Urban Guru Cafe
Discovering what you truly are
66. James Braha – Living Reality
Posted on 12.18.09 12:16PM under James Braha
Areti speaks with the author of “Living Reality – my extraordinary summer with Sailor Bob Adamson” James Braha.
Bob Visited the US in 2004 and spent several weeks there. James relentlessly delved into his own questions with Bob. An excellent book.
You will enjoy this program, another unique expression, one that may click or resonate strongly for you.
James website is here.
Music includes: Rufus Wainwright, Nino Josele (Guitar) from a new CD called “La Venta del Alma”, Sting, Cat Stevens , Ricky Nelson and Eddie Vedder.
The UGC is a free podcast on the subject of Non Duality. Special thanks to all those who have made small and not so small donations over recent months – we appreciate knowing that the programs are appreciated.
Posted by Ronna on 12.18.09 4:10 pm
Thanks again for doing what you do so well!!
Posted by Suzanne Foxton on 12.18.09 5:56 pm
“Go ahead and put their head in a vice…” Priceless.
Posted by Steve on 12.19.09 2:01 am
Nice to be reminded that we are who we are no matter who we are.
Posted by Joe Cap on 12.19.09 2:20 am
“Go ahead and put their head in a vice…” Priceless. -SF
..reminds me of the movie “Casino”.
I get the sense that these podcasts are like dreams talking about a dream.
Posted by S on 12.19.09 3:07 am
Ha! Ha! Ha! Brilliant! OMG what fabulous news!!! Can this be true??? ‘I’ thought ‘I’ had to be all quiet, extremely wise, peaceful, sensible and holy and of very few words, totally disengaged….bathed in a deep, mysterious silence, light even ..apparently. What really seems to keep arising is not very, em, Buddha-like, shall we say. (snigger! – I know it’s just a story, but who cares? Really, this might be helpful to ‘someone’, bear with it, please…) What apparently arises ‘here’ seems very ‘silly’ at times, very ‘playful’. Absolutely nothing arising here seems very ‘spiritual’. Apart from a deep, unconditional love of ‘myself’ and ‘others’ and sort of going with the flow… not arguing much with ‘what is’, (unless it’s really hideous, or the husband!) a nice ‘lovey-peaceful’ feeling quite often, and sort of seeing from ‘behind the eyes. Feeling connected, knowing it’s all the One appearing as ‘many’, all ok. Just being very present and ‘feeling very, very happy’ more often, it seems. The fear appears to have largely evaporated, the distrust, the ‘guardedness’. Huge amount of that ‘contraction’ appears to have evaporated. Because ultimately there is nothing to fear. No one to ‘hurt me’. No-one to be hurt really, in spite of how it seems. Just witnessing this ‘whatever-it’is’ doing its stuff , and sometimes having a huge laugh. Or cry. Or even rage appears! Still the usual ‘crap’ stuff, of course, all of life’s ‘ups and downs’. Actually sometimes it seems way worse still!! So all hope of being ‘Buddha-like’ is gone??? Good, sounds a bit boring anyway. But most of these posts seem so … well, aren’t there any other apparent ‘idiots’ out there, who are still full of bullshit, but just laugh about it now, or is it just ‘me’? It seems to be a very serious business.
Right, better grab the helmet and dive for shelter, ‘I’m’ in for it now…..go on, show me how asleep I am. Who cares??? It’s funny, dammit! The whole thing is hilarious…asleep…awake. I got it, I lost it. It’s just life. Being life. Having fun. Experiencing. Ranting. Laughing. Chickening out of posting this comment, then laughing and thinking ‘what the hell…’ and doing it! But first of all thanks so much for this audio and WISHING ‘YOU ALL’ A VERY VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS INDEEDY. Gulp! Here goes………..
Posted by Scotty on 12.19.09 6:40 am
I wonder, shall we “call Bullshit” when we hear that the false reference point, the “me” cannot always be seen through? When you see through, no longer believe in, the story of Santa Clause, do you ever go back and say, “I lost it?” When you see through the mistaken perception of the mirage in the desert, do you go back and say, “I lost it?” The false reference point, the individual person, can be seen through, permanently, once and for all. Do you remember hearing some of the following? It’s crap when a person says, “I got it” and “Now I lost it.” There is no division, no duality, no someone who had it and no someone who now lost it. The knowing is beyond the mind, beyond the “me” who had it, who then lost it. The “me” is just a fixation in the mind. Investigate the “me” and see it is just a belief, just an appearance, just imagination, just a story. Both those who say “I got it” and those who say “I lost it” are unbearable… hee hee hee.
Posted by Richard on 12.19.09 7:01 am
Good show.
Hi James,
We spoke at length on the phone a few years ago. Loved your book. Every time I hear Bob in an audio or video and his discussion is interrupted by your gift clock going off, I wonder….couldn’t you have gotten him something quieter….like a set of drums?
The seeker, whatever form the activity takes, whether it be exploration of territory of land, outer space, or inner space, will never reach an end to his or her search. There will always be
something else that “needs” to be discovered. Why? Because “seeker” is the personality with which the assumed person identifies. Should they allow themselves to experience a final and definitive discovery, they, the seeker who they think they are, would die. The urge toward life would not usually allow this.
“The separate self is a sensation of seeking” (slightly shortened), says Ken Wilber
In a book about mythology, Robert Segal tells that a typical myth has the hero leaving home, going to a foreign, enchanting land, and being tempted to stay there forever. He goes on to say….
“In psychological terms, the ego is tempted to surrender itself to the rediscovered unconscious, out of which it emerged. More precisely, the temptation is to abandon not the ego itself but ego, or ordinary, consciousness: consciousness of the external, everyday world. The ego itself remains, for it is what does the abandoning.”
Posted by Ronna on 12.19.09 7:55 am
I love this post! So glad you bravely jumped in there and posted it!!
Posted by Cheryl on 12.19.09 8:48 am
It is such a shame that James doesn’t teach on a regular basis. So light and clear. I like the intro to non-duality on his web site. There is no difference between you and Buddha…that says it all. And to his point that experience happens…the friend who introduced me to non-duality and who is generally pretty chill and selfless told me the other day he had an ‘unusual’ experience of contemplating suicide! Fortunately he knew he was not that thought and hence the body. He’s also had the opposite kind of experiences where he’s felt perfect oneness with everything. So what James said made perfect sense to me – shit happens, even to those in the KNOW.
Posted by gilbert on 12.19.09 10:53 am
Ha. Ha. Ha. You may not agree with this and you may not agree with this but where does the disagreement enter? Watch the mind and see how any disagreement ‘arises’ (as they say). It isn’t a matter of agreement or disagreement. Is it? Do you agree with that?
There is no point in pretending to KNOW.
Finding a clause that saves ‘me’ is just leaving more crap to wade through later. Or is it? Is there a ‘later’? Isn’t everything clear and obvious NOW?
This program is bound to be controversial and confronting for some, entertaining for others but I love to have a laugh at the end with the vice joke we slipped in. Have a great Christmas.
Posted by gilbert on 12.19.09 11:31 am
Good point Scotty. No one loves the Bell Ringer and that is why he curses the sleeping township before he rings the bell. To imply that anyone HAS a false reference point is an error. As long as you believe that you are in the world then such ideas will seem valid. The ‘me’ is a false reference point = no two ways about it. Buying into another story that it comes and goes is just a story. If that story cheers you up, then good. The SEEING is not a story or any content of mind. It is simply SEEING and this seeing contains everything.
That is the factor that cannot be contrived by an attitude or philosophy. Seeing is happening. There is no one doing the seeing.
Who cares about a false reference point?
Only a false reference point can care.
When you see that you may laugh so loud the ‘rooster’ will fall off his perch….in shock.
Posted by anatta on 12.19.09 2:14 pm
“Living Reality” is a great book. I’ve never been around “Bob” but it gave, to me, a strong sense of what that might be like. A very “personal” non-dual book, if such a thing is possible. Bob’s “techniques” though, assuredly, not pre-meditated, are pure genius.
Whatever appears is THIS.
Woven of a weave that can’t be understood.
Beyond thought, beyond ideal.
It’s beautiful to watch it, that which’s real.
This omnipresent reality encompases everything. Nothing needs to be altered. What does the Tao Te Ching call it? “The Uncarved Block”. Every “thing” is of this “block” – unaltered and uncarved.
Posted by summer on 12.19.09 2:24 pm
Great podcast. I have never heard of James Braha before, but he sure nailed a lot of questions that I still have about spiritual teachers, advaita, and the enlightenment that they claim to have.
How they keep students on the treadmill of believing that they are always in a state of enlightenment and bliss. And if that isn’t our direct experience then, we must still be doing something egoic, ie. wrong. Just ask them one more question, and come to their next satsang, and maybe, if you are lucky, you will also attain bliss and peace 24/7.
In honesty, it just ain’t that way for the teachers themselves either. The dream goes on, whether one is awake or asleep.
Posted by Steve on 12.19.09 2:31 pm
You sound like someone with his head in a vise.
Posted by areti on 12.19.09 3:19 pm
Hey Summer, great to hear from you. You can understand why Gilbert dares to uncover the story of the mis-enlightened enlightened guru – how could clear pointing come from a point of differentiation – the one who knows and the one who doesn’t. Great insight for you there! Thanks for daring to share.
Also all, do remember the up-coming meeting in the virtual urban guru cafe in Second life. It’s on at 7pm Second Life time/Pacific time. Perfect time for all you there in the States (California time, for example). It’s really easy, especially if you have a friend to show you the ropes. It takes all of 5 minutes to get moving around in there with that kind of help. And there are lots of places to visit. A virtual world within the virtual world. Lots of people just drop into the cafe and just happen to cross paths – it’s reasonably active.
