If you have read a fair number of spiritual books, you are familiar with discriminating language such as: true self and false self. You are not the body, such and such is an illusion, and all the rest. But the illusion is just one. The illusion is that there is anything here except the Self, or God, or the Mystery. That's the illusion. The illusion is that the in-dweller and all the diverse expressions are not the one Reality. They are. Truth, or Self, or God, or the Mystery alone is. That's all there ever is.
We THINK we live separately, apart from the ultimate reality, but the truth is, we don't. We THINK we live apart from God, and have to journey back to find God. We don't. God is journeying back to Himself. The universe is playing a game with itself called diversity. If we see only the differences, then we have missed it. If we try to overlook the differences, we have missed it. Both are mistakes of equal magnitude.
God isn't hidden. As one has said, "If you ask where is God? You have asked the wrong question. If you ask, "Where God is not? You have asked the right question, because the truth is -- God, or Truth, or Being, or Self is all there is.
Seen in this light, we see how ridiculous it is to seek God. God is obvious. We see how ridiculous it is to look past forms, or disregard appearances. God isn't hiding. Whoever said, God is hidden, didn't know God, except in theory, because God is all there is. The mistake is this belief that God is hidden. This belief alone robs one of Realization.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Difference
Love is all there is, and only I am love are very different indeed. This is the problem. Some have had an awakening, but the mind still creates enemies, because it doesn't really see that there are no enemies, that there is only this empty-full presence or Love. When you see past the appearances, everything is Love. Everyone is Love. Everything is Love, Every thought and feeling is Love. Even hateful thoughts are Love. That's the shocker. Even thoughts of judgment, criticism, anger, impatience, dislike, distrust etc. All of it is Love.
When you see this, you don't have to fall for appearances any more. You don't have to fight with these undesirables. You can let them be. You can sense the Love that they truly are. As this empty-full Presence, you can be with them and welcome them back. Or you can say, "You're not fooling me. I see that you are really Love in Disguise. Welcome friend."
The claim, "Love is all there is" and "Only I am love" are very different indeed. One creates a separation, even an animosity against things, thoughts, feelings and others. The other sees no difference. The other sees only itself. The empty-full Presence looks and sees only the Love that composes all.
If you are still against things, thoughts feelings or others, if you are still in inner conflict, you are only half awake. You have realized Presence, but the mind is still protecting you from the surprising and destabilizing truth that this empty-full Presence, or Love is all there is.
When you see this, you don't have to fall for appearances any more. You don't have to fight with these undesirables. You can let them be. You can sense the Love that they truly are. As this empty-full Presence, you can be with them and welcome them back. Or you can say, "You're not fooling me. I see that you are really Love in Disguise. Welcome friend."
The claim, "Love is all there is" and "Only I am love" are very different indeed. One creates a separation, even an animosity against things, thoughts, feelings and others. The other sees no difference. The other sees only itself. The empty-full Presence looks and sees only the Love that composes all.
If you are still against things, thoughts feelings or others, if you are still in inner conflict, you are only half awake. You have realized Presence, but the mind is still protecting you from the surprising and destabilizing truth that this empty-full Presence, or Love is all there is.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
No Reason to Leave
If you look deeply, you find that there is no reason to leave the mind, or thought, the body or the world, because, strictly speaking, there is no mind, or body or world, and never has been. There was, is and always will be only That. Some call it Emptiness. Some call it Silence, Some call it Consciousness or Truth. I am calling it Love.
The invitation to awaken, depending on the method, excludes, for a time, these false identities (because one identifies with them solely), but not their realities, (and this is an important distinction). This is done so that one can experience what remains. Then, everything that was excluded in terms of the "realities," the world, the mind, the other etc. is re-included, because Oneness does not admit of distinctions.
In my experience, one cannot experience the empty-full Presence, or Love, without some kind of investigation. Neti Neti is one kind of investigation. Self-inquiry is another. Being present, which is perhaps less divisive, is a third. These bring the realization of what is unchanging ie. the sense of Amness, of Being, of Awareness etc.. What is missed, however, by the majority, is that the changing reality is Oneness, as well. Oneness or Love includes everything. It has not rejected anything. The ego has, particularly, the spiritual ego. Oneness does not even reject the ego.
The truth is: nothing needs to be rejected. Everything appearing as "dual" is the "non dual" pretending. This is why it is referred to as the play of consciousness. It is because, everything is this Love, this Being, this Presence. Everything is this Love, even the mind, the world, the "other," and "you." There is no need to go anywhere or transcend anything. The invitation is to see this and rest.
This is what I mean by awakening is the fist step. What I mean is this: There are many who have realized Presence, but they have not realized that there is nothing that is not this Presence. Otherwise, they could stop fighting, resisting etc.. They could finally rest. After all, what sense does it make trying to transcend a mind or leave a world that, strictly speaking, doesn't exist. What sense does it make to do battle with a mind, which is itself Oneness? There is no need to transcend anything, just see that nothing exists but this empty-full Presence manifesting as the many, or as I have said, that "Love is all there is."
