No personal enlightenment.
No grand awakening.
No final understanding.
No getting it.
No permanent state of bliss.
Absolutely nothing to achieve.
The Infinite is already present. How could the Infinite disappear/reappear?
The Infinite is what ‘you’ ARE.
Who do all of these transient images appear to?
Isn’t the answer ‘me’ just another image that appears and disappears?
Can images ‘do’ anything?
Knowing ALWAYS IS—but these words inevitably fall short…
‘Knowing ALWAYS IS’, what are these words pointing to?
Is this undeniable? Has this ever changed?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Everything happens NOW
Q:Hi Jason - I like your blog a lot and realised that all non-dual people say there is ONLY THIS . The mind tries to conceptualise THIS but cant understand. So finally I just forget about it. Is THIS something that can be pointed in a more meaningful way? I keep hearing there is only this happening - what is happening , how can happening be described because everything moves into the past so quickly and I wonder if there is even a present moment?
I only experience thoughts all the time , thoughts about past and future and so dont know what is present moment. And then I just give up...All this is too complicated. I am OK with my pain, stories, suffering - who cares? I know I will live and die without any eventful stories.
A: Thank you for writing my friend. Time is thought--merely a concept about the past, future that is some sort of fear/worry/regret that can only be happening NOW. A thought cannot happen five minutes, five hours, five weeks or five years ago... There is an immediate registering that is happening spontaneously that cannot be 'turned off' so to speak. These thoughts, as you seem to recognize, are ephemeral appearances that cannot last. Whatever these stories may be, stories of pain, stories of suffering, stories of bliss, stories of peace, they appear and disappear without exception. All of these appearances in consciousness are transient, yet what 'you' ARE is the changeless, infinite background in which these seemingly separate images appear; just THIS. THIS is the changeless background in which all of the apparently separate objects appear on/in.
Exactly right! THIS cannot be known as a thought/concept, nor is it a thing to grab onto and say 'yes here it is...i have it' because that story of 'getting it' is just another appearance that appears and disappears. We can never know THIS, just the contents of THIS. There is not a special state that confirm this because any state that would appear would assuredly disappear. But, the habit of the mind doesn't 'like' that because it is used to finding and labeling. What knows the mind? Is 'me' or 'I' or 'your name' a thought? Can thoughts know thought?
So there is nothing to get or receive, no 'special' understanding or esoteric gain of any sort.
Recognize that the KNOWING....is not a thought. The effortless registering, that is ALWAYS shining this SEEING, for example of the computer monitor, doesn't require a thought.
This is what you ARE, prior to any investigation, prior to any search, prior to reading any scriptures....so start from the FACT that 'you' already ARE THAT, not a 'person' who is trying to 'get it'!
Any practice to obtain or get something is immediately futile because 'you' already ARE the infinite! What would be needed to add to the Totality?
That sense of BEING is always present, but it gets translated through the mind as the thought 'I AM'. This is where the separation appears to happen. Then the thoughts of 'me', 'I', 'your name' appear/disappear or 'i am a man, i am a good person'....So, 'your name' is just another thought/concept; thoughts and concepts don't 'do' anything (they're just labels), so there was never a person that existed who could have suffered!
My friend, suffering never happened.
Look now!
Do 'you' exist? (Surely 'you' do not say I AM NOT!!!, wouldn't that require existence to even state?)
Are 'you' awake?
What effort is needed to recognize the FACT of BEING? (certainly not twenty years in the Himalayas....)
Wouldn't BEING be a prerequisite for thoughts to appear?
That KNOWING is what 'you' ARE!
'You' are SEEING-ONENESS looking at itself, KNOWING, knowing itself, BEING, being itself....
much love,
jason
I only experience thoughts all the time , thoughts about past and future and so dont know what is present moment. And then I just give up...All this is too complicated. I am OK with my pain, stories, suffering - who cares? I know I will live and die without any eventful stories.
A: Thank you for writing my friend. Time is thought--merely a concept about the past, future that is some sort of fear/worry/regret that can only be happening NOW. A thought cannot happen five minutes, five hours, five weeks or five years ago... There is an immediate registering that is happening spontaneously that cannot be 'turned off' so to speak. These thoughts, as you seem to recognize, are ephemeral appearances that cannot last. Whatever these stories may be, stories of pain, stories of suffering, stories of bliss, stories of peace, they appear and disappear without exception. All of these appearances in consciousness are transient, yet what 'you' ARE is the changeless, infinite background in which these seemingly separate images appear; just THIS. THIS is the changeless background in which all of the apparently separate objects appear on/in.
