My guru has had a face lift

James: My guru has had a face lift.

Jani: A face lift? What for?

James: I believe it is so that the appearance appears younger and more appealing to existing and prospective disciples.

Jani: Ah! I see. Appearances are so important for one who puts themselves in the public eye.

James: I thought you would be annoyed.

Jani: Annoyed? Why would I be annoyed that your guru has had a face lift?

James: I just assumed that you would point out the absurdity of an advaita guru who is besotted with physical appearance to the point that they would spend thousands of dollars on plastic surgery in order to perpetuate their guru-ness.

Jani: Why would I point that out? It is self apparent, as your last statement makes perfectly clear.

James: Yes. You are right. I won't go back.

Jani: Oh! That is a shame. You've invested so much going to the satsangs.

James: Life is a learning curve.

Jani: And... before you know it you are back where you started. [laughter]

Conceptual red herring

I read a blog entry today which harped on and on and on and on about dead gurus and how those who followed such long gone doggone dead ones were doing so because it was a safe option. Now it would appear that this chappy reckons that this is a recipe for disaster and will "preserve the sense of separation and feed fixation." Now the question begs - who is more attached to the body and the physical form - one who reads the teachings of a teacher devoid of the material trappings or the one who craves contact and resonance with a 'living' guru who can be terrifying and compassionate while knitting you a cosy hat with a wooly bobble on the top or the one who brings up this rubbish while trying to peddle his "meditation" course ?
... also begging, the age old chestnut who cares?

The entire piece is full of balogna sausage and conceptual red herrings.

Desire the Unattainable

Fervently desire the unattainable otherwise all that you will find will be that which you expect... and that which you expect can only be relative fiction - never absolute truth. Those who find, and are content with, that, which they expect, believing it to be absolute, are responsible for the preponderance of the various schools of thought. A little bit of relative fiction mistaken for the whole truth all too soon expands into a plethora of superstitious ideas. Although the original founder of a particular school may abide in truth, the followers, in their enthusiasm to attain the state of the founder, often stop short without breaking free of their very own fictional Idea-I.

Jani's morning meditation

Jani sat down and made himself comfortable. The gentle sound of the nearby stream, which was located a short walk downhill, and to the left, unseen, behind some bushes, washed over him. He sat, content, concentrating on the cleansing sound. Suddenly, quail song (Ophrysia superciliosa), a shrill whistle, cut through the sruti note of the mountain stream, as the perpetrator fluttered quickly downhill to join the rest of his gang for the usual day's foraging. The quail flew downhill every morning to forage, in leisurely fashion, for seed and insects, while walking back up the hill to roost.

ekam jnanam nityam adyantashunyam
yad bhedo'sminn indriyopadhina

"jnana is one. It is eternal. It is without beginning or end.
That there is division in this world is because of the limitation of the senses."