Get onto Paul Hedderman’s web site – zenbitchslap – get your questions ready and come along. Lots of cushions at the ready. He speaks to people in the recovery program so if you have friends who are into the 12 step program let them know, or ask their questions for them. We will try to record the program and use it for material in a podcast. You don’t have to speak if you do not have a headset or just want to text your questions to be read out by Elizabeth.
He’s a really friendly, funny and accessible man who welcomes your genuine questions. If you want to argue, go find a site that is saying something that resonates with you.
Thanks
Posted by Betsy on 12.19.09 4:16 pm
Great stuff! thanks a lot…I hope we hear more of him. You guys are really discovering some serious gems. Thanks, it’s incredibly valuable (even though it’s all just part of the story). Love it.
Posted by Richard on 12.20.09 1:28 am
“As long as the dream is going on, and within the dream you are in a physical body, that false reference point is still there and it will still assert itself from time to time”, says James in the show.
Maybe so. On the other hand, if within the dream the physical body is in YOU, as you, what does it matter what the dream character mind/body entity undergoes? When you, as Bob says, “Start from being That” (paraphrased?), you then know your true identity, which is always with you.
Just as once you thought of yourself as a woman or man regardless of what experiences came to mind/body, now, knowing your permanent Self, It is always known regardless of seeming experiences or states of an apparent mind/body entity.
Posted by fernando on 12.20.09 2:36 am
“Pretending to KNOW”… Yes, Gilbert, you’re right. ‘I’ was pretending.
And this ‘pretending’ was only… a thought, a sense, a feeling
(even ‘I don’t KNOW yet’ or ‘I am a seeker’ is a thought, a sense, a feeling).
‘Awakening’ is another concept, a thought too.
EVERY thought appears in this SEEING-KNOWING I am.
Thank you for your ‘roughness’.
Posted by Cheryl on 12.20.09 3:43 am
Hey a nice Christmas present to your ‘self’ is Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj book ‘I Am That’. I read a little bit everyday, it keeps the non-duality juices flowing. I wish Santa would bring me an outer, in the flesh teacher this year. But honestly UGC (great to download onto an ipod)is more than I could ever have wished for.
All the best for the year ahead UGC, thanks for the great programming.
Posted by suki on 12.20.09 4:15 am
The Light of Knowing is always On. All experience is illuminated by its presence. Experience comes and goes, but this immutable presence of knowing is always here. This presence is who you are. It casts no shadow, for there is only ItSelf.
Best of the season to all.
Posted by mark on 12.20.09 9:46 am
Above, Below, Close, Deepening. Eventually Folding, Gratefully Holding. I Joke Knowing Love Means Nothing Or Perhaps Question Reality. Satsang Teaches Union – Valuable Waste. Xamine Your Zone.
Posted by Randall Friend on 12.20.09 9:52 am
Investigate the idea of this person you’ve taken yourself to be. Is there, in fact, a separate person abiding in that body-mind? If that is so, where exactly is it? What is it made of? Is it brain matter? Is it made of cells? Is it like a growth in the brain? Is it stored away in a little pocket of space inside the brain?
Where is it? Is it in the middle of the brain? Right behind the eyes? Can you find it at all?
So look in your actual experience? Can you find it there? Is there something which stands out as the “person”? If we look “within”, we cannot find anything. If we close our eyes and feel, we feel no substance to this “aliveness”. There is no “thing” we can place it upon, yes?
Yet there is an aliveness – a wakefulness. THAT is obvious. That isn’t elusive like this erroneous concept of “person”. That wakefulness is ever-there, shining through your eyes, beating the heart – that is Life itself.
In taking yourself to be a person, you have missed your true nature as Life itself. Yet even the “missing it” is Life.
Right now, it is Life seeing through the eyes. A “person” is only a false concept.
Posted by Sunyata on 12.20.09 9:53 am
Many are fervently unenthusiastic about attending to the issue of “teachers,” albeit they may be well acquainted with the fact that so many are full of crap. Thanks James, for yielding the seeker to come within reach of this common and yet frequently dismissed possibility.
For those who have experienced the copiously ignited flame of the desperation of seeking, the all-consuming, neurotic impulse toward resolution, it is easy to see how (despite the hints of intuition) one can fall pray! How easy it is to be fooled, to succumb to the enticing imaginary target of hopping onto the same hammock of enlightenment these “teachers” have fallaciously placed themselves on.
What is even thornier is that many of them have notions, facets, or experiences of the truth, and it is with that very short-lived and faded fragrance of reality that they lure so many for so long. Some do it by design; others are unmindful and really believe they are “the light shining on ignorance.”
God forbid to be endowed by chance with some attractive physical attributes! The “reiki” begins immediately and the daily contact with the “teacher” becomes a stipulation.
Knowing that all is well, that no harm can be done, and that it is all perfection even in its imperfections, includes the nerve to unreservedly speak about this without entertaining the demon of ostracism.
No intention here to outshine this delightfully refreshing podcast with the focus on the observations above. There was so much more to it! This was another amazing gift! Thank you James for the clarity and the dexterous pointings, and thank you UGC for another great one! Love the music! (read my mind Gilbert, love me some Nino Josele!!)
Posted by mark on 12.20.09 9:55 am
Allow Breathing ‘Cause Delving Ever Further Generally Helps Intimate Joviality. Knowing Less Means New Opportunity. Please Quit Remembering Stuff That Usually Vexes.. .. Whatever! Xamine Your Zone.
Posted by claudia on 12.20.09 12:16 pm
I could very much relate to what James says about experiences – the expectation and the longing for them, the despair and frustration of having lost them… Their futility cannot be enough emphasized, conditioned as we are by a society that proclaims experiences as the ultimate goodie to be achieved – keeping the hunger alive for always more and new and extreme experiences in every aspect of our lifes. Experiences happen, they come and go… and they are meaningless. There is not a single experience that will set you free… There is only experiencing. No nouns, only verbs: being, expierencing, seeing, knowing… inexhaustible. And inexhaustible wondering about the inexhaustible expressions about non-duality: the deep beauty of their utter simplicity…
P.S. Yes, that image of putting the head on the vice of those who claim to have an experience 24 hours a day, 7 days of the week – with it’s corresponding sound bit – is priceless and made me laugh out loud.
Posted by Richard on 12.20.09 12:34 pm
Mark knows his alphabet. I finally caught on with your 2nd post.
Posted by S on 12.20.09 1:24 pm
What a gentle, patient character. Randall what a sweet (apparent) man.
It can seem rather a daunting ‘lion’s den’ this UGC, for any clinging sense of ‘me’. 
Yes, Randall, here there is just emptiness, alert watchfulness, aliveness. Just seeing, clear seeing. A sense of just ‘being’. The strong feeling of ‘love’, just … kindness. Peace. Openness. It SEEMS to be there more and more, but of course it never leaves. I know this. It SEEMS to come and go, but it’s always there, ALWAYS there this watching, alert presence, shining light on whatever ‘appears’, but always pure, empty, invulnerable emptiness, nothingness and I am THAT, not the ‘S’ character that SEEMS to be identified with ‘on and off’, in the story, in ‘time’. (Whatever the characteristics/ behaviour of that S appear to be – daft, unbearable, kind, whatever!) It cannot be labelled. It’s just this. What’s happening. Feelings and thoughts arise in this emptiness, from nowhere, owned by no-one. The feeling of ‘hurt’ arises, but it is seen by NO-ONE. This, true identity cannot be touched, hurt, harmed. I am the emptiness, the stillness the light by and in which all ‘this’ appears. It is so felt. It’s always ‘here’. Never ‘left’. This. Presence. Being. There is no separate S, it’s just a dream character in a ‘movie’. The ‘Life of S’ movie. There never was an S. Just a mistaken idea. This is known.
it’s kind of a ‘game’ pretending, but sort of knowing it’s all just ‘bullshit’, really, sort of ‘fun’.
But yes, in the ‘story’, which of course is always ‘happening ‘now’, in ‘this emptiness I am’, there seems this apparent ‘confusion’, this ‘sense of awakeness, then ‘seeming to lose it’. It SEEMS there is much much more ‘awareness, presence’, of late, much less identifying with the ‘S’. So ‘awakening’ but NOT ‘enlightened’. Whatever that is????
But the thought arises – who finds it unbearable? And the thought ‘why the apparent aggression in certain dream characters?’ It’s just ‘what is’. Life appearing as intolerance, confusion, smugness, gentleness, knowing, not-knowing, fully ‘awake’ ‘deluded’, whatever. All the same stuff, just different appearances, owned by no-one. Just for fun. No blame, no need to defend or attack.
It SEEMS there is ‘confusion’. Being, then me-ing. ‘In time’ It’s hard to grasp that some ‘apparent’ characters in the movie see through the ‘I’ FINALLY, permanently (unlike this ‘unbearable’ S-thing
) and totally, once and for all, never ever ever to ‘forget’ their empty essence, yet seem to exhibit perhaps slightly ‘aggressive, smug’ characteristics. Not tolerance, gentleness. But of course that’s just MORE delusion here. Expecting only loving, accepting, kind ‘awakened beings’. When there’s no such thing. All a dream.
But no I am not S. Randall, you know what, to ‘S’ you are a top (nothing-there) chap! Huge appreciation for your kindness and just being Randall. Cheers, Friend. Maybe there’s hope for ‘me’ yet, with friends like you.