Exactly right! THIS cannot be known as a thought/concept, nor is it a thing to grab onto and say 'yes here it is...i have it' because that story of 'getting it' is just another appearance that appears and disappears. We can never know THIS, just the contents of THIS. There is not a special state that confirm this because any state that would appear would assuredly disappear. But, the habit of the mind doesn't 'like' that because it is used to finding and labeling. What knows the mind? Is 'me' or 'I' or 'your name' a thought? Can thoughts know thought?
So there is nothing to get or receive, no 'special' understanding or esoteric gain of any sort.
Recognize that the KNOWING....is not a thought. The effortless registering, that is ALWAYS shining this SEEING, for example of the computer monitor, doesn't require a thought.
This is what you ARE, prior to any investigation, prior to any search, prior to reading any scriptures....so start from the FACT that 'you' already ARE THAT, not a 'person' who is trying to 'get it'!
Any practice to obtain or get something is immediately futile because 'you' already ARE the infinite! What would be needed to add to the Totality?
That sense of BEING is always present, but it gets translated through the mind as the thought 'I AM'. This is where the separation appears to happen. Then the thoughts of 'me', 'I', 'your name' appear/disappear or 'i am a man, i am a good person'....So, 'your name' is just another thought/concept; thoughts and concepts don't 'do' anything (they're just labels), so there was never a person that existed who could have suffered!
My friend, suffering never happened.
Look now!
Do 'you' exist? (Surely 'you' do not say I AM NOT!!!, wouldn't that require existence to even state?)
Are 'you' awake?
What effort is needed to recognize the FACT of BEING? (certainly not twenty years in the Himalayas....)
Wouldn't BEING be a prerequisite for thoughts to appear?
That KNOWING is what 'you' ARE!
'You' are SEEING-ONENESS looking at itself, KNOWING, knowing itself, BEING, being itself....
much love,
jason
Seeing, Seeing itself
Q:How can there be this Presence/Awareness without a body? Isn't this awareness contingent upon the body after all? I've sat with several people who have died-one moment they seem 'there'/aware and the next-nothing--like a rock. My understanding is that you saying that awareness is still there even when the body dies--and I can't seem to grok this!
Everything that is expressed about what never changes etc makes so much sense-it is indeed seen- but the thought quickly appears that it is because there is a body functioning. Without it, ??? How can anything be aware without that apparatus which then makes me wonder about ALL of the non duality message. It seems inextricably connected to the human form.
Even though I hear that it is not in the mind, the mind will never understand this, etc...is there no way to put this whereby the mind would feel at rest about it and stop this yes, but...business????
How can there be seeing, awaring, being without a physical apparatus in which to transmit this 'energy'????
Well hopefully you get the gist of the question and any words you'd like to share would be greatly appreciated.
A:Presence/Awareness ALWAYS IS. If what we say is that Presence/Awareness is Reality, then it must ALWAYS BE; there is never a time when it is not. First of all, can 'you' honestly say, at anytime, "I am not"? It seems that the sense of Being or Presence/Awareness ALWAYS IS.
But, somehow, there is a misunderstanding. The thought "I", "me" or "your name" is a label that is put on the body and that is seemingly taking credit for all of the actions that take place. But, thoughts cannot "do" anything--they are merely labels.
Take a good look: Does the body appear and disappear? Doesn't the body disappear in deep sleep? Notice that everything that is perceived or conceived is an appearance that comes and goes like waves in the ocean, but the waves are not separate from the ocean. There is only ONE essence appearing as the many.
So who is it, that sees this body? Isn't the answer: "I see the body"? It seems that everything refers back to this "I"?
Who/What is this "I"? Isn't this just another thought that appears and disappears? If you were to pause thoughts, surely 'you' don't disappear, because the word/label is not the thing being pointed out. The word fire will never burn anything, the word water will never get anything wet.....
Thoughts are merely labels or stories, and the mind is just a collection of thoughts or stories. The mind is hunger, searching, needing.....that's what the mind does, just see it for what it is. Isn't every thought, without exception, about some "other time" the past and future: "I really don't want to go to work tomorrow...I can't believe I said that at work yesterday.....I don't want to see my parents this weekend...."
But, aren't all of these thoughts happening HERE and NOW? It is impossible to "get out of" NOW!
