35. Appearance and Sensation – Randall Friend
Gilbert introduces Randall who shares some insights and explorations into the unknown. Randall’s website
The extract is from a talk by Randal called “Oneness of Consciousness” – hear the rest through the link above.
Randall’s first book is being published in early May – The title is “You Are No Thing” - publisher Non-Duality Press.
Comedy: A short piece from the late and great Bill Hicks is featured at the beginning.
Short music interludes include: James Taylor, Flamenco Arabe, Bob Lind, Ray Stevens, Joe South and Chrissie Hynde.
A recording of Helen Adie playing a Gurdjieff piano piece from a collection of music called “Dances and Chants of the Seids” – an unusually ‘moving’ piece of music.
Point of interest: Helen Adie, a concert pianist during her early life in London, was Gilbert’s ‘sacred dance’ (‘movements’) teacher for many years. She played Piano for the Movement Classes in Paris (Fontainebleau) for G.I. Gurdjieff . Helen and her husband George Adie were pupils of Gurdjieff. This music, along with many other pieces, was recorded by Gilbert in the 80′s. There is a 3 CD set of the music available (or was for a few years). It may be hard to find. Some of the pieces are exceptionally ‘moving’. As I remember it, Helen was flown to the US to play pieces for the production of Peter Brook’s film, on Gurdjieff’s early life, called “Meetings with Remarkable Men”. Some of the ‘movements’ appear in that film. You can see them on google video.
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Welcome to a new program. We will be featuring the Nisargadatta Tapes on a regular basis. Other surprises are ‘in store’. Warm regards – Gilbert.
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Sensation appears to Awareness or should we say rather “Sensational” appears to Awareness, as in these talks by Randall are a sensational job! Of course, this is one of my favorite tracks–a clip from “Oneness of Consciousness”. It’s great that others will get to hear this stuff. If you have questions, just say “hi, I’m Joe Schmoe and I have a question for Gilbert / Randall or I don’t understand such-and-such”. No need for the hilariously contrived preambles like “what’s arising here at the moment” or “what seems to be arising for this body-mind”. You know that little boy from Ten Bull Zen who found the bull, rode the bull, the bull disappeared, he disappeared, then he was back full circle as a little boy happily chopping wood/ carrying water in his village? When he’s hungry he says “may I have an apple please sir?” He doesn’t say “this body-mind seems to be experiencing a sensation we could conceptually label as hunger and I would like you, kind sir, who is not a separate independent entity apart from the one reality, to consider lending me that indescribable morsel that some would erroneously label as an apple.”
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What is arising here is some un-control-able laughing. Jimbo, ‘you take the cake’.
You squashed a thousand spiritual egos in one paragraph. Hail to the great Jimbo.
It would appear that I made this latest program, in short order, due to your previous comment about Randall’s piece “Oneness of Consciousness”.
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Preambles are intelligence expressing itself…why not let it appear as it likes? Are nonspiritual egos better than spiritual ones? Do questions need a nonspiritual format, or should they be allowed to arise as they arise? Are spiritual egos more worthy of squashing than nonspiritual egos? Shall we contrive to censure pretension at the expense of hilarity?
Great stuff, some of Randall’s best. Music great too!
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It is all words. The interesting ‘bit’ is which ones stick or grate upon what?
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Hi, I can’t seem to wrap my mind around what I am. And it’s driving me crazy. So I have a question for Gilbert / Randall / Kimo / myself / et al….
Why can’t I rest right here, in the mystery of NOT-KNOWING?
When you guys tell me to be the KNOWING I already am, it seems you are favoring the ‘heaven’ side of a 2-sided coin.
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Wonderful clear pointing by Randall.
Just noticed that one of the musical interludes is Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. The piano piece is ‘hauntingly moving’, reminds me of the work of Eric Satie.
Warm rgds,suki
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Ahhhhhh, Randall>> Smooth Maple Syrup Voice>> Priceless Content>>
AND, If that wasn’t quite enough for the “you”, I highly recommend “The Subject “I”.
avastu0@blogspot.com
I just can’t stop listening to the previous podcast with Nisargatta>>>
There is something Very Mooving about that particular piece.
ThanQ All,
M.E.
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There must have been some good karma surrounding you Gilbert to have had access to people so closely involved with Gurdjieff at a young age. Do you think they had an influence on your interest in things non-dual?
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Randall,
Is it true that everything we see is an object but what we have thought all our lives was that this body/mind was a subject looking out at all these objects?
Does the awareness/consiousness that I AM…. appear in all these objects including this body/mind?
Sully
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Linda, yes, it appears to be fortunate – yet the realization or a vivid glimpse of ONE LIFE ‘happened’ (here) at a Gurdjieff’s birthday celebration picnic in the 80′s. That ‘moment’ is THIS moment for all concerned without discrimination.
Sharing THIS consciously appears to be what makes the difference.
The vivid immediacy of ‘this moment’ is always a cutting through of all concepts about ‘time’. The naked presence is completely void of any concepts of time. This is the true nature of ‘every moment’ – as emptiness is the true nature of all things.
Karma, good or bad, is a belief in time and in the middle of the belief is a ‘me’ – it is ‘my karma’.
