Tag: thoughts

Human Doing Or Human Being?

On By centerlesscenterIn Happiness, Love, Peace3 Comments

We lead very busy lives. Most of our days are spent going here and there, working, shopping, meeting friends and associates, participating in recreational activities, picking up children, going to appointments, finding a shelter for the night, scrambling to make ends meet, etc. In other words, doing, doing, doing.

At the moment, our so-called freedom has been severely restricted. We have had to retreat into our houses, many of us under voluntary lockdown, only going out for necessities.

To retreat is to ‘draw back’. We are drawing back from our active exterior lives and spending more time at home, with others or alone. Our life of doing has been curtailed, leaving us more time to be with ourselves.

Many of us will spend this precious time . . . doing. We humans are masters of distraction. Even in our isolation, we spend time on our devices, talking on the phone, doing long ignored chores, planting gardens, listening to or playing music, dancing, playing games, reading, watching the news on TV, watching movies, binge watching series, eating, taking stock of our pantry and toilet paper, wondering what and how our neighbors and loved ones are doing. Some of these activities are necessary for survival. Some are not. Or should we say, many of the distractions are necessary for the survival of our separate self, our ‘doing’ self.

We have drawn back from the world, but we are still mostly doing. This could be a unique opportunity for many of us to stop being a human ‘doing’ and open up to our essential nature, that of being a human ‘being’.

For just a moment, observe your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions – your worried thoughts about the pandemic, the strong emotions regarding the health and safety of friends and loved ones, perhaps a queasiness in the belly over an uncertain future, and, looking out on the crippled world, wondering what terrible thing is going to happen next.

Now ask yourself, who or what is observing all these passing occurrences of the body, mind, and world? A thought is observed coming and going, but that which observes it doesn’t come and go with it. There is an element within you, within all of us, that we can call the ever-present observer, but where is it?

The observer cannot be found because it is not a thing, not an object, yet it is undeniably present. And it is your, our, essential being. Notice this timeless, unchanging, knowing presence in you, in us, that has no beginning or end, no time when it is not present – it is infinite and eternal. Then realize that there cannot be two of the infinite and eternal. This is who we are.

After years of abuse, the Earth is finally getting a chance to breathe. Because of the restricted human activity, pollution is down. The skies are clearing, the air more pure to breathe. Perhaps Earth will even cool down a degree as we stay at home, away from our vehicles and industries.

We are being offered the opportunity to slow down, to stop doing for a moment, to breathe deeply with the Earth and simply be. And in this stopping, maybe even recognize our essential self as the borderless, timeless, observing awareness that it is and find the peace and happiness at the core of our shared being.

All things come to an end, and the pandemic, with its great cost to humanity, will be no exception. And perhaps, just perhaps, having been able to spend some time just being rather than doing, we will recognize the one in the many, and love, respect, help, and serve our fellow beings in this unwavering light of unconditional awareness.

 

 

 

One Of Two Things

On By centerlesscenterIn Happiness, Love, Original Self, Peace4 Comments

As someone dedicated to discovering your original nature, awakening or becoming enlightened, you’re either one of two things: a separate self seeking the everlasting peace and happiness of absolute consciousness, or absolute consciousness manifesting as a separate self, but only ever being itself.

If you look closely at your experience, you can only be the latter – absolute consciousness manifesting as a separate self, but only ever being itself.

So the first thing you can do is relax. Enjoy your life experience, your manifestation as a so-called individual body-mind with its endless parade of positive, negative, and neutral thoughts coming and going, waves of diverse emotions washing through you, the ever changing array of sensations coursing through your body, the variety of sense perceptions of the world experienced through your five senses.

Then ask yourself the question, is this separate self, this seeker, real? If it is, then we should proceed with our search using the various tools offered to the seeker, e.g., teachers, gurus, study, retreats, meditation, mantra, yoga, etc. If it is not, then we can abandon our search and live our lives in accord with our essential being, that is, absolute consciousness, whose very nature is one of peace, love, and happiness.

When we seriously investigate the elements of the separate self, that is, its thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions, we discover that they are all temporary occurrences, forever changing, and therefore can’t be considered real in the truest sense.

