The most important part of the [Nag Hammadi] library for understanding the historical Jesus…”“A gospel that understands ‘salvation’ to come from some other means than a ‘risen’ Jesus.”“Could this new gospel fill in some of the gaps left by the canonical portrayals of Jesus, his life, his preaching?”The Gospel of Thomas has no chronological narrative; no biographical detail, such as a birth scene; no account of a ritual with John the Baptist.There are no miracles; no crowds of followers; no temple confrontations.No crucifixion or resurrection tales; no theology of sin, judgment, hell or redemption.No misogyny (Salome and Mary are two of the five disciples named); no discussion of founding a church; no talk of a Second Coming; and no pious rephrasing of Old Testament commandments.For reasons that become clear, there is no talk of a post-crucifixion bodily resurrection, nor any miracle sagas which one could accept only on faith.The Gospel of Thomas is truly a heretical scripture. The self-references of Jesus, here, are not to the fleshly person but to the embodied Presence of an enlightened sage or master. And there are striking verses said to have been spoken by him—not found in canonical texts—that make sense only within the context of nonduality.

The Gospel of Thomas: The Enlightenment Teachings of Jesus

History

World

OF TIME AND THE TIMELESS uncovers the limitations of our temporal conditioning, which the author explores in the light of a timeless perception that is firmly rooted in the present. The resulting narrative is both intimate and universal, making it accessible to a wide selection of readers who are interested in exploring the essential relationship between inner freedom and the perceptive life. Exploring the significance of causality and change in our lives is never the exclusive province of science or philosophy. When we are done with all the theories, how do we perceive change both within ourselves and in the world around us? A history of spiritual currents in the 20th century and what these reveals about the metaphysics of change itself. This richly illustrated narrative explores the essential relationship between inner freedom and the perceptive life. It is both a spiritual history of the twentieth century, and a personal exploration of the nature of timeless transformation. It includes a study of the life and work of Annie Besant, an examination of the role of Theosophy in the spiritual history of the twentieth century, and the importance of J. Krishnamurti as a dramatic figure of emergent change. Adapted selections from the work: Human affairs can appear insignificant when set against the awesome depth of the night sky. Yet the cosmic drama we see unfolding in the birth and death of stars and the distant evolution of countless worlds is deeply rooted within us. In an age distinguished as much by fear as by the extraordinary advance of science and technology, a momentous conjunction of the irreconcilable has now settled on human affairs. We reach for the stars and turn our backs on those who can barely scratch a living. Haunted by dark forecasts of environmental catastrophe, few would doubt that the last waves of progressive optimism that followed in the wake of the Industrial Revolution are all but spent in the harsh realities of today's world. Rich or poor or just getting by, we are haunted by a largely subconscious background of fear and insecurity, which has so far proved resistant to the rational constraints we attempt to impose on them. If we personally feel that we have lost, never had, or only dreamt of what is truly sacred in life, then the awesome difficulties of our time serve well to remind us how hidebound we have become to a profane and materialistic concept of living. For those who retain the privilege of choice, life has become a sophisticated confusion of needs and wants. Their capacity to assimilate or indeed initiate change has led to many unforeseen and dangerous consequences for the planet as a whole. A burgeoning culture of holistic values may as yet have little significance for a world caught up in a confusion of conflicting viewpoints. Yet however life has shaped us, to live wholly and perceptively leads one to the threshold of a fertile mystery locked in consciousness itself, a place where concepts of self, time and causality can take on an entirely new meaning.

Of Time and the Timeless: Exploring the Evolved and Emergent Features of a Holistic Perception of Change

Berriman, Anthony P.

Drawing from personal on-the-ground experiences and over 400 submitted wire stories, Joseph Frazier reveals a forgotten war that was important for Latin America, US-Soviet history, and the everyday people of El Salvador.   "Joseph Frazier's book brings all his expertise, compassion and flair to the deeply compelling story of that hidden war which cost 75,000 lives. His eye is extraordinary. He sees through the fog and disinformation of both sides, sees the war's political complexity, and makes us feel its human cost. And he gets its ironies-Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller are somewhere smiling upon this account." - Journalist and filmmaker Mary Jo McConahay, author of National Geographic Book of the Month, Maya Roads: One Woman's Journey Among the People of the Rainforest.   Joe Frazier, a longtime veteran of The Associated Press, covered the bloody civil war in El Salvador in the early 1980s. The conflict between the rightist U.S.-backed government forces and the revolutionary guerrillas was the last gasp of the U.S.-Soviet cold war and affected every level of Salvadoran society. A starkly divided country where a few wealthy landowners controlled the majority of the capital, El Salvador was ripe for revolution in the late 1970s. Many people were living without basic necessities, and many were living in fear. Deeply sympathetic to the ordinary people-of all political leanings-who suffered the most, Frazier exposes the daily horrors and injustices of this long, brutal war: death squads, disappearances, stolen children, food shortages, displacement, constant intimidation. Frazier calls upon his vast trove of articles written from the frontlines, interspersing the reporting of facts with personal stories-some funny, some tragic-and political commentary. Both broad in its sweep and intense in its focus on the daily lives of the war's victims, Frazier's book is an important contribution to the scholarship on this mostly forgotten conflict. He explores the war and the factors that contributed to it in the hopes that such horrors will not be repeated.   From the author's dedication: This book is dedicated to the reporters, photographers, and journalists I worked with as we tried to make sense out of the tragic times that came to define much of Central America, especially tiny, bludgeoned El Salvador in the 1980s. The wars that brought us together are forgotten now. So are the lessons they should have taught us. This book is a reminder of both.