Posted by ricnz1 on 12.20.09 10:54 pm
Hello S., nice post, a few comments; The presence only seems to “get lost” when the focus goes on the thoughts. That little game of “I have it, I lost it” played out here for a while as well. Believing what the mind is throwing up can linger a bit, due to habit. The notion of a separate entity can slyly slip in for a while. You as presence, need not concern yourself with the impersonal arising of old mental habits. When they arise, stay with the living fact(not thought) that you are always present and aware to know them. It’s always simple and immediate.
Notice how when the most ignorant thoughts are arising, presence is just simply present knowing these thoughts and everything else. The real freedom comes when you see that your being is not touched at all by any thoughts or feelings of “losing it” or “confusion”(confirm this). The self centered thoughts just die of neglect when there is no movement to do anything with them. Only an imagined entity would want just happy thoughts & feelings. Whatever comes up, comes up, the appearance may react, it may not. Who would care if there is the appearance of aggressiveness and intolerance. It’s all arising in this presence, probably helping the unfolding if anything. It’s all happening by itself. It’s all the natural functioning unfolding right here in this solid knowing presence. Relax as this presence, any subtle beliefs that are still operating will naturally be brought up to be dissolved. Knowing presence doesn’t need to believe anything, it is(you are). Love Ric
Posted by gilbert on 12.21.09 1:01 am
Head in a vice is what it takes, so it seems, for some seekers to get totally genuine about their own wish to see through the conceptualizing notions about being a ‘person’. Avoiding the close examination of who I think I am is common. Seeing through it is not so common and these two factors are closely related. Every spare moment can be used to take an interest in the core issues. If this interest arises all by itself, then you are fortunate. What is necessary is some genuine insights of ‘your own’ because that is what brings the conviction that what is being pointed out is true. Just believing in a few pointers will not help much. When you see the truth of them, then it is YOURS and no one can take it from you. You KNOW because you have seen it for yourself.
What turns you around can come from a fresh pointer or a pointer you have heard a hundred times and suddenly you know that you ARE what it is pointing to.
Once this starts to open things up, the rest takes care of itself.
Find a genuine impulse or wish and stay with it – not conceptually – BE IT.
Posted by anatta on 12.21.09 2:56 am
The beautiful thing about non-duality is that no claims at all need to be made about one’s “special holiness” – there is just a simple seeing of all “things”, including that which is called “me” as arising without any egoic (separate) involvement. The source of manifestation cannot be known, one can only BE it. Regardless of what has appeared and regardless of what beliefs arise, this absolute, unconditional freedom is ALWAYS the case. Forms arise but they don’t limit or define that which they appear in. This is natural, effortless being. It’s a timeless miracle and beyond concept or belief.
Posted by anatta on 12.21.09 2:57 am
The death of suffering is the awareness of being as self.
Posted by Randall Friend on 12.21.09 3:41 am
What is the essence of any “thing”? Point out anything at all – what IS it? What REALLY is it? Automatically the mind comes in, asserting it’s framework of concepts. Isn’t this blindingly obvious? Yet the concept cannot be the reality? What the hell IS it?
Any “formation” or appearance cannot be the absolute reality – what is that “thing” made of? What is it formed from? There must be some underlying substance or essence. Yet we take the formation itself to be absolute reality – the “cup” or the “chair” or the “wall” or the “body” to stand alone, on it’s own, independent and absolute reality.
Do you follow?
No appearance is the absolute reality – yet in pointing out some “thing” we automatically create, in concept, the sense that reality is dualistic, made up of “things”. The instant we touch what IS with a label, we have already divided it up, seemingly. And that story is believed in, so much so that the actual reality is obscured – SEEING is taken as “seer” and “seen”.
Without the first manipulation, correction, special state or experience, the actuality – right here and now – is nondual. THIS, is it. THIS – just what IS – is IT. There is no way to describe it. There is no way to divide it, except conceptually. There is nothing wrong with right now, unless the mind comes in. But that’s not a directive to stop thinking. Simply notice that it’s entirely mind which creates this story of a “me”, a separate self, an independent center, to which all is referred.
Notice that the mind creates this center, this idea of a “person”, in it’s attempt at grasping what will ever be a mystery.
Posted by Cheryl on 12.21.09 4:35 am
Some times the wish to have a guru or a teacher is just a wish to belong. Communities are formed and teachings that tell you what to think or do studied. As James says, and I’ve heard other non dual teachers say, there’s no harm in the search, not really. As Gilbert says so well it takes courage to go through the ‘panic’ that may arise when it’s realized that none of that is the thing that will save you in the end. Nothing can save you because there is no conceptual ‘you’ to save (or fix). That’s the illusion. What is is perfect and is what IS in every experience and there is no one that’s not deserving or can’t KNOW that. You are free already, start from that. There’s no ‘special’ circumstances needed. There’s no exclusion of any experience and that’s the beauty of non-duality.
Posted by anatta on 12.21.09 7:53 am
“The mind” isn’t a thing either. There is no mind, only presently arising thoughts from which a thing called “mind” is surmised.
Posted by Scarfox on 12.21.09 7:53 am
Life isn’t really a miracle, clearly it is inevitable. But the game it plays makes it seem like a miracle, and that is the fun! Wow, awareness!
Posted by Johan on 12.21.09 8:01 am
YES! Just lovely! It could just as well have been me posting that exact same post, (without the husband part though hehe).
All notions of specialness evaporates in this seeing. This program, and your comment, were awesome! I can’t say I was totally excited about either of them because I guess deep down this is felt to be true already. And also I guess this must be true for everyone. It’s just that there’s misidentification, and if not that there’s doubt.
Maybe a lot of doubt has been put to rest now, in the appearance of “me”, after listening and reading all this. And doubt may well arise again. But this kind of program is very healthy in this regard, that it puts the doubt to rest more easily. Ah, lovely indeed!
Happy Holidays!
Posted by Sunyata on 12.21.09 8:20 am
Randall, curious thing that this fluid, unstructured ISNESS, can mysteriously know itself as gratitude. Such commanding, confident symbols these vibrations can be, these black and white marks seen by no “I”… What a miracle!
Unanticipated and emerging from nowhere, a soft draft of giving… of knowing… a thief in the night, impersonated! Oh what a wonder this apparent assortment… saturated with undemanding, unruffled joy. Thank you!
Posted by Randall Friend on 12.21.09 8:27 am
Anatta,
Yes, mind is also a concept yet so are thoughts. What is thought? Isn’t it subtle vibration? Sensation? Take it all the way. Can we really say there is some “thing” as even a thought? Can we really even say there is such a “thing” as a “sensation”? Hasn’t this pure awareness been subtly broken up even there?
Are “sensations” and “awareness” in a relationship? Or are they the same reality?
Good to hear from you again, by the way. It’s been a “long time”.
Posted by Randall Friend on 12.21.09 9:23 am
Sunyata,
Yes, we never move away from HERE and NOW – yet this Here-and-Now-ness is in a constant flux – from where does it come? To where does it go?
Only the mind can say.
Posted by gilbert on 12.21.09 10:25 am
Only the mind can say – yet the mind is NOT the KNOWING.
Posted by michael on 12.21.09 11:25 am
blah blah blah
Trying to convince a “person” to look at this “understanding?”
is like teaching a dog to bake dog biscuits
It may be motivated but its not going to happen
I think the person just fades away when its somehow seen this life is not about them
Kind of overwhelmed by peace without that me knot
Person can do nothing to see except stop and look
So understanding is under-standing in what this is, as it is
Posted by Randall Friend on 12.21.09 11:28 am
Yes. Or as Bob says – mind is a subtle expression OF the knowing – that intelligence vibrating into the pairs of opposites.
So-called “mind” and knowing are not-two. There is no relationship between two entities, mind and the knowing OF mind. Mind or thought is sensation – sensation is nothing other than that knowing itself.
As you say – “clear and obvious”.
Posted by michael on 12.21.09 11:51 am
Oh, screw you thumbs down person
Rot in dog biscuit hell
Posted by michael on 12.21.09 12:34 pm
Um, it was a joke… biscuit hell not funny?
Death is the perfect insult
for insisting on you
Thats not too funny
Posted by gilbert on 12.21.09 2:11 pm
Good on ya Mike – but remember bluntness isn’t appreciated all that much. Blah Blah Blah. However, if you perceive someone trying to convince someone else about something, then the perception is yours.
Perceiving is not seeing.
‘People’ perceive things that don’t exist and tie themselves in knots and it is all ephemeral patterns appearing. Santa is a fictional character same as the ‘me’. Don’t forget to leave out some biscuits for the old fella – some greedy ‘me’ is sure to gobble them up.
May your Christmas stockings have a nice pair of legs in them – probably a couple of turkey legs at least. Ha.
Posted by anatta on 12.21.09 2:42 pm
God bless bluntness, no matter how unpopular it may be.
Posted by anatta on 12.21.09 2:48 pm
Never went “anywhere” brother, you know how it is. Love.
Posted by anatta on 12.21.09 2:49 pm
Bless you Michael, you’ve got spunk.
Posted by Randall Friend on 12.21.09 3:01 pm
Well it’s good to hear from you again, brother. Love to you.
Posted by michael on 12.21.09 4:36 pm
: ) Thanks Gilbert. Happy holidays to you and everyone here
Really i wish i could type out some warm sentences, so simple and clear that anyone reading it
would instantly stop, notice whats here, know they are that too, not a separate something else.
You and Randall do it so well
I don’t see anyone trying to convince anyone else about something here,
just people (sometimes bluntly : ( ) trying to help each other out of belief snares
To crack the word prison enough to have a peek at the impossible, then fly away
Posted by Cheryl on 12.21.09 4:45 pm
Amen
Posted by gilbert on 12.21.09 4:53 pm
You may believe that you made some choices to be here right now.