For something to be considered real it would have to be ever-present and unchanging, unmoved by any experience of the body, mind, and world. It would have to be beyond time and space, and therefore infinite and eternal.

So trying to prove that the separate self, our body-mind, is real is like trying to prove that we have captured wind in a bottle. The separate self, the seeker, can never find the infinite and eternal because it is already a manifestation of it. It’s like the wind looking for the sky.

For just a moment, shift your perspective from that of an individual self made up of temporary attributes seeking the infinite, to the unchanging infinite itself, the ever-present knowing within you, that seeks nothing as it is all things. You can do this, as you know intuitively that this ever-present knowing is at the core of your being, the source of your being, our being.

At first glance, it seems as though we have two choices, to identify as one of two things: the infinite and eternal Self manifesting as a human being, or the finite and time-bound separate self forever grasping after the truth. But, in fact, there is no choice – there is only the choiceless awareness of just one thing that is not even a thing.

I, Awareness, Am Here To Simplify

On By centerlesscenterIn Awareness, Beyond Spirituality, Consciousness4 Comments

Seekers of the truth can get easily sidetracked on the path towards liberation or awakening. I, Awareness, am here to simplify the process:

There is no process.

There is no path.

There is no liberation or awakening.

You are already what you seek – unlimited, formless, boundless, ageless, all-knowing, ever-present Awareness (some call me Consciousness).

But let me simplify that:

Nothing is unlimited.

Nothing is formless

Nothing is ageless, all-knowing, ever-present, conscious or aware.

Nothing.

No thing. Nothing with objective qualities can be considered real in the truest sense. That includes all concepts, opinions, positions, and beliefs (thought being the subtlest form of object).

I, Awareness, am the only ‘thing’ that can be considered real, as I have no boundaries or limits. I stand outside of time and space, or rather, time and space stand inside of me, as do all appearances of the body, mind, and world.

But again, I must clarify:

I, Awareness, am only a concept, a lofty idea, ideal, which sounds enticing but is only as real as a wave on the ocean or a cloud in the sky. Give up all hope of liberation. Reside in the emptiness that is my heart, and be eternally liberated, beyond time and space, beyond birth and death, beyond the beyond.

There is nothing to believe in, no opinion worth fighting over, nothing to find and nothing to lose.

Relax in the formless emptiness that is your, our, essential being and be forever . . . forever.

 

Gap In The Clouds

On By centerlesscenterIn Advaita, Experience, Non-Duality

We experience thoughts coming and going, but after one thought disappears and another one arises there is a gap. Where are we in this gap between thoughts?

Do we, the one who is aware of thoughts coming and going, disappear when a thought disappears and the gap appears? No. We are still here, in the gap. So we could now say, ‘I am the gap.’

But there is no gap.

To say that we are the gap between thoughts would be like saying that the sky is a gap in the clouds.

Just as there is only the unbroken continuity of the sky, sometimes obscured by the clouds, but never not there, there is only the unbroken continuity of the presence of awareness, sometimes obscured by our thoughts, sensations, or perceptions, but never not there.

Now ask yourself, who or what is it that notices the thoughts, gap, clouds, sky, and awareness?

But before you answer, here’s a hint: there is no ‘who’ or ‘what’.

Pay More Attention

On By centerlesscenterIn Experience, Non-Duality

Pay more attention to the space in which objects arise rather than to the objects themselves.

Anything that can be experienced – a thought, memory, mental image, mood, a perception of the world through the five senses – is a fleeting appearance in the limitless, silent space within which they appear. They are like characters in a movie whose existence depends solely on the screen.

Pay more attention to the screen, this limitless space within you, this unchanging, ever-present knowing that is the background of all experience. This is the source and substance of your original being. Of our original being, as there can be only one. ‘Limitless’ leaves no room for two.

Then ask yourself, who or what is paying attention to this limitless space?

Skyless Cloud

On By centerlesscenterIn Beyond Spirituality, Natural State, Non-Duality2 Comments

Look closely at awareness, the knowing presence that is our essential being. Notice that all things come and go in this awareness – thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, sights, sounds, tastes, textures, and smells – but it doesn’t come and go with them.