As a bit of a joke I could lament that ‘seekers’ are no longer what they used to be……they are all now fat and lazy. I think Nisargadatta said something like this: “There is no shortage of teachers – it is the genuine devotee that is rare”.
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Sully,
See for yourself. Neti-Neti, not this, not this… if it arises, if it appears TO YOU, then can it BE you as a separate “thing”? Are you an appearance? If so, then what subject is aware of you, right now?
Isn’t awareness the primary subjectivity? Can you get behind awareness to get a look at it? Can you talk about it’s size, shape, color, location? Does it have boundaries? Depth? Duration?
Isn’t this primary subjectivity the most intimate aspect of a lifetime of experiences? Aren’t all experiences dependent on that subjectivity to appear? This subjectivity isn’t a changing part of experience – it is the very ground or basis or condition necessary for any and all experiences.
Isn’t this subjectivity what we REALLY mean by “I”? If we stay right at that point, right at this “I” – we see that even the body and thoughts appear TO “I”, to Awareness.
This subjectivity is the most intimate and obvious aspect of this very moment – this is what you are – not something hidden or some special “spiritual” state – it’s WHAT YOU ARE.
Yet it’s wrapped up, in belief, with the body-mind. Thought translates this subjectivity or “I”, in beliefs, as the “body-mind IN the ‘outside world’”. Yet the body-mind is another object appearing TO YOU. Awareness objectifies the body-mind and the world.
Yet just like in the dream, the objects are not separate from the “space” of subjectivity in which they appear.
Therefore subjectivity isn’t SUBJECT – Subject is a concept – subject ASSUMES object – “subjectivity” is nonconceptual – pointing to something WORDLESS – prior to concepts – subjectivity contains both subject (idea) and object (idea).
Therefore “subjectivity” or awareness (or Consciousness) falls away as concept also – this awareness is an ASPECT OF Life, Intelligence… the power, presence and awareness – God – Oneness.
Life, presently knowing itself.
love to you
randall
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Emptiness does not ‘point’ at anything. It IS everything but not as it ‘appears’.
The recognition which ‘appears’ to be necessary is pure apperception, cognition – or thoughtless reality. THIS is our true identity. It does not need to be realized by anyone.
It is THIS eternal self-realizing movement of knowing……JUST as it IS.
The irony of the situation is that this recognition cannot be contrived or made to happen.
It is the absence of the ‘seeker’. So, all efforts of seeking are simply obscuring the obvious.
This is pointed out in many ways, many times. It is passed over most often…..the answer is not in the mind – yet that is where everyone keeps looking.
All efforts to point at what is being pointed at, fail. It appears that there is an infinite ocean laying between words and descriptions and what is being pointed at.
No words EVER bridge the ocean.
Where are you seeing from?
Those words are close, very close…..but they are just words. The potentiality of it all lies in what you ARE – never in the words.
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Ron, are you good now after reading those subsequent posts? Who says you need to try to be the Knowing? You can’t help being what you are. “Knowing” is just a pointer that arises in what you are (you aren’t that word). Also, who is separating heads and tails of some heaven/hell coin and picking one of those attributes or categories of experience as what you are? You’ll never grasp it using the mind because it will recede at every grasping attempt. No matter how far “upstream” you try to paddle, all of these appearances, no matter how sacred, will be “downstream” when you look back and attempt to identify yourself with one of those appearances. You’ll always be “upstream” from anything seen or experienced.
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You know, you don’t get to pick what you are. Maybe that’s part of the trouble for some after dabbling with trying to transcend body and mind. “If I’m not the body or mind, maybe I’m some ecstatic experience or angelic soul that’s here to save the universe and achieve everlasting blissful thoughts…” Remember, any type of object, state, or persona (even one as exalted as being a savior to “others”) is still something that can be changed, bound, or obliterated at any time. Your true nature is not subject to any of those conditions. Just plain vanilla, never appears, never moves, never changes. Can you handle that or will you keep seeking?
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All efforts to personalize THIS fail. I get regular emails from those who believe they have ‘awakened’ and don’t see it is just another story of ‘me’.
The world and every appearance in it is One Appearance, immediate and fleeting.
No ‘time’ for any ‘person’ to take form in the formless.
Trace any of these ‘things’ back to the ‘I’, which is a belief of being ‘a perceiver’.
Recognize that this ‘I’ is simply another appearance.
No one can go past this clear and obvious no thing-ness.
No Ramana, No Buddha, No Christ EVER went beyond THIS – NO THING.
‘You’ as that believed in ‘entity’ can never get beyond the thought ‘I am’.
Yet where the SEEING is happening there is no ‘seer’ and nothing ‘seen’.
No one can separate the appearance from the knowing. The appearance knows nothing, the form has no qualities of itself.
Yet the appearance and the knowing are ONE.
When they rolled away the Stone which covered the Cave, where his body had been placed, they found it empty – only a ‘seamless’ garment lay folded neatly on the bench.
When you look for the ‘I’ the cave is found to be empty. Traces of the garment (the appearance) still appear. The Appearance is a seamless garment worn by no one.