SEEING is just happening spontaneously and effortlessly....then thoughts arise: "I am seeing the body" or "Is this body necessary to function?"
LIFE is living itself, SEEING itself, KNOWING itself....BEING itself....
What effort does it take to KNOW that 'you' are looking directly at a computer monitor RIGHT NOW?
What effort does it take to KNOW that 'you' are registering, effortlessly, the sensation of 'your' butt pressing up against a chair?
The apparently "separate" object cannot be separated from the SEEING/KNOWING. For instance, you hear the doorbell ring, without concepts or labels, what can 'you' possibly say about that sound without a concept? Later the thought appears: "I heard the doorbell ring" which creates duality a subject "me" or "I" then the "doorbell". Prior to those concepts of subject/object there was only the ringing of the doorbell.
Presence/Awareness cannot be separated from NOW.
This KNOWING is self-shining like the sun....and always shining....always aware-ing....
This KNOWING or sense of BEING is translated through the mind as the thought: "I Am". No one walks around and affirms to themselves, "I am" "I am" "I am"......
That KNOWING is always shining....this activity of KNOWING (that's right, 'you' are a verb!) ALWAYS IS.
love,
Jason
Everything that is expressed about what never changes etc makes so much sense-it is indeed seen- but the thought quickly appears that it is because there is a body functioning. Without it, ??? How can anything be aware without that apparatus which then makes me wonder about ALL of the non duality message. It seems inextricably connected to the human form.
Even though I hear that it is not in the mind, the mind will never understand this, etc...is there no way to put this whereby the mind would feel at rest about it and stop this yes, but...business????
How can there be seeing, awaring, being without a physical apparatus in which to transmit this 'energy'????
Well hopefully you get the gist of the question and any words you'd like to share would be greatly appreciated.
A:Presence/Awareness ALWAYS IS. If what we say is that Presence/Awareness is Reality, then it must ALWAYS BE; there is never a time when it is not. First of all, can 'you' honestly say, at anytime, "I am not"? It seems that the sense of Being or Presence/Awareness ALWAYS IS.
But, somehow, there is a misunderstanding. The thought "I", "me" or "your name" is a label that is put on the body and that is seemingly taking credit for all of the actions that take place. But, thoughts cannot "do" anything--they are merely labels.
Take a good look: Does the body appear and disappear? Doesn't the body disappear in deep sleep? Notice that everything that is perceived or conceived is an appearance that comes and goes like waves in the ocean, but the waves are not separate from the ocean. There is only ONE essence appearing as the many.
So who is it, that sees this body? Isn't the answer: "I see the body"? It seems that everything refers back to this "I"?
Who/What is this "I"? Isn't this just another thought that appears and disappears? If you were to pause thoughts, surely 'you' don't disappear, because the word/label is not the thing being pointed out. The word fire will never burn anything, the word water will never get anything wet.....
Thoughts are merely labels or stories, and the mind is just a collection of thoughts or stories. The mind is hunger, searching, needing.....that's what the mind does, just see it for what it is. Isn't every thought, without exception, about some "other time" the past and future: "I really don't want to go to work tomorrow...I can't believe I said that at work yesterday.....I don't want to see my parents this weekend...."
But, aren't all of these thoughts happening HERE and NOW? It is impossible to "get out of" NOW!
SEEING is just happening spontaneously and effortlessly....then thoughts arise: "I am seeing the body" or "Is this body necessary to function?"
LIFE is living itself, SEEING itself, KNOWING itself....BEING itself....
What effort does it take to KNOW that 'you' are looking directly at a computer monitor RIGHT NOW?
What effort does it take to KNOW that 'you' are registering, effortlessly, the sensation of 'your' butt pressing up against a chair?
The apparently "separate" object cannot be separated from the SEEING/KNOWING. For instance, you hear the doorbell ring, without concepts or labels, what can 'you' possibly say about that sound without a concept? Later the thought appears: "I heard the doorbell ring" which creates duality a subject "me" or "I" then the "doorbell". Prior to those concepts of subject/object there was only the ringing of the doorbell.
Presence/Awareness cannot be separated from NOW.
This KNOWING is self-shining like the sun....and always shining....always aware-ing....
This KNOWING or sense of BEING is translated through the mind as the thought: "I Am". No one walks around and affirms to themselves, "I am" "I am" "I am"......
That KNOWING is always shining....this activity of KNOWING (that's right, 'you' are a verb!) ALWAYS IS.
love,
Jason
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