Can you remove this awareness from your experience? Can anything, any thing, be known without it?

Can you remove the sky from the clouds?

Without the sky, can there be a cloud? Without awareness, can there be a thought, a feeling?

We often see a cloudless sky, but never a skyless cloud. We sometimes experience an aware stillness, but never an independent thought.

There can be an infinite number of clouds, but only one sky in which they appear and disappear, just as there can be an infinite number of thoughts, feelings, or sensations, but only one awareness in which they arise and pass away.

Just as an endless parade of clouds come and go while the sky remains unchanged, an endless parade of thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions come and go in the unchanging field of awareness that is our original nature.

We can experience awareness without thoughts, but we can never experience a thought without awareness. In other words, you can take thoughts out of awareness, but you can’t take awareness out of thoughts.

Find this awareness, this aware stillness that is in the background of all experience, the stuff out of which all experience is made, and know your original nature.

Where is it?

Just as clouds sometimes obscure the sky, but we know it’s always there in the background, notice that awareness, the knowing presence that is your, our, original nature, exists prior to the appearance of any thought or perception. It is ever-present and aware regardless of what arises and passes away.

We know without a doubt the clear, pristine sky that is always present and unchanged by any cloud that appears and disappears within it. Now know without a doubt the clear, pristine presence of awareness that is always with you, always is you, unchanged by any appearance.

Then let go the mental images of the skyless cloud and an aware presence, only concepts of mind. Let them dissolve in that which is beyond all images, beyond all concepts.

Beyond the beyond.

Welcome!

Any Idea

On By centerlesscenterIn Awareness, Beyond Spirituality, true nature

Any idea of how things are is not how things are.

The only thing standing between you and your true nature is the idea of your true nature.

Any idea is made up of thoughts, all of which come and go in the open empty field of unchanging awareness just as clouds come and go in the open empty field of the unchanging sky.

Set aside any idea of who you think you are – your age, gender, occupation, where you have been, what you have done, where you are going, what you will do. Even set aside any idea of what you think you are doing in this present moment.

When all ideas are set aside and thinking comes to rest, in this silent, still moment between thoughts your true nature is revealed.

Nice idea. You see how easy it is to be seduced by yet another idea of how things are, even if it’s of a profound realization of your true nature as the open empty field of unchanging awareness?

Throw it all out! Even the idea of throwing it out!

Now, quickly, without referring to any thought, any idea, what remains?

The Chosen One Walks Among Us

On By centerlesscenterIn Awareness, Consciousness, Love, Natural State3 Comments

The Chosen One walks among us, and that Chosen One is you.

That’s absurd, you say. You can’t possibly be the Chosen One. That would not only be an arrogant statement but a dangerous one. There are too many people in our checkered human history who have claimed to be the one to save us from disaster and ended up leading us down an even more horrific path.

But it is you, Chosen One, who can lead the rest of the human race to a place of peace, happiness, and love – the placeless place where spontaneous acts of loving kindness occur.

It starts with you recognizing your essential nature – the knowing presence within you that is made of infinite emptiness, profound silence, and eternal light.

Don’t look at yourself from the limited point of view of a body-mind that is made up of temporary qualities – what lasting value has a fleeting thought, memory, image, mood, sensation, sight, or sound? Is there anything there that you can count on to give you enduring happiness, impeccably clear thinking, or a spontaneous and correct response to any given situation? No. Anything that comes and goes cannot be counted on when real and true answers to difficult questions are desperately needed.

And what is it that remains objective and calm in the face of desperation? What is not affected by the passing whims of haphazard thoughts or reckless actions? What remains still, clear, open, and loving regardless of what is going on around it?

The element within you, Chosen One, that knows the coming and going of all things but doesn’t come and go with them. Whatever you call it – awareness, consciousness, the absolute, divine spirit – know that your essential nature is ever-present, all knowing, unalterable, and untouched by whatever happens in the body, mind, or world.