El Salvador Could Be Like That

Biographies & Memoirs

Frazier, Joseph B.

Historical

"Joseph Frazier's book brings all his expertise, compassion and flair to the deeply compelling story of that hidden war which cost 75,000 lives. His eye is extraordinary. He sees through the fog and disinformation of both sides, sees the war's political complexity, and makes us feel its human cost. And he gets its ironies-Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller are somewhere smiling upon this account." - Journalist and filmmaker Mary Jo McConahay, author of National Geographic Book of the Month, Maya Roads: One Woman's Journey Among the People of the Rainforest. Joe Frazier, a longtime veteran of The Associated Press, covered the bloody civil war in El Salvador in the early 1980s. The conflict between the rightist U.S.-backed government forces and the revolutionary guerrillas was the last gasp of the U.S.-Soviet cold war and affected every level of Salvadoran society. A starkly divided country where a few wealthy landowners controlled the majority of the capital, El Salvador was ripe for revolution in the late 1970s. Many people were living without basic necessities, and many were living in fear. Deeply sympathetic to the ordinary people-of all political leanings-who suffered the most, Frazier exposes the daily horrors and injustices of this long, brutal war: death squads, disappearances, stolen children, food shortages, displacement, constant intimidation. Frazier calls upon his vast trove of articles written from the frontlines, interspersing the reporting of facts with personal stories-some funny, some tragic-and political commentary. Both broad in its sweep and intense in its focus on the daily lives of the war's victims, Frazier's book is an important contribution to the scholarship on this mostly forgotten conflict. He explores the war and the factors that contributed to it in the hopes that such horrors will not be repeated. From the author's dedication: This book is dedicated to the reporters, photographers, and journalists I worked with as we tried to make sense out of the tragic times that came to define much of Central America, especially tiny, bludgeoned El Salvador in the 1980s. The wars that brought us together are forgotten now. So are the lessons they should have taught us. This book is a reminder of both.

Robert Wolfe is the author of several best selling books on nonduality, the perception of the undivided nature of life. He came to this perception on retreat in the redwood forests of California after intense study and meditation. Elementary Cloudwatching is the collection of his journal entries and writings during this time, most never before published. This hardcover edition also includes a color interior with 3 color images, including a piece of artwork by Robert and color typography. These are reflective, nature inspired essays, that inspire readers to look more closely at their everyday life, and the inherent wonder, and oneness, folded in apparently commonplace moments. It is also the personal inner memoir of a California original spiritual philosopher during a time of awakening.

Elementary Cloudwatching: 31 Meditations on Living Without Time

Literature & Fiction

Essays & Correspondence

The condition from which all forms appear is from the timeless and unlimited formless presence. This Absolute condition was existent before your particular form arose and will continue to persist after your material form has dis-integrated. It is the source from which the cosmos arose. Your material form, or organism, is a product of this same source, or Intelligence. Your brain is a product of this source. Hence, your thoughts and actions owe their manifestation to this ultimate actuality. Thus, the teachings instruct, "You are not the Doer." When one recognizes that "all that's being done, is That doing what it does," it becomes clear that (from the ultimate standpoint) all which is unfolding is an unprecedented, spontaneous development of the Omnipresent manifesting as, and through, every immediate occurrence. From the vantage point of the Absolute, it makes no difference what occurs, since there is no confinement to a finite consequence. Regardless how the individual organism may evaluate each occurrence, in the final analysis it makes no difference. This nondual perspective of non-attachment is reminded to us each night, in our deepest sleep. We return to a condition of empty awareness in which the self-perception disappears, all relative interests disappear, the world disappears, the cosmos disappears. In that unperturbed awareness, there is an emptiness which is choiceless and in which nothing really matters. For those who realize the implications of the nondual teachings, the fact that ultimately nothing really matters is carried over into one's waking awareness and daily life. It is also clear that while we are embodied in this material form and continue to function in the relative world, the dualistic perspective (rather than the nondual awareness) is the state of mind which pertains for most persons-who are typically not prepared to hear that their "self" has no meaning in the ultimate sense. It's probably not surprising that such teachings were once kept secret. However, they're not secret anymore, and can lead to a life-changing perspective, or Consciousness. === After my first book, Living Nonduality, was published in 2009, I received dozens of e-mails, in addition to some letters, from people all over the U.S. and abroad. In many instances, particular questions or quandaries concerning the subject of enlightenment were expressed. My publisher set up a blog page on my website (livingnonduality.org) and the more succinct queries were often responded to there. In other instances, I sent my reply by mail. The monographs printed in this volume include such correspondences with people on nonduality and are an expansion on the material published four years ago; a few of the selections are those for which there wasn't room in my previous book; and a few others are akin to journal entries. All of them relate to various aspects of nondual realization. Each, in its own way, is a letter to you.