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Ron: Do we really choose to be or not be in “knowing” or “not knowing?” From my perspective, we can only choose to be where or what we are, or to try or pretend to be something we are not (“you don’t get to pick what you are”).
What do you mean by “resting in the mystery of not knowing” and how is it different from resting in knowing?
Kimo: I’ve always liked plain vanilla, I’ll have that with the strong java.
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Yes, the seeker never becomes a finder–and I don’t mean that just because there is no seeker. Misery & spiritual seeking leads to the deep search. Some “know it all” and never take a look beyond spiritual concepts. Others “approach” the heart of this and then sabotage themselves because they don’t want to be what they’re beginning to see that they are. “There must be something better than this”. “I must not be no-thing”. I must be Buddha’s 50th great-grandson or Jesus’ beacon for the 21st century. Or I must be equivalent to some indestructible spiritual status like pure Love. So, we either want to be a savior or some glorified concept. Even if a savior did seemingly appear in the world–turn the stock market around, end all wars, give great talks televised all over the world, and have kings and presidents at their feet. No matter whether you have the experience of poverty, mundane life, okay life, etc…All of those personas and appearances are objects appearing in what you are (no-thing)–the savior making everybody happy around the world, your next-door neighbor, the body you see in the mirror, the thoughts that are arising. All are appearances in no-thing or LESS than no-thing; however you want to think of it. This “no-thing” that no spiritual seeker wants to be, is actually better than being any”thing”. And the best part is you have no choice in the matter. As the awareness in which all things appear you are the master of all things.
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Kimo (Jim): As the awareness in which all things appear you are the master of all things.
So that means I AM THIS AWARENESS that is MASTER OF ALL THINGS?
Does knowing this change your life or is it just that you see things differently?
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No, you’re not the awareness that is the master of all things–there’s no separation between perceived subject/object. That’s a pointer in duality and just words. Lots of different expressions on this page pointing to the same thing. Some are very pure and master’s degree level, others, like mine, are more symbolic and use everyday talk. I have no problem using extremely dualistic language to point to this stuff. I’ve always been able to express myself freely, so that hasn’t changed. Who you are never changes but the appearance always does.
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Sully,
Did you do what Randall asked you to do yet at 10:42am?
Give that neti-neti thing a whirl. Try on a few identities for size.
I must be the body, I must be a certain thought, I must be the brain, I must be a focal point of awareness traveling from Point A to Point B, I must be a man, ….
How is it that these concepts or images are even known? Don’t you need to be there as the Ultimate Witness for any of this to appear? Don’t just say “I don’t know what I am” and look for someone to tell you what you are. If you’re confused, it’s because you’ve identified with something hook, line, and sinker and you’re just not admitting it to yourself. Be honest about what you think you are. Then try it on for size in the Neti-Neti game. See if that identity is real or if it’s an appearance to a deeper Reality. You may just find that nothing comes to you except as this awareness I am/ You are–even that concept of the awareness I am/You are appears to you. You’ll never grasp yourself. So try on what you think is you for size. If it ain’t fittin’ then cast that garment (identity) aside; it ain’t who you are.
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Regarding SEEING and KNOWING….
My mind can’t fathom these signpost. But that doesn’t stop it from compulsively trying.
The fundamental impression is of an undefinable seeing that never changes. Words like timeless clarity, enhanced visual sensitivity, sharper color, magic aliveness, fresh and new, personal and impersonal, extraordinary and ordinary come to mind.
Seeing is always present, sometimes noticed and sometimes not, like the hum of my computer. Seeing is total ‘knowing,’ clear and obvious, akin to being, yet total ‘not-knowing’ at the same time because my mind can’t translate. Kimo’s description of just plain vanilla is as good a ‘description’ as any. Perhaps mocha. Not unlike a jolt of caffeine.
Resting in not-knowing, Milton, feels to my mind like ‘not landing,’ a kind of active mental receptivity that is effortless. Boundlessness and free-fall are associated feelings. To mentally land is to discriminate, to believe what something is or is not. Both believing and not believing require mental energy to define and sustain the thought. Resting in not-knowing is like not being for or against anything. And paradoxically all personal preferences remain alive and well. My senses are sharper and more curious than ever. There is no fear because there is nothing to protect.
To me, NOT-KNOWING, or ‘don’t-know mind’ point as directly as KNOWING. NOT-KNOWING is less likely to entice my mind to move into some newfangled definition of THAT, and believe it knows what it’s talking about. My mind knows nothing. Seeing this fact is instant seeing.
There appears to be no control over these goings-on. It seems that my mind just gets tired of listening to itself talk and for a timeless moment, no longer believes what it thinks. (I guess that’s not happening now.)
Here is a quote from Robin Dale, another Aussie I hope Gilbert will someday invite to the program: Words and phrases impose something on reality. We do it compulsively, and the only way out of compulsively doing that is to see what is the reality of words and phrases. (p 61 Noticing What you Already Know, And That You Already Know It)
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Haven’t seen Robin in quite awhile. I will try and track him down. Who knows?
The ‘entity’ knows nothing and is made of ‘belief’. Belief is a dream – it is not the actuality of wakefulness.
Those who dream they are ‘enlightened’ or have ‘awoken’ are just the dream. Those who ‘teach’ in the dream can never get out of the dream, no way out, neither for themselves nor their followers.