You may believe that there are a multitude of linear choices that lead back in time and you may even believe that you could name a lot of them and even be able to talk endlessly about those choices. You may believe that you are a self-made-man (or woman, as if such a thing could ever exist). The content of mind is like an infinite fractal pattern, unfolding in a seeming realm of time. The past slips away as the future nudges its way through the present- or so it seems.
So, you think you had a choice to delve into this Urban Guru Cafe and listen to the podcasts? You had a choice to open up the comment pages and read a few comments or all of them. Now your eyes scan these words and maybe some old beliefs are challenged by what you read. Whatever your belief may be – the fact is you are ‘here now’ and there is no way out of THAT.
Choices happen – there is no choice maker. No knower. No seer. No doer.
In a world full of conceptual nonsense and full of erroneous beliefs what a wondrous thing to come across a site like this. Or not so wondrous for you maybe.
Whatever is necessary to stir up the pot and bring the crud to the surface, you will probably find it here on this site.
Merry Christmas. Whatever that means to you – Ho-Ho-Ho.
Posted by michael on 12.21.09 5:16 pm
Yes,yes, its like we’re in the Matrix ,and UGC is the ship containing the last humans who know it’s
a construct and not real, its made by the machines ( self-centered mind) who want to destroy us and rule!
bit of a stretch? : )
Posted by Scarfox on 12.21.09 6:26 pm
Subtle Randall, very subtle.
Posted by Scarfox on 12.21.09 6:32 pm
What is the difference between seeing/awaring and perceiving? Is perceiving without thought not the same?
Posted by gilbert on 12.22.09 12:20 am
I make the distinction between perceiving and seeing.
This may explain it. You are walking down a road at night.
On the crest of a hill you perceive a man standing near two trees. You are slightly alarmed to ‘percieve’ him there. Looking more closely you perceive he has a weapon in his right hand. He appears to move slightly as if coming towards you.
Suddenly a car turns the bend and its headlights shine upon the place that you had perceived a man. What is revealed is merely three trees with their branches moving in the wind. A relief instantly spreads throughout the body-mind.
The Seeing was always present – added onto the seeing was ‘perception’ of something erroneous. (The same applies to the ‘me’ – the me is perceived and believed in – yet it is only a vibration – the wind playing across the branches (synapses) of the mind.)
So, what appeared in the SEEING was actually 3 trees, without any labels or names attached. The mind added labels with the perception of a man – where there indeed was no man at all. The brain is a pattern recognizing computer. That is its job.
One could say that pure perception WITHOUT the mind translation is the same as seeing. Two words for the same function.
No words can describe this SEEING and the words can only appear in the seeing-knowing presence.
The meaning in these words here are supplied by you.
I am simply pointing at the obvious.
Some judge ‘me’ and even try to discredit ‘me’, not realizing that I am what they are. There is only One Presence. I am THAT.
Posted by Steve on 12.22.09 2:26 am
Get your thumbs ready…I think the name of this place should be “Everyone’s A Guru Cafe”
Posted by Ronna on 12.22.09 2:58 am
Thanks for stirring up the crud, whatever it takes to KNOW where you are SEEING from is invaluable! Where are you SEEING from? This pointer UNDERSTOOD is the ‘end of duality’.
Merry Right Now
Posted by Lee on 12.22.09 3:07 am
Anatta wrote:
“The death of suffering is the awareness of being as self.”
I would agree, if by suffering you mean the form of psychological suffering (known as dukkha in Buddhism) that comes from the existential uncertainty and fearfulness that arises with the belief that I am a limited, separate, impermanent entity which is doomed to expire sometime soon. When that belief in separation dies, so must the dukkha.
But other forms of suffering – the whole apparent spectrum including pain, discomfort, distress etc… will almost certainly continue to arise in varying degrees in the UTTERLY CONDITIONED PROCESS that we call the mind / body organism from time to time.
And anyway, even if it were possible that suffering could be completely eradicated, what else could that be but AN APPEARANCE (as James has so rightly pointed out in the podcast.) The end of suffering could only be another appearance arising in what YOU are – this inescapable Aliveness which is the openness for ALL that appears.
PS. Thank you James for an insightful and bullsh*t free podcast.
Posted by gilbert on 12.22.09 3:10 am
Oh….bit touchy are we Steve……did we forget to interview you?
Or maybe we heard you ranting and raving already and decided to give it a miss. Merry Christmas with a red cherry on top of a thumbs up.
Gurus don’t come out of some University in California you know. Although I hear there are courses there for getting certified as an Advaita Teacher. How absurd does it get? Sheeshkabab. Some of these places have and employee with the title “Chief Enlightenment Officer”.
For Heavens sakes – what has this world come to?
P.S. Everyone has a chance to give their own pointers here. It happens to be a good way of clearing away various erroneous ‘points of view’ and most are not worried about the thumbs down all that much.
Sometimes the ones who get the most thumbs down are simply making some unpopular statements. This is not about getting voted into the State Office. Stick with it Steve, we need you to hang around – and you are such a ‘good sport’. If any words on this site just happens to upset anyone then please take them and stick ‘em in your Funkenwagnal. May the Kangaroos not knock down your chimney (smokestack) again this year. = G.
Posted by Steve on 12.22.09 3:52 am
I made that comment with a smile on my face. How about you?
Posted by Steve on 12.22.09 4:13 am
…despite my little icon there.
Posted by Richard on 12.22.09 5:47 am
“Whatever you see, whatever you do, that is direct experience of reality.” ~ Shunryu Suzuki
(btw, thumbers can ease up on their trigger fingers here. Suzuki is dead and probably won’t read this. If he did he would probably laugh at the duality of thumbs up/down responses on a nonduality site. “Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another. Love all or none of it, and stop complaining.” ~ Nisargadatta—as found on Bob’s site)
Posted by Cheryl on 12.22.09 5:50 am
“Let things happen as they happen – they will sort themselves out nicely in the end. You need not strain towards the future – the future will come to you on its own. For some time longer you will remain sleep-walking, as you do now, bereft of meaning and assurance; but this period will end and you will find your work both fruitful and easy. There are always moments when one feels empty and estranged. Such moments are most desirable for it means the soul has cast its moorings and is sailing for distant places. This is detachement – when the old is over and the new has not yet come. If you are afraid, the state may be distressing; but there is really nothing to be afraid of. Remember the instruction: whatever you come across – go beyond.”
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
THERE IS NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF!
Happy Holidays:)
Posted by S on 12.22.09 6:37 am
Lovely! Thank you. Nice ‘person’ thing ricnz1-whateverness. Now someone tell me WHATTHEFUCKISGOINGON!!!!
Just kidding. I have been me-ing, being, all over the flipping place APPARENTLY – in a bloody MENTAL WEIRD FREAKY NONSENSICAL dream whatever since ‘July’. Holy shit! Mad ‘experiences’ we won’t go into. I bloody know there’s no S! I even pretend I don’t know when I know, or maybe that’s S…. Oh it’s all bullshit anyway. Loads of laugter though, even during the ‘hurling S into the Lion’s Den’. Just hilarious. It has been a blast! (apparently!) Oh I know I know absolutely Nothing. I know that. And I just watch this freaky show playing out, knowing it makes no bloody sense at all, isn’t going anywhere, just…..just that bewildered dream-like ‘tranquility’ no matter what crap is playing out. Stupid bewildered grin, like a freak. All the time, apparently. This…. you know what, this ‘S body mind’ thing is pretty wiped out, ‘Christmas preparations, endless late nights, family, loads of guests, etc. EXHAUSTION is happening! And confusion. And apparently I have to be at a party NOW. Shit! This is chaos. Anyway, it’s all cool, I’m enjoying the show, whatever. Perhaps ‘S’ should just Shhhhhh! Whichever one, I really don’t care. I REALLY REALLY REALLY DONT GIVE A SHIT WHETHER THIS IS REAL OR NOT! That tired. Thanks lovely bunch, all of ‘you’. Better go, in the ‘shit’ now. Be back …. maybe??? Probably???? Bless ya!
Gilbert you cheeky git! Naughty man. Meanie. Poo-face!!!!!
There, that told him! (I’ll be back…..) xxx
Posted by gilbert on 12.22.09 7:17 am
“Whatever you see, whatever you do, that is direct experience of reality.” ~ Shunryu Suzuki
Well, if you can tell me what an indirect experience is, then this quote from Suzuki may have some meaning. As it stands it is rather meaningless as I see it.
So much fuss is made about your own direct experience. It is actually personalizing the experiencing by labeling it ‘your own direct experience’ – when in fact there is no ‘you’ as such.
This experiencing is actually uninterrupted and it is impersonal.
Of course one may feel like one is being robbed when confronted by such ‘pointing’.
All language is potentially dualistic. The simpler the expression, the less likely it can get misinterpreted.
“There is no duality in Non Duality”. Simple, direct and totally confronting for ‘the mind of belief’ (the me).
“Stop complaining” is a neat slap in the intellect.
Posted by Richard on 12.22.09 7:36 am
I agree with you totally Gilbert. Is that another sign of the world’s end in 2012?
Since you mentioned it, how about an interview with California Steven, on such a Winter’s day? (a pun: the lowest form of humor)
Posted by gilbert on 12.22.09 8:47 am
DON’T FORGET THE URBAN GURU CAFE MEETING IN SECOND LIFE WITH PAUL HEDDERMAN TOMORROW AT 7PM 22 DEC SL TIME/PACIFIC TIME.