Abiding in Nondual Awareness: Exploring the Further Implications of Living Nonduality

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

This memoir is a unique documentation of traveling and learning with Krishnamurti. From the author's Introduction to The Beauty of the MountainThis book came about because Krishnamurti asked the people who were working with him…if we could convey the perfume of what it was like to be around him…A friend once asked me what had touched me most about the teachings. After some reflection I realized it was something Krishnamurti had said during a public talk and also in one of the discussions with David Bohm included in The Ending of Time. It was: Love has no cause.When people now ask me what Krishnamurti was like as a person, my first reply is that he was full of love and affection. It is clear to me that he lived what he was talking about. He was incredibly attentive and considerate and of course radically insightful. But I’m wary of reducing it, which is why I am including here virtually everything I remember – so one can get a general impression without (hopefully) my circumscribing it. The following excerpt from the book Questions and Answers led to the title The Beauty of the Mountain. It begins with a question that I could see myself asking Krishnamurti. Shall I talk about your teachings?Krishnamurti: All the religious preachings of the priests, the gurus, are promulgated by fragmented human beings. Though they say, “We are high up,” they are still fragmented human beings. And the questioner says: I have understood what you have said somewhat, partially, not completely; I am not a transformed human being. I understand, and I want to tell others what I have understood. I do not say I have understood the whole, I have understood a part. I know it is fragmented, I know it is not complete, I am not interpreting the teachings, I am just informing you what I have understood. Well, what is wrong with that? But if you say: “I have grasped the whole completely and I am telling you” then you become an authority, the interpreter; such a person is a danger, he corrupts other people. But if I have seen something which is true I am not deceived by it; it is true and in that there is a certain affection, love, compassion; I feel that very strongly – then naturally I cannot help but go out to others; it would be silly to say I will not. But I warn my friends, I say, “Look, be careful, do not put me on a pedestal.” The speaker is not on a pedestal. This pedestal, this platform, is only for convenience; it does not give him any authority whatsoever. But as the world is, human beings are tied to something or other – to a belief, to a person, to an idea, to an illusion, to a dogma – so they are corrupt; and the corrupt speak and we, being also somewhat corrupt, join the crowd.Seeing the beauty of these hills, the river, the extraordinary tranquility of a fresh morning, the shape of the mountains, the valleys, the shadows, how everything is in proportion, seeing all that, will you not write to your friend, saying, “Come over here, look at this”? You are not concerned about yourself but only about the beauty of the mountain.  Questions and Answers, pp. 63–64  © 1982 Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Ltd In these recollections I would like to share with my friends, and whoever else may be interested, the beauty of the mountain. Friedrich Grohe,  Rougemont, Switzerland

The Beauty of the Mountain

Grohe, Friedrich

Memoirs

Living Nonduality is about the nature of living without division. In recent decades, many in the Western world have begun to look anew at the ancient spiritual teachings from the East: the Zen Buddhism of Japan; the Tibetan Buddhism of the Dalai Lama; the Tao of China; the Sufis of the Muslim Middle East; the Vedanta scriptures of India. What all of these spiritual traditions have in common is a viewpoint which is different from mainstream Christianity, Judaism and Islam.How is it different, and what are the differences? Nonduality and the direct and immediate experience of universal Oneness, often called self-realization or enlightenment, is explored in 238 brief monographs. 

Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts

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Books by Karina Library

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Karina Library publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Living Nonduality

The Gospel of Thomas: The Enlightenment Teachings of Jesus

Of Time and the Timeless: Exploring the Evolved and Emergent Features of a Holistic Perception of Change

El Salvador Could Be Like That

El Salvador Could Be Like That

Elementary Cloudwatching: 31 Meditations on Living Without Time

Abiding in Nondual Awareness: Exploring the Further Implications of Living Nonduality

The Beauty of the Mountain

Living Nonduality