The invitation to awaken, depending on the method, excludes, for a time, these false identities (because one identifies with them solely), but not their realities, (and this is an important distinction). This is done so that one can experience what remains. Then, everything that was excluded in terms of the "realities," the world, the mind, the other etc. is re-included, because Oneness does not admit of distinctions.
In my experience, one cannot experience the empty-full Presence, or Love, without some kind of investigation. Neti Neti is one kind of investigation. Self-inquiry is another. Being present, which is perhaps less divisive, is a third. These bring the realization of what is unchanging ie. the sense of Amness, of Being, of Awareness etc.. What is missed, however, by the majority, is that the changing reality is Oneness, as well. Oneness or Love includes everything. It has not rejected anything. The ego has, particularly, the spiritual ego. Oneness does not even reject the ego.
The truth is: nothing needs to be rejected. Everything appearing as "dual" is the "non dual" pretending. This is why it is referred to as the play of consciousness. It is because, everything is this Love, this Being, this Presence. Everything is this Love, even the mind, the world, the "other," and "you." There is no need to go anywhere or transcend anything. The invitation is to see this and rest.
This is what I mean by awakening is the fist step. What I mean is this: There are many who have realized Presence, but they have not realized that there is nothing that is not this Presence. Otherwise, they could stop fighting, resisting etc.. They could finally rest. After all, what sense does it make trying to transcend a mind or leave a world that, strictly speaking, doesn't exist. What sense does it make to do battle with a mind, which is itself Oneness? There is no need to transcend anything, just see that nothing exists but this empty-full Presence manifesting as the many, or as I have said, that "Love is all there is."
Openhearted
The journey towards divinity is the same as the journey towards humanity. That journey is to surrender all the reasons we have for not keeping the heart open. That openhearted being is the human person, fully alive. The rest are the casualties of life, events of life that, for a time, render us distrustful.
Pain is a reality of life. The Buddha put it this way, "Life is dukka," and dukka, suffering or unsatisfactoriness has left its mark. It has done its part to close the heart to life. All know the pain of which I speak. It is the pain of hurt and never wanting to be hurt again, but there are no guarantees. The only guarantee is that you will be hurt again. The question is: Will you keep your heart open?
Only an open heart can experience beauty, love or God. Only an open heart can experience connection instead of indifference. Only an open heart can feel, period. There is a saying, "Do not be reckless with another's heart," but I say keep an open heart no matter what happens. That alone is the key to being alive instead of dead. As it says in scripture, "You have the reputation of being alive, but you're dead."
Love is our nature. It is the greatest truth about us. Pain or hurt may be there, but someday they won't be. That's true. As for Love? Love is the only reality that is eternal. It is the only reality that is always there. We have only to discover it. We have only to realize the deepest truth of what we are and be that openhearted empty-full-Presence.
We can be like a bright light that is always switched on, always broadcasting Love or we can find reasons to close our hearts. Believe me. There are plenty. The truth is no matter what you may be feeling personally, Love or openheartedness is always available. It is there waiting for you to surrender your pain. To be an openheart, not to have an openheart, is the real invitation.
Truthfully, the heart never closes. We just lose sight of our openheartedness because, for a while, our attention goes to the hurts, the fears and the distrust. It is not unlike clouds covering the sun. The sun is neither closed nor open, just shining. You don't experience it, because of the clouds, but it is so. Similarly, openhearted empty-full presence is always so. It's your nature. The rest is true just for now.
Pain is a reality of life. The Buddha put it this way, "Life is dukka," and dukka, suffering or unsatisfactoriness has left its mark. It has done its part to close the heart to life. All know the pain of which I speak. It is the pain of hurt and never wanting to be hurt again, but there are no guarantees. The only guarantee is that you will be hurt again. The question is: Will you keep your heart open?
Only an open heart can experience beauty, love or God. Only an open heart can experience connection instead of indifference. Only an open heart can feel, period. There is a saying, "Do not be reckless with another's heart," but I say keep an open heart no matter what happens. That alone is the key to being alive instead of dead. As it says in scripture, "You have the reputation of being alive, but you're dead."
Love is our nature. It is the greatest truth about us. Pain or hurt may be there, but someday they won't be. That's true. As for Love? Love is the only reality that is eternal. It is the only reality that is always there. We have only to discover it. We have only to realize the deepest truth of what we are and be that openhearted empty-full-Presence.
We can be like a bright light that is always switched on, always broadcasting Love or we can find reasons to close our hearts. Believe me. There are plenty. The truth is no matter what you may be feeling personally, Love or openheartedness is always available. It is there waiting for you to surrender your pain. To be an openheart, not to have an openheart, is the real invitation.
Truthfully, the heart never closes. We just lose sight of our openheartedness because, for a while, our attention goes to the hurts, the fears and the distrust. It is not unlike clouds covering the sun. The sun is neither closed nor open, just shining. You don't experience it, because of the clouds, but it is so. Similarly, openhearted empty-full presence is always so. It's your nature. The rest is true just for now.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
This Empty-Full Presence
Love is always the subject. Everything else can be objectified. Only this spacious empty-full Presence cannot. It is intrinsically mysterious; unknowable. As for everything else, it can be objectified. It can be objectified as God as the world, as me etc. The trick is not to separate the two, not to divide the two, not to create dichotomies, not to create hard lines between the true self and the false self, between emptiness and form.