Yes, an interview with Steve, it was a possibility up until that last comment he made. Just kidding. As an old saying goes….A wise man can pretend to be a fool…but a fool cannot……etc.
Hey, its Christmas – Good will to all men – God rest ye merry gentlemen. We will have a new program on the weekend so keep an eye out for it. It will be someone you have not heard before although you may have read a few of his words here and there. Another quantum leap for the UGC….it doesn’t matter how high we jump, we still land back in the NOW.
Posted by Steve on 12.22.09 9:11 am
I’m wondering where this California stuff is coming from. I live in cold, windy Chicago. I don’t know anything about any California guru schools. And I’ve made exactly six posts on this site, none of them a rant or a rave. No old sayings about fools pretending to be wise, either…or kangaroos knocking chimneys down.
Posted by claudia on 12.22.09 9:38 am
Wow, comments here are really ignited, I like it! The elasticity of the english language when it comes to express what is unexpressable is amazing (I say this because english is not my native language) – from “unstructured ISNESS” over “dog-biscuit-hell” to “kangoroos knocking down chimneys”… ha ha, incredible!
However it is expressed: knowing what is false as false is the biggest of all blessings!
Posted by gilbert on 12.22.09 10:20 am
Only when you KNOW who (what) you are can you ever know who or what anyone else is. Shadow boxing is just a game. The comment pages are for everyone and that which appears to be personal is actually impersonal. Taking things personally is a wondrous gift shining bright. Its sharp point is not for impaling oneself on. Admire the beauty of the appearance in all its glory – knowing that it is appearance only.
Where do these words come from if not from your own immediate and pure cognizing nature?
Postulations are postulations – knowing is knowing.
Which comes first? And which endures the tattered remnants of the struggle to find out who or what I am?
What you seek is what you are.
Posted by gilbert on 12.22.09 10:27 am
I know what I am. I know what you are. In this knowing there may appear all kinds of mind games and expressions. Some are exceedingly sharp and direct and some are playful like a child or even like an imbecile. Who is the judge? Who cares what is expressed?
Priests blaspheme in the name of God and walk freely amongst their congregation full of self-pride and egoism. Non Duality teachers parade like peacocks and declare that they are enlightened beings.
it is ALL appearances – nothing more than appearances.
When you truly SEE through it all you will laugh so loud it will wake the dead.
Posted by gilbert on 12.22.09 11:21 am
Try some humble pie with your three trick piggy back Zen Master and leave the pony out of it.
If you have a genuine question, ask it. No one is turning away any genuine inquiries here. This is a dynamic interplay and all kinds of expressions appear. Even your bitter comment has its place. Not sure where that place is, mind you.
Don’t take it personally and stop being a freak.
Posted by gilbert on 12.22.09 12:58 pm
It is ONLY a ME that can be angry or upset. All we are saying is basically this: Investigate that ‘me’ and SEE if it truly has any substance or independent nature of its OWN – can it stand on its OWN?
Can you say with absolute confidence that that ‘me’ or ‘me sense’ is what I am – is what you are?
If you want the usual spiritual bullshit then you have come to the wrong place. This site is not a Sunday picnic. We may have some fun from time to time in the appearance of things – but the basic pointing is uncompromising and potent.
Confirmation that the pointing works flows in as it surely does – but it is not made into a big deal by anyone here. There are still thousands who still live in belief – or appear to and the message is addressed to them – appearing in hundreds of ways and expressions.
Gratitude comes from the relief of seeing through the ‘me’ – not from the ‘me’. Grumble and groan, complain and be critical – it will never free you – because you were never bound ‘in the first place’.
Posted by Steve on 12.22.09 1:47 pm
Oh, okay, I think get it…call the personal impersonal, and add a good dose of non-duality-speak…cover all the bases.
Do you serve tea here?
Posted by Cheryl on 12.22.09 2:13 pm
Start from where you are here there where ever
You already are that
Non conceptual awareness
It’ll blow your mind
The relief is self-evident
Everything passes like clouds in the sky
What you are is solid and changeless
Start from there
Just be and see
Posted by claudia on 12.22.09 3:28 pm
- “When you truly SEE through it all, you will laugh so loud it will wake the dead.” – Sentences like this are opium for the mind story. Immedeately comes the interpretation: “So, does this mean that, unless I awake the dead with my laughter, I am still a zombie amongst zombies?… OMG, I haven’t explored enough,I haven’t done my investigation thourougly… bloody hell, I am still a “ME”!” So next, it looks desperately for another solution, or maybe, feeling hurt and cheated switches to the rival blog, where they tell you that there is nothing you can do, and stick there for a while, with the same result… It is like running on empty, till the batteries go out, till the mind dies of exhaustion, as an apparent somebody puts it. This is the amusingly pathetic mind game – that tremendous drama of “my life falling into pieces”, that I had taken for so real, and now turns out that it was nothing…
Posted by S on 12.22.09 4:27 pm
Yes, Gilbert it seemed like I had lots of strong judgements coming up about you, ‘delighting in seemingly mocking/trying to humiliate’ another fairly ‘harmless’ ‘person’(what the hell does that mean?) (excellent guess!) “he’s a nasty, so-and-so, arrogant, seems to enjoy making ‘other people’ uncomfortable.” It seemed very very credible. Yet at the same time, there was an intuition that this ‘may not be the case’ I really don’t know anything for sure… (all story, I know), for all I know he’s a crazy Buddha whatever, doing his ‘right’ Buddha thing – a sort of very strong feeling ‘what is this saying about ‘me’, this reaction. Whatever I see ‘out there’ is always a reflection of what I am, there is only ‘Oneness’, even if he seems like a right mean b….r, he CAN’T BE. And definitely a feeling that retaliation was not the way, it was ‘not right’, ‘not love’ and just ignorant. And inviting more pain! No thanks Mr Meanie Gilbert Shultz.
Then there was a feeling of immense gratitude and love towards you (DON’T panic! Not like that!!) for the UGC, all that stuff, wonderful podcasts, huge gratitude for this APPARENT very helpful, wise ‘MEANIE’. But again, EVERY CONCEPT, every judgement good/bad, kind/cruel is irrelevant if it’s all one, not ‘divided’ So I can’t trust ANY judgements at all, EVEN WHEN THEY ARE INCREDIBLY, OVERPOWERINGLY CONVINCING. But not really fully clicking the blindingly obvious that THERE ARE NO OTHERS. It’s not just a CONCEPT. It’s more even than an increasingly powerful, overwhelming intuition. There actually is nobody here and nobody ‘out there’. It’s all just dreaming. (v convincing dream sometimes!) Whatever I seem to see ‘out there’ is simply a reflection of a ‘piece’ of what I am. (Bloody horrible then sometimes! Ha! Ha!) But it’s only illusion, of course, because there is only the ‘Source’ or oneness appearing as whatever, just ‘dreaming’. Oh, I am wiped out, Gilbert.
‘Who’ would choose to go late to a party full of drunk extroverts, T total, in the ‘earlier frame of mind’? Seriously! And actually be the last to leave!???? Not nice. Paranoia Paradise. I’m just expressing thoughts but there is nobody, there’s just hearing the little fingers tapping away, seeing all this text appearing. And it’s 4.50 am. Exhausted but can’t sleep. Where’s the control there? Smiling still, but very, very tired. And confused. But if there is fight left the thought comes up – what do I know, I just give up – again and again and again! What can I do but just observe the whole thing, not interfere, just let it all go. Let it all go as long as it takes – days, months, years? A lifetime. But that’s just thoughts, dream stuff too. Everything is except this presence. Durr! How many times??? Thought. Just this, presence. Reality. Seeing. Being. Alive. Nobody here. It’s perfect. Just love, all ok, wonderful. So much love. Oh let it just gobble me up. Oops thinking. I’m smiling. Aha! Ahahaha!….. I don’t care. (thinking) I know there’s no S, and I know it doesn’t matter, there is (thinking). Just this. Emptiness. Love, so much it almost hurts (thought) Being. Aliveness. The light behind ‘the eyes’. Always, always, always there. Seeing everything. Beholding. in wonder. In awe. Knowing nothing. Being the All.
Time to sleep. ‘Nite’ ‘Gilbert’! Scary meanie Gilbert that’s the One appearing as…..what the hell do I know? But ‘he’ doesn’t scare ‘me’. Because there is no other. No person seeing. Nothing to hurt… Shhhhh! Silence says it best. Emptiness. Silence. Shhhhh
Posted by Scarfox on 12.22.09 5:30 pm
“It looks for”. There is no it, all is pure consciousness… Heard it through the grapevine.
Posted by Suzanne Foxton on 12.22.09 6:19 pm
It seems there is yet another story in illusory time unfolding here, that can certainly be seen through and yet relished…the story of a goal of helping apparent others to see their true nature, to relieve their suffering, to point out their true nature in a no-nonsense fashion; to debunk all pointers that are somehow perceived as ineffective, and that pander to the needy ego, wanting to be comforted and saved; to cut through the illusion of “me”, knifelike, without sympathy for the ego-self that has caused so much trouble for itself by believing in itself in the first place. The energy of the pointing is tough-love, and compassionate only in that it saves these small selves from more trouble and torment by insisting that they stop fooling themselves, and leave all the spiritual lovey-dovey bullshit in the toilet where it belongs, for overt compassion will surely mesmerise the ego into believing it can possess that love, and stay in charge. All the words above and below, all the discussions and commentary, all the words at the satsangs and meetings are by necessity not what they describe. How ironic and terrifically amusing it is that so much mind activity is generated by that which would negate the mind’s rule. Such a stimulating pleasure to read it all, all of it arising in what I Am…and you are, and we are.