Not knowing is encompassed by the KNOWING. Nothing can negate the knowing.
It isn’t the known or the knower…..it is simple……knowing. Present tense, always present tense.
Got it?
No? – Sheesh.
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Good, concise, powerful post G. The whole dream appears in the knowing; even the discussions about subject/object/neti-neti and of course the dream character, the expectations, the attainments, and the “yeah-buts”. The knowing, unpossessed by any entity, is the only stability.
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The knowing itself isn’t known, right? If it were known that would just be more knowing? The ripples and reflections that appear are made of knowing, like these seemingly unanswerable questions.
It’s as if the knowing is the biggest thing in the room, the only thing in the room, undeniable because everything is here, but unknowable in and of itself.
It’s obvious this is all conceptual tail chasing, but it continues for the time being.
Thanks Gilbert and Areti for providing this forum and your insights, and to everyone else who throws in their two cents worth.
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Ron: Not-knowing sounds like consciousness without an object, or pure subjectivity or non-duality. Maybe there is a difference between just knowing or presence awareness, and knowing something in a dualistic sense. I think you are right, “my mind knows nothing..seeing this fact is instant seeing.” What’s wrong with that?
Let me see whether I understand Randall correctly:
At the primary level, first there is consciousness, then objects appear within consciousness (a world of appearances) which includes all thoughts, feelings, perceptions, conceptual models, others, and the body-mind. Just as in deep sleep, there is consciousness without an object then a dream appears. I am prior to whatever can be perceived, conceived, or experienced, therefore, their existence is predicated on me, and not vice versa. What I am cannot be objectified or conceptualized, as being the subject, I cannot be an object. Whatever image or concept I try to imagine myself to be can only be a object that I am witnessing, not me.
Just like a dream appears within consciousness, so does the waking state appear within consciousness, and is nothing but consciousness. One waking state dream is that of separation, a dream ofh an individual body-mind imagined to exist in a world of objects, as an object. Within this dream, a seeker seeks completeness or oneness through the pursuit of wealth, comfort, pleasure, status, spirituality, success, etc. but can find only transitory or illusory completeness given that the dream itself is the source of the sense of separation. As a dream character, I can do nothing about this, but upon realizing it as a dream, it vanishes leaving only the consciousness in which it appeared. Then ideas such as separation and striving have no relevance whatsoever. Then there really is nothing to do, nowhere to go. In fact, as subjectivity, or presence awareness, how could I do anything at all even if I imagined that I could (I have nothint to do with how appearance unfolds, just happens).
Sorry for the long-windedness, just listened to Randall’s complete mp3 want to: it struck a chord- wanted to do a UGC reality check.
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DaulDave–that’s pretty good; although the biggest/smallest/nothingness designator for the knowing has to be left as a pointer. If it has any dimension like being the biggest or smallest that would make it finite rather than infinite. But, you’re right, all this tail chasing for the right word is just that–words. I really liked Gilbert’s post because it stopped me dead in my tracks like a signpost of how pristine this can be. All of this talk and sharing/ teaching reminds of college days–we used to call this “pseudo-intellectualism”. The dream is extremely apparent when resting in that knowing that you are. The other “hot” pointer on this page is the message from Randall to Sully asking him to investigate what he thinks he is. Just when you think you know what you are, you realize “something” sees that and then logically that object cannot be what you are because you aren’t separate from the seeing “of it”. The object and assumed subject appear in/on/as an appearance of the seeing/knowing.
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There is a misleading concept in this program. The appearance does not appear to awareness. The appearance IS awareness. Not Two.
Sometimes it is seemingly useful to separate the appearance from awareness.
It is a conceptual separation. The believed in ‘perceiver’ is left floundering and if seen clearly it can be a turning point. Or an insight may happen.
The essence of all insights is SEEING.
Everything appears in the seeing, is contained in the SEEING and IS the SEEING.
Nothing truly appears to awareness. It is ALL awareness.
This is not to say that Randall is wrong. It is all concepts.
Like the old saying: “Use one thorn (concept) to remove another thorn – then throw them both away”.
The thorn that hurts is the ‘me’ concept. The suffering is a ‘gift’, a call to SEE what it is that is suffering. Pain is pain. Psychological suffering is unnecessary.
That is basically what this is all about.
In recognizing that the ‘me’ has no substance and no independent nature of itself, then it is no longer referred to. So the energy of belief ceases to flow into it.
Nothing can exist without energy, so the ‘me’ falls away.
Extremely simple.
The resistance to SEEING the truth of this is the interesting factor that one must investigate.
The Non Dual jargon that gets thrown around is just part of the insurance policy of the ‘me’. It is very transparent and if those who indulge in such jargon could only see how transparent it is, they would cease to use it instantly.
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The so-called “seeker” MUST start from where they are, so to speak.
Advaita is about Self-knowledge. And Self-knowledge is dismantling worldly knowledge, investigating the framework of beliefs with a critical and honest magnifying glass, discarding that which is false yet previously taken to be real (reality).