Look at your experience. Don’t you, as consciousness or awareness, exist prior to any appearance of a thought, sensation or perception of the world? If you didn’t, how would you know them? All things arise in you, Chosen One, are known by you, and made of you. As no limits or boundaries can be found to this awareness it has to be infinite and eternal, and there is no room for two in the infinite and eternal – where would one infinite space end and another infinite space begin? So this must be true of every living being on the planet.

You, I, we are the Chosen One, and there’s nothing we need to do to be this, as we are already that. If we are open to this possibility, we will begin to see the evidence of the true non-dual nature of reality – the inherent oneness of all experience. Speak to this oneness in everyone and see what happens.

Chosen One.

Dining Out

On By centerlesscenterIn Advaita, Beyond Spirituality, Love, Non-Duality2 Comments

‘When you go to a restaurant you don’t take your own menu.’ ~ Mooji

If you are a seeker who sincerely wants to find your essential being, you must leave who or what you ‘think’ you are out of the search. Your essential being cannot be found in any of the temporary attributes of the body, mind, or world. Your essential being is prior to all appearances.

This is really all you have to know – the source of your being, our being, is prior to all appearances. Our essential nature knows the coming and going of all appearances of the body, mind, and world, but does not come and go with them. Check this out for yourself. For example, a thought comes and goes, but the essential you, that which is aware of the thought, doesn’t come and go with it. Your essential self remains eternally present and aware, infinitely receptive to all experience, yet unchanged by any of it.

Just as you wouldn’t bring your own menu to a restaurant, you wouldn’t bring a head full of beliefs, concepts, and opinions if you were trying to discover your true nature. To be full is to leave no room for discovery. No room for dessert!

So set aside all the so-called identifying qualities of who you think you are – no name, no gender, no size, no weight, no thoughts, feelings, sensations, or perceptions. All of it goes.

What is left? Whatever it is cannot be seen, heard, touched, tasted, and has no scent. It cannot be found, yet is the background of all experience.

I, you, we, know what it is because we are that – emptiness beyond emptiness.

To be empty is to be open and receptive.

To be open and receptive is to be nothing.

To be nothing is to be everything.

To be everything is to be Love.

What Is This Something?

On By centerlesscenterIn Advaita, Awareness, Non-Duality1 Comment

Just as waves come and go in the ocean, thought waves come and go in the ocean of awareness, the knowing presence that is always with us, always is us.

Seekers of the truth often complain of being bothered by their thoughts and are taught to meditate, to learn how to watch thoughts come and go. But then we end up being watchers, the witness. But the witness is just another wave, another thought. Perhaps it can be considered a special wave, an important thought, but it is still just a passing activity like a wave on the ocean, a fleeting appearance in awareness.

Just as waves, be they tsunamis or ripples, do not affect the ocean in any way except as temporary variations on its surface, thoughts, tormenting or seductive, do not affect awareness in any way except as a temporary variation in its unlimited spaciousness. The ocean has no interest or need in controlling the waves and awareness has no interest or need in controlling the mind.

At first we think it is I, the personal self that observes and interacts with the world. But this I turns out to be just that, a thought, a temporary attribute of a body-mind limited by the concepts of time and space – it is born, lives, and dies. So we look a little deeper and discover that there is another I, the witness, which observes and knows all appearances of the body, mind, and world. But as we look even closer we recognize that the witness is also just a thought, an idea, known by something that exists before it.

What is this something that exists before all else?

The waves, the thoughts, the ocean, and the witness all arise in and are known by this something that is obviously present and aware before, during, and after all appearances, all experiences, come and go.

Something that can’t be found, yet is everywhere. Something that is nameless, but from which all names arise. Something that is ever-present and aware. We all know what this is, this aware presence that is always with us. We sense it in the depths of our being. We are it in the depths of our being.

The truth of our experience is that all objects, all appearances, come and go in the limitless ocean of the aware presence that is at the core of our being, yet just as the ocean is unaffected by the activity of the waves, this aware presence remains untouched, untarnished, and unchanged by anything that occurs within its limitless presence.

Take this moment to relax into this understanding and live with, within, and as the freedom and spontaneity that is your, our, true nature.