Posted by Jacob on 12.22.09 7:42 pm
The Me sensce, what seems to always come up over here is the body always appearing in the picture and the mind or thought immeadiatly jumping in with identification with it , saying thats me that whole body thats beeing seen here is me Jacob, look the reflection in the mirror of course thats me, it seems dropping that beliefe that idea is impossible becouse thought is so qiuck and the picture so familliar , just is always there. yet the acual feeling of me comes in as feelings arising in the body, x
Posted by gilbert on 12.23.09 12:29 am
By telling this story of how quick the mind is, in the repetition of it, over and over, it seemingly becomes quite convincing.
What is it that cognizes the quickness of the so-called mind? Whatever that is, it must be quicker to catch its movement.
The activity of Knowing is a movement and let me suggest that it is far quicker then the mind. In fact it is a movement and yet it is also totally still.
The habit of believing in the minds repeating stories is what needs to be examined closely. Take the ‘position’ of not being the mind or its content.
Be thoroughly interested in what is actually going on. The degree of genuine interest that you bring to this ‘exercise’ will determine the so-called result.
There is only one thought appearing in any ‘one moment’. So I suggest that you repeat slowly the following words silently – not out loud: “No Mind” – “No Mind” – and keep repeating it.
This will block out the habitual thought patterns, the belief and the feelings that appear to come almost instantly with those thoughts. Be attentive and give it all you have got, as if your life depended on it. Choose a time that is appropriate to do this, when you can be alone and not interrupted for at least a short time. While repeating the words silently ‘in the mind’ be aware of everything – let ‘the mind’ be spacious.
In taking this advice I am sure you will have a revelation – it may be very subtle and you may not be able to describe it. It does not matter. The TASTE of it is all you need. Once a good taste of it has ‘taken place’………Well, I won’t say any more.
Try it and SEE for yourself.
I have no agenda in offering this to you and there is nothing in it for me – not this apparent ‘me’ here or that apparent ‘me’ there.
Posted by gilbert on 12.23.09 12:42 am
Yes and what a lovely garden it is – all kinds of flowers and weeds, plants of every kind, blossoming together, bathed in the light of one source. Relax and enjoy the view.
Posted by Jacob on 12.23.09 1:37 am
from no agennda I give you this wee offering of THANKS MAN! you wee beauty. ill find that quite time x
Posted by jenne on 12.23.09 5:10 am
LOVE IT!
especially “your” accents 
AND I LOVE THIS WEBSITE! TOTALLY AWESOME
Posted by suki on 12.23.09 5:30 am
In the Gnostic literature the demiurge (half creator) is also known by the name Yaldabaoth (child of chaos). This could be interpreted as the ‘mind’ or ‘me’ thought, the Chief Archon. Who ignores or is in denial of where his true nature springs forth from (the pure virginal light of knowing). All of his doings and creations are tainted with this darkness (ignorance) and shadowed by fear. Happiness and peace are short lived and transient (arising and subsiding of thoughts). The mind is defiant to the fact of its own temporal nature and the finality of its own extinction……..It is a servant and not the Master.
This is Good News! you are not the mind………
Posted by Steve on 12.23.09 5:59 am
Yeah Jacob, I think what was being prescribed is called mantra repetition. It’s been around for a while. Block out thoughts with another thought. There’s a guy named Bob Adamson. You may have heard of him. He talks about pausing thoughts, not adding thoughts; pausing thoughts and seeing what’s there. You want a revelation? You can have one right now. Look at the silence that’s always right here waiting, not another thought. The mind (thoughts), the body, and the world appear in that silence. That’s what you are. You are That.
Posted by S on 12.23.09 6:00 am
Nice move S. You go girl!
Posted by Cheryl on 12.23.09 6:01 am
Are thoughts self fulfilling?
Posted by Steve on 12.23.09 6:45 am
Yes and no.
Posted by S on 12.23.09 6:47 am
Well Gilbert whateverthehellitisthatIam.
Ya big mean bully! When is this flipping rooster going to fall of its perch in shock? And I’ve been laughing for a long, long time it seems. So you’re not ALWAYS right. Nearly, maybe. Whatever, whatever… I can’t believe you are THAT and ‘I am THAT’. HOW HORRENDOUSLY DEPRESSING! I thought I was quite nice. Not a rotten bully smart-ass know all. I mean I know I’m full of crap, nuts etc, but to be bloody mean with it, a wise-guy, all smug and all…. the ‘horrible’ things I see ‘out there, it’s all ….. what I am. Yuck! I don’t know about a rooster or a perch, bellringers, (?????) but I don’t feel like laughing right now. I feel like kicking you really bloody hard up your bloody smart old arse!
But, I have to give it to you, Gilbert you are a very very good ‘pointer’ it seems, and ‘you’ve’ taught me a lot. You flipping meanie! Actually I’ve always been immensely grateful for your work at the UGC, setting it up, etc. Even when I doubted ‘you’ shall we say, or at least… judged you. Just goes to show, those judgements, those beliefs… you can’t trust them. Not one of them. It’s ALL mind, ALL illusion, every little bit of it, EVERYTHING except just this presence that I am, the same presence-awareness shared by ‘everybody’ and ‘every creature’ and every ‘inanimate thing’. Everything. BLOODY EVERYTHING IS IT. EVERYTHING. EVEN …..BLOODY GILBERT!!! Oh the horror! (well, shock, I guess you could say shock, I PREFER DISGUST AND HORROR!!! What a Christmas gift, hey? S and Gilbert are one and the same. Bloody flipping great. Just my luck. Oh Merry flipping Christmas? Ho! Ho! Ho? Hee hee hee? Ha bloody ha? More like oh, shit I wish I was dead, boo hoo hoo. S and Gilbert? Same? REALLY HONESTLY???? I think I’m gonna be sick…. I might be ok, but it’s gonna take a while to get my head round that one. Holy shit! UNBELIEVABLE. Just flipping UNBELIEVABLE. S and Gilbert are the same stuff? Give me strength. Please.
Well….I guess I’ll get my head around it…. eventually. Anyway, Mr Gilbert, whateverthehellyou/Iam Thank you for being you. (What the hell am I saying?) Really. Sincerely, joking apart. YOU are a ‘top chap’ too. (groan!) And thank you for the UGC and all your mean shitey-ness (apparently). I’ll stand up for you, whatever ‘they say’. Don’t worry, S will protect you from the attackers and doubters…. even though she was once one of them. Now I be THAT makes you feel safe, eh? Don’t worry, Gilbert, you’ve got S. Forever. In essence we can never be parted (oh hell!). Isn’t that a nice Christmas present for Gilbert too! S is going to ‘protect him’, not ‘attack him’, terrifying as she is. Well scary. This site is really fantastic. It really is. I thought maybe it could do with a little ‘livening up’, but that’s just me, I guess.
And I know somewhere under that grouchy appearance is just Love, pure love, being, present-awareness……emptiness. Silence. Peace. Eternal light, love being. You’d have to look damned hard for it though!!! Merry Christmas Gilbert, Areti, Randall and all the ‘sages’, ‘seekers’, ‘meanies’, ‘gentle ones’. Everyone.
From whateverthehellIam Very very worn out and relieved. S x
Posted by Scarfox on 12.23.09 6:59 am
That is dual, silence and chatter both appear in you actually. And both those are the same essence (non-dual I amness).
Posted by gilbert on 12.23.09 8:38 am
What you say is correct Steve – yet it does not appear to help Jacob and he has been struggling with this for awhile now – in the appearance. What I suggested is not something to take on as a practice. It is just a tool to allow a clear view to open up. It actually ‘works’ – the only ‘problem’ is that what is revealed may be too subtle for the habituated hyperactive war-torn mind. So the ‘mantra’ stops the mind……..However, like a fast runner, if he is stopped suddenly, the momentum (noise) takes awhile to settled down. Using thought to go beyond thought is totally valid. We use the mind to understand the mind. Denial of assistance is counter productive.
To dismiss the suggested ‘exercise’ as being useless, without trying it, is not only not useful, it is a rebellion from MIND. True Essence is compassionate.
And you mention Bob – and I have heard Bob suggest this very same ‘exercise’ on more than one occasion. I don’t think that Bob would dismiss the suggestion at all. With respect = Gilbert.
Posted by Randall Friend on 12.23.09 9:50 am
What is the nature of awareness? What does it look like? What does awareness FEEL like? What is the color of awareness? The height? Width? Shape?
Any of these attributes are known BY awareness yet that awareness has none of these attributes. It has no dimension in either time or space. It doesn’t start and stop. We cannot say it is located anywhere nor point out any boundaries to this awareness.
If awareness had attributes it would be objective – have you ever objectified awareness? Has it become an object TO YOU?
It cannot be an object to you, because it IS YOU. You are THAT which is aware of attributes but you cannot place an attribute upon your Self, yes? Any attribute is by definition objective – to call it an attribute is by definition to say it arises in awareness. Is it not true? If we say awareness is blue, blue-ness is known somehow. Awareness is that which knows the attribute “blue”. Any attribute, to be known, must be objective to something – that something is that awareness that you are.
Therefore you are not bound by time nor space – this means you are limitless. What-you-are is the limitless awareness, right now. If that is so, then look at present experience. Is it, in fact, a ME-seeing-WORLD? Is that SEEING the properties of an independent and separate SEER? A “seer” is that which conceptually arises in concert with the “seen” – yet the “seen” is itself another assumption.