Appearance, appearing TO Awareness, is still conceptual. Yet AS the body-mind, AS the “person”, it’s seemingly impossible to forcibly fit “appearance IS Awareness” into the existing framework of beliefs. This apparent paradoxical, contradictory statement keeps the mind on the wheel, spinning, trying to forcibly splice together that which is seen as obviously separate. The resulting understanding can only EVER be conceptual.
Therefore the obviousness of subjectivity is pointed out – and that IS the same thing as the presence of awareness. At first there is a recognition of that subjectivity or awareness – the real meaning of “I” or “I AM” – everything else, without one single exception, is appearance only – like pointing out that the objects reflect against a still, changeless, invisible mirror. The change is known IN the mirror only. This is the heart of neti-neti.
Once “what-I-AM” is clearly seen to be NOT the body, not the mind, then that “framework of beliefs” has been flipped over, rolled on it’s head, stripped of it’s power, obviously dismantled. The realization “I AM Awareness” is a “radical” one – yet it’s still only part of the story.
We may say – the “subject body-mind” has been de-throned. Awareness becomes the obvious subject.
This is the edge of the cliff, so to speak. We are no longer what we’ve always taken ourselves to be – no longer that temporary body-mind that suffers. We are obviously the “space” IN WHICH the objects of body-mind and world appear. Yet do they appear TO Awareness, as in separate “objects” appearing TO the subject, or are they Awareness itself? Are they Awareness appearing TO itself?
So it may be seen that the objective CONTENT of awareness, the reflections IN the mirror CANNOT BE separate or apart FROM Awareness.
Then awareness falls away as concept also – what IS, is Presence (just THIS), aware of itself as everything.
And there can be no words for THIS, nondual Reality – no subject OR object. The moment we speak of it, it’s automatically false.
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Duke Tubillard and his #1 groupie Jimbo (Kim) may have to lay low for awhile.
Just kidding, but this Gilbert fellow sure is good — in the appearance, so to speak…
Happy Easter — arising in the non-Non Dual awareness, of course.
PEAS!
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One thing: Randal says–and I am paraphrasing because it has been at least 3 mins since I heard him say it!–that all we can really say, if we are to speak without any (hidden?) assumptions distorting our observations, is that “sensation appears” etc. But “sensation” is already a learned overlay, no? What actually happens is not a “sensation” but a nameless “that”. What has “that” got to do with “sensation’? This is not to try to trip the speaker up–he is a really canny guy who doesn’t need the likes of me to correct him. But the matter interests me.
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Different folks respond to different teachers. I don’t think anybody, at any so-called stage of seeking, can go wrong listening to John Wheeler. Randall has surprised me in his evolution as a teacher. He’s become clearer and clearer to the point that he’s very sharp almost all the time. I’m more of a simpleton, so I don’t respond to everything Gilbert writes–although when he posts a short quote it often resonates strongly and then I realize what Randall and others see in him as a teacher. I enjoy Gilbert because he has a sense of humor. I haven’t cracked many jokes with John Wheeler and have never spoken to Randall. Your prescription to “lay low” isn’t a bad idea–you should try it.
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Tom,
Yes – correct! Even sensation is a conceptualization! We don’t know what the Hell it is! We only THINK we do. Can we really call it sensation? Who is sensing? What receives the sensation? What mechanism exists, outside of another concept, to be the sense-er?
So the subject “receiver of sensation” and the object “sensation” are STILL conceptual, still this subject/object equation. Awareness/Appearance.
We have narrowed down obvious reality to just “sensation” appearing, yet even THAT is too much… we reach a point where EVERY word fails. ALL knowledge FAILS!
And without any knowledge or concepts at all to rely on, what remains?
Just THIS….
Kimo – here’s a joke for you…. two guys walked into a bar…
ouch!
love to you
randall
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Kimo,
Ditto to your previous post…John Wheeler is so direct and laser-like, so very clear! I too am more of a “simpleton” it seems and need THIS clearly spelled out without extraneous words. To me, Randall has a way of saying just the right amount and he truly answers ANY question posed to him…plus I feel a sense of love and patience from him. And of course, I wouldn’t have heard ANY of these pointers without Gilbert creating the UGC!
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Hello to Gilbert and everyone .
Just wanted to say a big thank you for all these clear and wonderful podcasts. I also very much enjoy hearing and reading what Randall has to say. Very clear and concise.
Is it just me or are the comments made here by Gilbert, Randall, Jim and others getting clearer and clearer as they go?
Also wanted to mention that I absolutely love the inclusion of the Bill Hicks bit. I have always been a big fan of his. Way before his time…
Again a big heartfelt thank you to all.
chris
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The truth is reality. Who wants it?
Tom Cruise: “I want the TRUTH”…….(shouting)…….split second response comes….
“You can’t HANDLE the TRUTH” – Jack Nicholson (shouting).
The thing is that the ‘truth’ is either inexpressible or it is ALL expressions.
There cannot be any half truths. Reality.
There is no gray area – no between – there is no soft landing.
The ground of belief is just gone – free falling happens……without a reference point – what is wrong………… or right?
There is NO Becoming……………there is NO duality in Non Duality.
Even an extremely subtle thought is dualism – a vibration – a movement.
ALL movement is upon stillness. Yet there is no TWO to it.