Unity is the natural effect that Love has on everything. Love is unifying. Presence or Love doesn't resist at all. It allows everything to coexist. It is not at odds with anything. It has no adversaries. The mind has adversaries. Presence has none, not even the mind. It is no more antagonistic or adversarial than space. Whereas creating adversaries strengthens a separate identity, living as this empty-full Presence weakens it.
This Love, this empty-full Presence is a constant phenomenon. Naturally, you are aware of everything, thus, this Love shows itself to be ever-present. This aware, loving Presence is what you are. The insanity of seeking is that naturally, without effort, we are aware of everything, yet we try, with much effort, to become aware of something of which we are not yet aware. Consequently, seeking begins. We conjure up a mental idol of the Subject, then set about looking for it as an object. Seeking seems necessary because we have conjured up a mental idol of the Subject and have projected it "out there." In our ignorance, we turn the subject, which is our own self into an object of scrutiny.
This, of course, cannot be done. The body can become an object of scrutiny, thoughts and feelings can become objects of scrutiny, the senses and the world can become an object of scrutiny, but this empty-full Presence cannot. One marvels at It. One marvels at just how inscrutable It is. It is intrinsically mysterious and unknowable. Although unknowable in a rational sense, we are never not intimate with It. Seeking is, in fact overlooking what we're already aware of. It is forgetting the immediate and chasing after the transcendent, or worse an idea which we have conjured.
After awakening, if a division is maintained if enemies and dichotomies are insisted upon, it is because one is not respecting the innocence of this empty-full Presence, rather he has projected his ideas upon it, and like a screen, it holds his projections until he returns to respecting the natural innocence of Presence, which in turn respects all else.
Love, or this empty-full Presence, doesn't insists on division. It doesn't insist on separating true from false, good from bad, acceptable from unacceptable. It just loves. It just hold's space for all the supposed differences. This empty-full Presence naturally allows everything as it is. When we are aligned with Presence, when we are surrendered to it, we are in harmony with all beings. When we are not in harmony with It, that is ego. When we are in harmony with this empty-full Presence, we are Presence Itself.
In reality, Love or this empty-full Presence is all there is. Everything can be transformed or transmuted in to It, because everything is It, in the first place. Everything that exists is just this Love or empty-full Presence in disguise. If there is any process it is not the process of becoming. It is quite the opposite. It is the process of introducing everything to this Love so that all can be that which it was initially. Introducing everything to this Love is like throwing wood on a bonfire. Everything is changed into its original substance, that substance being this empty-full Presence or Love.
Unity is the natural effect that Love has on everything. Love is unifying. Presence or Love doesn't resist at all. It allows everything to coexist. It is not at odds with anything. It has no adversaries. The mind has adversaries. Presence has none, not even the mind. It is no more antagonistic or adversarial than space. Whereas creating adversaries strengthens a separate identity, living as this empty-full Presence weakens it.
This Love, this empty-full Presence is a constant phenomenon. Naturally, you are aware of everything, thus, this Love shows itself to be ever-present. This aware, loving Presence is what you are. The insanity of seeking is that naturally, without effort, we are aware of everything, yet we try, with much effort, to become aware of something of which we are not yet aware. Consequently, seeking begins. We conjure up a mental idol of the Subject, then set about looking for it as an object. Seeking seems necessary because we have conjured up a mental idol of the Subject and have projected it "out there." In our ignorance, we turn the subject, which is our own self into an object of scrutiny.
This, of course, cannot be done. The body can become an object of scrutiny, thoughts and feelings can become objects of scrutiny, the senses and the world can become an object of scrutiny, but this empty-full Presence cannot. One marvels at It. One marvels at just how inscrutable It is. It is intrinsically mysterious and unknowable. Although unknowable in a rational sense, we are never not intimate with It. Seeking is, in fact overlooking what we're already aware of. It is forgetting the immediate and chasing after the transcendent, or worse an idea which we have conjured.
After awakening, if a division is maintained if enemies and dichotomies are insisted upon, it is because one is not respecting the innocence of this empty-full Presence, rather he has projected his ideas upon it, and like a screen, it holds his projections until he returns to respecting the natural innocence of Presence, which in turn respects all else.
Love, or this empty-full Presence, doesn't insists on division. It doesn't insist on separating true from false, good from bad, acceptable from unacceptable. It just loves. It just hold's space for all the supposed differences. This empty-full Presence naturally allows everything as it is. When we are aligned with Presence, when we are surrendered to it, we are in harmony with all beings. When we are not in harmony with It, that is ego. When we are in harmony with this empty-full Presence, we are Presence Itself.
In reality, Love or this empty-full Presence is all there is. Everything can be transformed or transmuted in to It, because everything is It, in the first place. Everything that exists is just this Love or empty-full Presence in disguise. If there is any process it is not the process of becoming. It is quite the opposite. It is the process of introducing everything to this Love so that all can be that which it was initially. Introducing everything to this Love is like throwing wood on a bonfire. Everything is changed into its original substance, that substance being this empty-full Presence or Love.
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