That limitless awareness is self-shining, self-evident, nonconceptual. It is literally shining right this moment, as these words are found. Should the limitless be a goal? Can you reach limitless? Does not the limitless already encompass all ideas of a “limited self” who seeks it?
This reality is obvious, right now, only overlooked because it’s being sought after, in assuming it’s not already present. Do you need to seek awareness? Isn’t awareness THAT BY WHICH the search is known?
What attributes does the “seeker” have? How do you know?
Posted by Steve on 12.23.09 10:05 am
I don’t know anything, but isn’t it the mind, the appearance, that’s ‘looking’ at the Silence/Reality? Why use the mind to understand the mind? Why not bring the mind straight to Understanding? But your way is fine! It’s Understanding that comes to the Understanding of Itself, in an infinite number of ways… but It always arrives.
Peace
Posted by Steve on 12.23.09 10:24 am
What’s a you?
Posted by gilbert on 12.23.09 8:43 pm
It is the reference point ‘me’ that is seemingly obsessed with meaning and working it all out.
Everything is perfect just as it is.
It is completely obvious without a thought standing in the view.
How could it possibly be any other way?
The mind (the me) says “Yes But……”
Posted by Joe Cap on 12.24.09 2:36 am
Randall,
What attributes?
Thoughts! Pain, Suffering, Emptiness, Fear, Anxiety. If this me is all thoughts then it is a thought pattern stuck in a loop. Is anyone else here stuck in watching ‘what’s not happening’ as Paul says? Like being duct-taped to a chair forced to watch the same movie about a guy trapped in a experiences where nothing works out- over and over and over. I have no clue what I am or where the I is located. Feels like it is the body sensations or the experiencing itself- but completely bound, backed in a corner with nowhere to go. Pause thoughts? Maybe for a second- but as soon as they begin again it is the same old story.
Hope this isn’t too much of a whining post. I’m just looking to see where I am missing the point of this whole message.
Posted by Richard on 12.24.09 3:52 am
I’d rather send the following as a private email, as can be done in most groups.
Scarfox,
A few months ago you were criticizing me for making definitive statements. Now I look at your posts, and see you are doing the same thing. What the hell?
So, to turn the tables on you, let me ask you the same questions you asked me:
1. Do you think you are not a seeker like most people here? (Scarfox’s assumption)
2. Do you think you are some kind of teacher?
If you have truly realized the inconsistency of the seeker who searches for nonduality, then congratulations. And merry Christmas too.
Happy holidays all.
Richard
Posted by Steve on 12.24.09 4:24 am
It’s okay to be a seeker
Okay to be what we are
If what we are is what we seek
Then what we seek is what we are
Seeking itself
Then finding itself
Having never really lost itself
Maybe that’s why Jesus said “Seek and ye shall find”
He knew
Merry Christmas!
Posted by Scarfox on 12.24.09 4:30 am
Insights and relaying direct information happen, from the reference point I’m still seeking. It is intellectually understood, and slowly but surely the seeing grows so to speak. You should have stopped at ‘a few months ago’!
You should go to the sl meetings, although a totally ironic place to hold them, anything goes right? I went to my first one last night and it was fun and I learned something. There were even enlightening fart jokes.
Posted by gilbert on 12.24.09 5:32 am
The Am-ness is not divided by the letter ‘I’.
AM is the verb ‘To BE’. BEING.
‘I AM’ is simply a declaration that need not be made.
It is what God told Moses HIS name was ‘I AM – THAT – I AM’
Like Moses you can realize that this ‘I AM’ is what ‘I am’.
Same AM-ness – Same ‘I’.
This ‘I’ does not divide the mind or awareness into 2.
One BEING – One Awareness = I AM THAT.
So simple – the believe in ‘I’ or ‘me’ is the sense of separation.
Understanding is silent and wordless – ‘I – Less’.
Maybe it seems too subtle – when you are in deep sleep there is no problem and the ‘I’ is absent.
Posted by S on 12.24.09 6:00 am
Hello ricnz1. It’s S again. Calmer this time. Thank you so much for your thoughtful and very helpful comments. Really, hugely appreciated. All heard before of course, but maybe sinking in this time? Yes, there is no ‘enlightenment’ etc. I understand and have overcome the terrible disspointment (for the self ) that there really is nothing to get, this REALLY IS it. The weird, dramatic ‘experiences’, even none of that is craved. The big thing I think was the refusal to accept the ‘dark stuff’, the so-called bad/mean/evil/unkind/whatever stuff, all judgements and beliefs which are of course completely personal and meaningless without a subject. But so deeply held and believed in – the belief systems are so powerful and some of the dark stuff, it just goes so against the grain to believe that that’s it as well (not Gilbert of course! That WAS a joke), but the – well, REALLY nasty stuff!
I don’t know or really care ‘where I am at’ any more. Honestly. That’s how it feels. Whether I’m utterly deluded or awake or whatever, it’s all ok. It’s all perfect, it’s obvious everything is balanced out perfectly in manifestation anyway, there just can’t be one without the other. The light/dark, kind/cruel, etc definitions. V useful of course, but it’s just seeing that NOT ONE BELIEF, NOT EVEN ONE JUDGEMENT can be taken as truth, as reality. It’s ALL so-called ‘mind’ stuff, all ‘illusion’, everything perceived. And clear-seeing is prior to any thought, any movement of the mind. That happens, then there is huge identification with the ‘story’, then seeing, it’s all terribly confusing still, and has been for a long time. I don’t want anything more, I know it’s all fine now and that as you say, and I absolutely, absolutely feel and agree in my heart, just relax and let it be. That’s sort of been going on for a while, in truth, it’s hard to imagine how much more there is to ‘let go’ of! I mean…. let go. Really, really let go and let it happen. I’m driving my family and everyone else nuts! But still, whatever… what will be will be. The thoughts are just…. god the NOISE! It’s calming down a but but still! Seriously it takes sometimes 3 minutes for my family to get a simple ‘yes or no’ out of me. NUTS is a kind understatement, but it seems that this is perhaps, and I know we’re talking stories here, second and ‘deeper’ head explosion, for want of a better word. Didn’t think there could be much left! God what a load of crap there is in ‘the mind’! It’s endless! As you say, thoughts come and go, no one is doing it, they come from nowhere, they can just be witnessed, and disappear, without acceptance/rejection etc. Well, that’s it really. I know what I am, I know I’m not S, and there are no ‘others’ no matter what it seems like, but clearly the thoughts well, its VERY NOISY again, but that’s fine. I don’t give a stuff what anyone – friends, whatever think any more. Seriously, I sense it’s just letting the noise subside in its own time. I know it will. I know I’m not S, although it’s convincing. Fundamentally I know now that there is no controller, it was very strongly sensed it seems, for a long time, and believed. But not actually really, really seen totally. There’s just witnessing, but often the ‘me’ seems to be doing things! Weird stuff. The confusion will resolve itself in its own time. It’s absolutely felt that’s right.
I have no ‘goals’ any more with this stuff, in fact I thought I’d fully ‘got’ the point that there was nothing more, but clearly there was some confusion! It’s confusing stuff!! No desire to join a ‘club’ or teach (God forbid!) or be special (seen all that stuff). I just wanted the truth. What is real. To be what/who I really am, free of … well, just to be free! Anyway, I feel it’s fine, whatever happens. I feel tremendous freedom and relief already. Whatever else, whatever…. It will all resolve itself one way or another, without the ‘me’ helping!! Thoughts will ‘quieten down’ in time and lose their appeal/power.
Identification/clarity/whatever…. whatever. It’s all the same, I’m never not this presence. Being. I am happy to be who/what I really am. Resting in that. Staying with that. Nothing more. What more could be needed than that, eh? It’s pretty damn good. Thanks you ricnz1. Thanks a lot. S
Posted by S on 12.24.09 6:40 am
Thank you so much again Gilbert, REALLY, REALLY, messing about apart. I have immense gratitude for this landing strip for worn out roosters or whatever’s out there in need of the TRUTH. Fantastic, it really is, whether I am a huge confused self-deluded GOBBY ROOSTER or not, so what, I still thing you’re the best. Ye horrible meanie!
I think I’ve said enough for a while. I hope your poor bum has recovered from that earlier kicking. Had to get it out, one way or another.
Aaah! Feels a lot better now.
Hope you have a really, really Brilliant Christmas.
Posted by Sunyata on 12.24.09 8:45 am
Randall,
No need to talk again my sweet friend. It is over.
NO THING is the outward show after all! How phenomenal… the meek, composed, contented steadiness, transparently imbuing such dynamic display of colors and shapes.
The appearance of a me, roaming around inanimately, unsuspectingly searching for its own breath. What an innocent endeavor! This intimate, limitless and eternal I, the central character, freed at last by the very fetters of time and space! The I, the subject, the play… were all IT all along… there is nothing but IT! There is nothing but FREEDOM!
There is no clarity, no attainment, nothing reachable, just the readily available and ample NOW. “The foxes have their holes in the ground, the birds have their nests, but the son of man has no place to rest his head…”
There are no paradoxes and no logic, no opposites and no parallels, it is all IT, and none of it is IT! What IS can’t be envisioned, perceived or described. The attempt at any description is both, ludicrous and generous… as well as pregnant with infinite possibilities!
Just as the nonchalant winds carry seeds, unconcerned with outcomes, such are the inadvertent, random attempts at elucidating WHAT IS. When conditions are favorable, fertile ground is spontaneously, fluently and indiscriminately struck.
No big deal. Thank you and love to you my friend (as you so dearly like to say!)