The KNOWING is moving and stable without time or conceptual division.
‘Who’ knows this? It is not ‘I’. It is KNOWING. The ‘knower’ is dualism and the ‘known’ is the knower’s dance partner. Shiva and Shakti.
The thing is that there is no ‘you’.
The WHOLE-NESS is enlightenment – the beingness that you call yoursef is full of light and is made of light.
Light does not move through space.
LIGHT is PRESENCE.
This profoundity may stop the mind in its tracks.
Everything is contained in the SEEING.
The SEEING is the LIGHT.
Absolutely stable and unchanging.
The apparent changes that appear have NO DURATION.
These thoughts have NO DURATION.
It is all LIGHT and what you are is prior to the light.
Where are you SEEING from?
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There is no “me” in the seeing as such; nevertheless the confusion persists off and on…
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Confusion is just tension between different reference points. It is a triad.
The triad is ONE appearing as three. The dance of the elements is light forming apparent shapes and substances. Chemical reaction.
Investigate the confusion and find the one who is confused. The light shines into the darkness and emptiness reveals itself to no one.
What more is there to know?
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In that case, why do i still react to criticism and harsh words; when words are basically empty of meaning? Why do these thoughts “about me being bothered” linger on and on even though it is seen that there is no one home?
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Because of the belief in ‘me’. Without that story rolling on, what disturbance can there be? Many believe that they have seen through the ‘me’ – but it is just another belief.
There is no ‘me’ in naked seeing.
There is an ancient Tibetan text – the title is translated in English as: “Self Liberation through SEEING with Naked Awareness”.
The text methodically demolishes ALL teachings about methods and practices. It liberates ‘what I truly am’ from the belief in being a ‘self’.
It is not about any ‘self’ that gets liberated – that is the same old mind trap.
When criticism is thrown at you, that ‘me’ image is instantly referred to. Only because it has not been recognized as what it is. The sense of separation hangs around as a subtle belief….and can flare up quicker than a fireworks display.
One must explore the ‘loca’ – the ‘place’ where ‘I’ seeming abides.
This is not an intellectual exercise. In taking oneself as the concept ‘me’, it remains as ‘moving furniture’ around a room.
The space in which the room and the furniture appear is the same space.
Where are you seeing from?
Isn’t it ‘space-like’?
The true nature of form is formlessness.
The next program with Nisargadatta explores this in a most profound way.
The resistance to ‘hearing’ the message is called ‘ME’.
It is a preconceived idea about what I am. That ‘balloon’ needs to be deflated by SEEING it for what it is.
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Even the word “appearance” fails – still indicating duality – appearing to WHO? An appearance requires a SEER, a KNOWER of the appearance.
So the word “appearance” is simply taking the multiplicity off the “thingness” of THIS.
We might start with the “assumed” layout – ME (the mind), in a body, which is in the world of things.
We SEE, through self-knowledge or dismantling assumptions, that the nature of “things” is empty or one “substance”, the form and function of “things” is Intelligence. “Things” are not-two – they only “appear” as two to the limited senses and the projection of mind – filter of concepts. What we “see” is only what the senses can provide – if we were an ant, we would see an entirely different “reality”. If we had a set of quantum binoculars, we would see a unified field of moving energy. Our “perspective” is simply due to the mechanism which we’ve been given, so to speak.
So the “world of things” isn’t what it appears to be. And this isn’t some spiritual revelation. This is already part of the “worldly knowledge” obtainable in any advanced science book. Only we “ignore” it and look upon the world as a mess of infinite “things”, all separately existing.
But we don’t want to hear it. We don’t need Advaita to tell us that the essence of “things” is one “substance” – we’ve heard about it – we are wow-ed by the quantum discoveries – yet they challenge the very identity we’ve been taught and fought to maintain. They challenge the sense of individuality, which is no different from the sense of separateness. So we brush them off and go in search of some “spiritual state” that can be achieved BY ME, so that “I can keep my individual self”, only now it’s an “enlightened individual self”. Bullshit.
The “essence” of the world of things, the body and the mind, is patterning energy. The very “form” we see and the functioning itself is obvious Intelligence. And the body-mind isn’t some separate “thing” over “here”, seeing “things” over there. The body-mind CANNOT be outside of this scope of Intelligent forming and functioning.
So within this movement of Intelligence, there is a pattern “later” called thought. And that thought “says” – “I am a separate thing”. A person. A separate Life. The entire belief structure which creates the idea of “me as a person” is a creation of this movement of Intelligence or patterning of energy.
The essence of THIS contains NO separate body, no separate mind, no thoughts, no things, no world. These are ONLY conceptual, can only EVER be known through this mental/thought/conceptual process. And the process itself isn’t DONE BY YOU. It’s a function of the Intelligence. You are not to blame and you cannot correct it.
There is nothing in need of fixing. Intelligence or Life simply recognizes it’s own conceptualization process where the Oneness is seen as “manyness”.
When we latch onto a spiritual teaching such as “advaita”, then we are stuck trying to splice awareness onto the world. We might realize, if we’re open to this obvious Oneness, that we don’t need to figure out HOW awareness IS the world. The only obvious conclusion we can reach, if we’ve laid aside our concepts long enough, is that Life can ONLY be AWARE OF ITSELF.
