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#3988 - Friday, August 20, 2010 - Editor: Jerry Katz
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
In this issue an excerpt from Beyond the Separate Self, by Colin Drake.
On
‘This’ and ‘That’
‘That which you already are, pure
awareness’ – Sogyal Rinpoche
‘Awareness
of awareness - the first factor of enlightenment’ – The
Buddha
‘Effortless
Choiceless Awareness is our
Overcome fear … by seeing what’s Here!
Let go of all
fear and anxiety, for awareness is always present as you are
effortlessly, and choicelessly, aware of your thoughts and
sensations. This awareness is a constant subjective presence,
whereas these thoughts and sensations (mind/body) are ephemeral
objects coming and going within this awareness. Therefore this
awareness is the deepest level of our being, the unchanging
presence that we intuitively feel we are, and have always been,
that which has never been absent and has witnessed the pantomime
of our lives. This very awareness, the home which we have never
left, and can in fact never leave, is the very peace and security
that we seek.
Forget about church… Just give up the search!
To enjoy this
peace and absolute security we do not need any dogma, belief
systems, rituals or practices. All that is necessary is to
abandon the external search for this. We must stop ‘seeking
for love in all the wrong places’; just recognize, and
totally relax into, that pure awareness that we already are.
No need for a prayer mat... Already you are That!
For this to occur
there is no need to appeal to any external ‘deity’, for
this awareness is itself the ‘hidden treasure’, the
Absolute Reality lauded by all religions, and is always present
at the deeper (and surface) level of our being. At the deeper
level as That in which thoughts/sensations (mind/body)
appear/disappear, come and go, arise and subside; and at the
surface level as this very awareness of these
thoughts/sensations.
No Me, No you! There’s nothing to do...
In reality there is no separate individual entity (me or you) we are both just expressions of the same pure awareness, and there’s nothing we need to do to achieve enlightenment as we are already ‘That’, i.e. awareness is already present.
Nobody, No mind! There’s nothing to find....
There is, in reality, nobody, i.e. separate individual; and no entity called the mind which is just a flow of ephemeral thoughts and images. There is also nothing to find in that we cannot lose that pure awareness that, in essence, we always are; we just need to stop overlooking this.
No effort, No sweat! There’s nothing to get....
There is no need
to make any effort to achieve enlightenment, just stop and turn
your attention to that pure awareness that you already are. You
cannot ‘get’ this as you already ‘are’ this!
Wow! There’s only Now…
In reality there
is always only now as the past has already gone and the future is
yet to be. If you see ‘what is’ in the ‘now’
with no reference to past (including acquired knowledge or
imaginary ‘individual self’) or future, then everything
seems much more vivid and alive (Wow!) than when filtered through
the mind and its opinions, judgments, attitudes and
‘knowledge’.
Cheer! There’s only Here…
Also you are always ‘Here’, at any given moment, and can only see ‘what is’ here (and now). What you think is going on anywhere else is only speculation, which will take you away from the direct experience of ‘here and now’.
How? Just Here and Now!
How to be
‘enlightened’ (i.e. unburdened) and at peace? Just be
totally here in the present moment and see ‘what is’
(here and now) with no reference to the past, future, mind,
or what might be happening anywhere else.
Just This! That’s Bliss....
This seeing ‘what is’ with a still mind, from pure awareness, is Bliss. The other name for Brahman (The Absolute) is Satchitananda which can be translated as: ‘What is’, the awareness of ‘What is’, the Bliss of the awareness of ‘What is’.
Just Cease! That’s Peace...
Just cease identifying with the mind (and all of its activity to get anywhere, or attain anything) and the result is instant peace.
Just Being! That’s freeing.......
Just
‘Being’ moment to moment , with no reference to
past/future or any illusory separate ‘self’, is in
itself totally freeing…
Accept what is … Then feel the kiss!
Always accept ‘what is’ at the present
moment with no resistance and life becomes more enjoyable as the
mind stills. This does not mean that we cannot plan to change
things, only that we need to accept ‘what is Now’ as it
is already here and therefore cannot be changed. This lack of
resistance liberates tremendous energy, and relaxation, allowing
us to ‘feel the kiss’, and wonder, of Reality.
Live life with no ‘story’… Then all reveals its glory!
If you live life
with no personal ‘story’ then the mind stills and
everything in manifestation appears more vivid and alive, i.e.
more glorious…
Each moment is enough… The end of all (mind) Stuff!
If you check you
will find that Pure Awareness never needs anything to change and
is complete whatever is happening. In this ‘each moment is
enough’ and no mind activity is necessary to change, or seek
for, anything.
This is an amended and expanded version of chapter six from Beyond the Separate Self which aims to provide a framework for direct investigation of our moment-to-moment experience. When fully accomplished this reveals that we truly are ‘pure awareness’ at the deepest level of our being. The book is available at