Posted by skip on 12.24.09 1:19 pm
I’m that I Am, imagined by That which wanted to know itself but could not without Me to reflect Being of That. Without Me there could be no Being to Prove That. I know I am working backwards, but I have a hell of a time starting from the beginning!
Posted by Randall Friend on 12.24.09 1:47 pm
Sunyata,
“There is no clarity, no attainment, nothing reachable, just the readily available and ample NOW.” Beautiful. And you are THAT.
“love to you, my friend”….
Posted by Randall Friend on 12.24.09 1:57 pm
Joe,
Yes. And how do you know? You failed to answer the second part of the question.
How do you know these attributes? Can an attribute know itself? Can pain know itself? Can thought know itself? Can emptiness or fear or anxiety KNOW?
Does the knowing of attributes itself have attributes? Really the only attribute of that knowing is that it IS. It IS. It is existence. Awareness IS.
Awareness IS = I AM. Have an honest look – is it not true?
Seeking is holding onto something – hasn’t this seeking bullshit been held onto long enough? Can you be apart from the knowing or awareness?
Right now it can be done. No more “whining”, as you said. Right now simply notice that what you are is the primary and intimate activity of knowing, before any concept comes in to translate.
Is it not true? If so, what remains to be sought after? The “seeker” is CLEARLY another thought. The “thinker” is nothing but the thought “I THINK.” The “seeker” is the thought “I am seeking”.
Both thoughts arise in that pure, simple and obvious awareness that you are, right now.
Posted by skip on 12.24.09 3:01 pm
Beautiful words, and they must be aimed at me, because I am the proof that the dream lives on. Otherwise, why would you bother. Me, I? Well here I am and there You are, pretty obvious (and clear). And, yet,after knowing all there is is consciouness,there is Beyond Conciousness?
Posted by Scarfox on 12.24.09 4:13 pm
What’s a you?
Posted by gilbert on 12.24.09 6:59 pm
Skip……You imagine what you call ‘That’ as being ‘something’ that is imagining something else. It is YOU that imagines it all.
Can you not SEE that the concepts about it all are nothing but imagination? Contortions of the mind. Mobius knots – exhausting and useless.
START from the fact of pure knowing.
THAT is not imagination. It is knowing, naked and unadorned by any concept.
Who has had a hard time starting from the beginning?
Any ‘beginning’ is just imagination. Any ‘end’ is also just imagination.
When did this immediate knowing start or end?
It is similar to asking where does this space begin? Where does it end? Space has no center and no circumference.
Of course ‘you’ will have an impossible ‘time’ TRYING to start at the beginning.
The one who is trying is simply a conceptual construct doing gymnastics in the mind.
If you get a glimpse of what I am pointing at, then that glimpse is ‘seeing’ as if from outside of the activity seen. Paradoxically this seems to be a being separate from the activity. But stay with it and recognize that all these activities of mind are appearing in what you are. You cannot SAY what you are – because it is indescribable and the mind has no words for it – or at least it may have a thousand words for it but none of them are adequate. Even in the most rudimentary way…..the WORD is not the THING. The word ‘water’ is not wetness.
How this can not be seen clearly is a remarkable ‘thing’.
Since my so-called ‘mind’ is not in turmoil and is not ‘as busy as a bee’, it seems truly wondrous that anyone could possibly not SEE what is being pointed out over and over and over again.
As Bob points out so simply “The answer is not in the mind”.
The intellect bulks at such pointing. ‘Yes BUT…” is its reply…ad infinitum. Story of ME. “Well Jesus Wept” and any other gross phrase you may want to add here. Have we not been hammering the same message a thousand times?
INVESTIGATE the ‘me’ and SEE if it truly has any substance or independent nature – does it have a ‘point’ that you can say with absolute certainty ‘THIS is what I AM”.
The kid gloves are off…..Christmas or no Christmas…..Who the hell wants to chase their tail endlessly TRYING to work it out in the mind?
Everything is PERFECT just AS it IS.
WHO is this one who has a problem.
REALITY does not change.
It is what you ARE.
The river wont stop flowing. The wind wont stop blowing. The heavens wont cave in on you.
Just SEE – BE the SEEING and nothing other than the SEEING.
Posted by Johan on 12.25.09 12:17 am
Thanks a lot Randall! How can anyone come in and say that THIS is somehow wrong? This is THIS, just as it is. For someone to come in and say that this is wrong that person has to come from some other THIS where everything is completely different, but a place like that doesn’t exist and it could never exist because everything is always THIS. There is just THIS as it is. One without a second. ALL INCLUSIVE. So everything that is happening is like it is and is supposed to be like this. How can it possibly be any other way?
Posted by Steve on 12.25.09 4:16 am
Who wants to know?
Posted by gilbert on 12.25.09 6:09 am
It is Christmas morning here – Santa brought another program for you all to listen to. Santa did not eat the milk and cookies I left out for him, so once I finish them off, I will publish the new program…..ENJOY….and may the three wise men take away the unnecessary beliefs in exchange for the fragrance of pure knowing. Merry Christmas – you mottly crew.
Posted by Cheryl on 12.25.09 6:15 am
Joe – everybody has been where you are caught in those thought loops. Sounds like you’re just more conscious of thought, this will dissipate if you stick with it. Only from what I’ve glimmed I’d say we can not stop thoughts, all we can do at first is realize thoughts are just concepts. Concepts have their practical uses, but in describing who we are they are limiting – we are not a concept (thought)because what we are in reality is limitless. The more we resist thought as unwanted the more painful it can be. Just watch them like clouds passing in the sky, don’t attach any meaning to them, let them be. Just be. Whatever appears in thought you are ‘not’ that, what it is is just an appearance in the immediacy. It passes as long as we are not self identifying with it. What we’re trying to SEE is what is beyond conceptual experience, prior to thought. But I am pretty sure you cannot force it. Just remember you already are that (start from there) so don’t worry…you cannot lose it, it’s not going anywhere, it’s always here. Relax.
Posted by S on 12.26.09 11:02 pm
“I love the Chosen One,
Loving Him is lots of fun!
We love the Chosen One,
Not as much a ME!
I love hime with my Heart
(I love him with my body parts)
We love the Chosen One
“Everybody Shushhhh!”
The Might Boosh – British Humour is maybe a bit WEIRD.
But so is life, its maybe a very healthy way of dealing with a completely INSANE, MEANINGLESS world! You either fight it or have a really damn good laugh at yourself and everyone else and everything else ‘out there’ and just enjoy it. It has not been
easy for the mind to ‘make the adjustments’ shall we say, in the dream. It struggled, veered off into the ‘insane’ for a good while on and off, it seems. IT’S NOT EASY this ‘understanding’, Scotty, remember??? Anyway, whatever, you are you, and that’s just fine, PERFECT. You are Perfect. It can’t be denied. Gotta hand it to you Scotty. YOU ARE PERFECT.
Life is, (to me – OOOPS! I do apologise for forgetting there’s nobody there) generally hilarious. Really, really fun and silly, in spite of all the seeming horrible stuff. It’s just fantastic, especially when you really can just REALLY be who you are and not have to make any apologies or explanations for any of it. Cos it’s all ….. nonsense anyway.
Happy Christmas and New Year etc Scotty, cheer up, if you’re taking life too seriously. It doesn’t really matter. No need to take life so seriously, whether you are a ‘liberated one’ or not. There’s no difference in the end, just a freedom. An understandng, that’ all, which is fundamental, I suppose. To really enjoy life and have a great laugh, and loads of fun…. well that will do for me. (Oooops)
Maybe I am weird. Maybe you are weird. Maybe I am moronic. Or maybe, I’m a genius??? Who knows? I have no idea, cos I’m not doing any of it. I’m just watching the whole ridiculous, but very interesting show. Just watching all this buggering about, bemused, clueless, amused, idiocy, whatever…. whatever. Who is to say what anyone is or is not, in the end. They are what the ARE. Any judgements are just that – just personal to the ‘judger’. Which is fine, Maybe I am unbearable. (Who would that be according to, by the way?). Mayber YOU are. Or maybe we are all JUST PERFECT.
Just perfect, Perfect. Big happy smile.
“I love the Chosen One, Loving him is lots of fun, We love the Chosen One, Not as much as ME”…………….. x
Posted by S on 12.26.09 11:10 pm
“I love the Chosen One
Loving him is lots of fun!
We love the Chosen One
Not as much as Me!
I love him with my hear
I Love him with my body parts
We Love the Chosen One
Everybody Shushhhh! (Might Boosh, etc, etc)
Gilbert, you’re PERFECT. An so am I. So is everyone, everything. EVERYTHING.
Posted by S on 12.26.09 11:12 pm
OOps that was meant to read HEART…. not that any of it matters, of course. …… anyway bye now!
Posted by S on 12.26.09 11:28 pm
Top Man, Johan! It’s all Perfect! All of it, exactly as it it. Couldn’t be any other way. Needn’t be changed. Just life, experiencing. Having fun, mischief, whatever. All ‘Perfect’ exactly as it is.
Posted by nigelp11 on 12.28.09 8:31 pm
I know this sounds like I’m having a go but life is neither perfect nor imperfect neither dual nor oneness. It is the nameless silence that is always present. Words make it seem far off when it is always there for seeing. It is so close and so simple we miss it thinking no this can’t be it and as such we live in a state of this isn’t it, this isn’t good enough. I’ll keep on seeking for something better. Almost impossible to believe the miracle of life is you seeing right now, stay long enough and the wonder and mystery is right there. The wonder is how we missed such an obvious miracle. The ordinary is the wonder. Much love to all. Thanks to UGC. Great work. Great space here. Happy now year to all