Right this VERY INSTANT, Life is looking at itself. The only thing obscuring this realization is the belief that “I AM SEEING the World”.
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Thanks Gilbert…will continue to look for this me….
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The mind may say “I can’t live with myself anymore”. Who is this ‘I’ and who is this ‘myself’?
Both are reference points appearing as conflict in mind. Both appear in the SEEING.
There is NO duration to SEEING. Seeing is timeless – always here. It is the fractal pattern of ‘mind stuff’ that seems to come and go.
The concept of someone continuing to look for a me, is just more conceptual jargon.
Where is the SEEING happening? Is it moving? Is it changing?
No, it is the content that appears to change.
All the colors of the rainbow are light. All the seeming fragmentary world appears within what you are.
One without a second.
“One thing, all things move among and mingle”…………
“See the moving as stationary and the stationary as moving” – from the Hsin Hsin Ming text.
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That Gilbert post was too good for even a joke about the “myself” being a special reference point; the Pain Body. This answers any pending question about “part 2″ in Randall’s message earlier this afternoon– in getting to the edge of the cliff as the Witness beyond body & mind–both the floundering perceiver/enlightenment story (the “I” that objects appear to) and the defective persona (the long-held belief in “myself”) take a header right over the cliff.
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The Razor Edge has been honed. No prisoners will be taken.
No seeker will be spared.
Phase Two is : The Implementation of the Blade.
All content of mind disappears in THIS immediacy.
Witness this directly in yourself.
‘Then’, which can only be NOW, there will be no doubt about your true nature.
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“I” wish that I had Never found out about Advaita, this site, or Anything related to “my” possible Non-Existence, as it has manifested as nothing but a BIG MIND FUC*>
I can’t do anything about anything and that is SOOOO Far away from the patterning of 45 years of being in charge of my destiny…. (not)
I have gotten Nothing out of this and That’s the Problem AND the Solution.
I NEVER had control and the ONLY difference these days is that I Know It and that just Smashes all hope of anything brighter, better, deeper,,,,, NOTHING for this mind to hold onto,,, Never was anything….. NEVER will be>>>>
This Fact leaves an OPEN VOID and the feeling of Falling OR Going Completely Insane is all that has manifested since “I” began this Searching….. actually my whole life.
However illusory this sleep of Maya and the suffering that ensues as a result of a Belief In It,,, I still long for the seeming rest of Not Questioning, which it has provided. “I” Really Don’t want to wake up, so stop making me come here and read this stuff>>> LOLOLOLooPy~
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Mark,
Love to you, my friend. All is well.
In the dream, does the character lament about only being a dream character? And no matter what happens in the dream, nothing is created, nothing moves, the character is not “better off” or “worse off” – the character is simply non-existent, outside of an appearance in Consciousness. It is Consciousness which gives the dream “mark” his existence.
Exactly the same, this “waking state mark” only derives it’s existence from Consciousness – finding the answers through Advaita is just another dream – sometimes that is a happy dream. Sometimes it seems to be a “nightmare”.
Through it all, Consciousness remains as the still and silent witness to it. And that Consciousness is what is looking this very moment, watching “mark” struggle with confusion and also watching “mark” receive giddiness in moments of clarity.
Is Consciousness itself ever changed through any of it.?
We might say – Consciousness can only “know itself” by dreaming. When the dream passes, Consciousness remains untouched.
love
randall
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ThanQ RF~
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Dorothy.
Just as pain still arises with the body/mind, so does preference.
The utterly conditioned body/mind can never successfully be free of appetites and predispositions.
So this is not about the organism’s freedom from aversion to harsh words or whatever – though that might happen to some extent AS A BYPRODUCT of this ‘understanding’.
What YOU really are is already untouched by any appearance. All struggle is appearance within YOU.
Nothing needs to change, nothing needs to be overcome… nothing is required.
If there is aversion to criticism appearing… then that is WHAT IS!!
That aversion registers in the apparent body/mind.
The body/mind appears within YOU.
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Beautiful, Fenn~
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For some reason, i understand better Gilbert than Randall, in the voice. I mean, i´m not english, and for some reason, i understand better Gilbert. (when listening to it)
Perhaps even the voice, the way of talking, can be a barrier for the seeker.
Seems some expressions fits better with different “persons” or seekers.
So… no sacred key to that, one must find what resonates for him.
That´s my add today…
Regards
Sergio
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Thirteen~
The saints said: “Praise and blame cause anxiety;
The objects of hope and fear are within your Self.”
“Praise and blame cause anxiety”
For you must hope and fear to receive or to lose them.
“The objects of hope and fear are within your Self”
For, without Self, neither fortune nor disaster can befall.
Therefore:
He who regards the World as the Self is able to control the World;
He who loves the World as the Self is able to nurture the World.
Peter Merel ~ Tao Te Ching
Ahhh the spontaneous rupture of the ever illusive membrane
of security, a ruptured longing for the unattainable proverbial wishbone.
Ahhh to FEEL THIS … vulnerable, frail as the wind, yet fierce with storm …
inside … ‘My’ storm , ‘My’ stories , ‘My’ Fear … all projections of an
existence that ‘I’ perceive to be Real … ALL for what ?~?
The pleasure of the experience … this breath, that kiss … our dance?
Battle onward … free falling toward self… or lack thereof ~
Non-Duality Rocking the House, as casual as your friendly
neighborhood teeter-totter~
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The recognition can come from hearing a bird singing or a roadside jack hammer.
It is not all in the words. In fact it is the intelligence that ‘abides’ in everything.
The sense of separation dissolves spontaneously, without rhyme or reason.
We have all heard the wondrous stories of ‘awakening’. It is all bullshit.
No one EVER woke up.
Are you asleep now?
No.
That is IT.
Simple.
Too simple for the intellect.
The bright intellects are the ones who have the most difficulty with THIS.
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Thanks Fenn, much appreciated; too much analysis leads one nowhere. Further back in the mind so to speak. All directions are in the mind. Like Maharaj states so articulately in the recently posted podcast “Carry on in the world, do your normal activities; but keep your mind or attention on that which enables you to do your work. That is your only watch”. Such simplicity…
Gilbert, the second podcast (recently posted) with Maharaj is an absolute delight. Being able to speak his native language Marathi, I find the dialogues between him and Ramesh hilarious. Maharaj is very childlike in his scoffing and scolding. His instructions are simpler than simple “pay attention to the consciousness that you are”. Very grateful, that you enable so many of us to hear Maharaj. There were some videos available on you tube until about a year ago. but now i suppose you have to buy them from some spiritual sounding film company….found that somewhat strange; the maharaj who never wanted anything from anyone and was available to everyone equally…his videos / audios must now be sold. But hey…that’s how it goes…
The concept of an independent entity is very deep rooted in the psyche or so i assume. the mind tricks you ever so often. Sometimes, i feel exactly mark’s sentiments…no hope whatsoever; at other times, there’s a flow of peace…it’s these fluctuating states of mind that make you feel you’ll go insane….
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Is very rare, that one actually really listen…
Is a very rare gift.
We are that, but we ignore it.
Why ?
And then you imagine yourself to be a seeker.
There are a lot more seekers than “finders” .
You have also the ones who thinks they are that, but at the same time, are extremely annoying …. we can call that “super-ego” …. “i think i´m that” … but at the same time… the pestilency still occurs.
Here at the UGC seems to be a lot of interested people. That´s very strange.
Where i live, there is only 1 person i know, who is interested. But is a tough one…
This kwnoledge is so simple, that the seeker pass it over.
Perhaps they need more “shit collect” (what bob says in the books. Collecting shit)
Only when you truly “hear” , only in that moment, you can really recognize, what the pointers and sages mean . Yes, is not all in the words.
I interacted with a seeker today …. she is full of shit… and thinks she is “The Self” ……
Nobody knows that…. i forget sometimes… “people” are full of shit….
I´wondering why this knowledge is so rare.
Is not about making it accesible, it is about the earnestness of the so called seeker.
In fact, today happened what Gilbert once said to me : that seeker don´t trust what i say … they think i´m some sort of mad….
Perhaps the direct pointing is not for everybody. They need more meditation ……. they need more practices… and experiences….
But i think i´m not the only case, who resonated with the direct approach.
If this is for everybody, why people don´t want the directness? they avoid it.
They are more pleased in things like… “receiving” deeksha…. i also “received” deeksha…. and nothing happened…. ha. I know people who “receive” deeksha, every week…… lol. Is obvious that neither works for them… but they insist in that. You have also the ones who pretend they find it … (well, i know that well, because i myself, was beleiving that things)
Here in Spain, the direct pointing…is totally unknown.
Also the gurú-game, is a winner here … you have different types of gurus around.
I´m amazed, at how the direct pointing, is totally invalidated here.
Perhaps in your countrys, you have more “non-duality” culture…
Here i only know a friend “who knows” ….
What to do with that type of seekers… let them “collect more shit” ? … i think so, is the only way for them, seems.
And how is ,myself, relatively soon, i tired of all the practices ???
Perhaps if the “Grace” exists.. that seeker talk me a lot about Grace…. if Grace really exists… really i was gifted…. by grace… to find a resonation with this pointing.
I don´t see anybody need any Grace, they talk about Grace as if there some separate power, giving Grace…
I´m not a seeker, that is clear.
And i don´t know… i feel to share that today.
Well… you can say, Grace is the power of what we really are.
Also, is like if the “understanding” , gets very subtle. You cannot really express all by words. Perhaps for that… a bird can do the work better, for some people.
A bird sings, and we point, or talk , about this.
You cannot stop the river. I will say to that girl.. ..find another expression….a bird can do the work.
I want to make a question,
If you are a seeker, do you really want to end the search ?
That´s a key.
Is not about the messenger.
That´s a key… the majority of seekers…. seems, don´t want to end.
This site is made for the seeker. I can feel compassion coming, along with this variated expressions … and i was, i am, truly gifted, to find a resonation with this approach. You really cannot see the deepness of the “truth”, until you do…
I can only say, wow… what UGC points, is totally REAL.
Hope my english is good for talking this, is not easy…
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Great site…keep up the good work.
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