Non-Duality means non-duality. It's funny how, through our manic searching and desperate attempts for control we can very easily imagine separateness in our lives. We have this in-built tendency to create very subtle conditions for Truth. We may understand intellectually that everything is One, but through our experience we always conjure up exceptions to that. In this way we tend to try to exclude what we don't want, or create some condition that prevents someone or something else from being whole. But, non-duality means non-duality...just because a person may not know all the spiritual languages, or be able to astrally project themselves doesn't mean that they aren't just as much the One as anything else.
In our truly natural state, which is just right now, there is nothing excluded from the totality of existence. But the mind would believe otherwise, the mind would organize and interpret experiences down to the nth degree, hoping to somehow get a grasp on the eternal and unbound~ but it can't be done!
Non-duality is the relaxation of the mind to the essential truth that there is nothing to fix, nowhere to go, nothing to become...
Non-duality is the basic nature of our Being, that aspect of our Being that includes everything. The aspect of of our Being that isn't concerned with analyzing reality, or making assumptions based on false evidence.
Non-duality is the direct experience of your own Self, and the recognition that your own Self is in its essence no different that anything else.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Realizing Presence
The realization of our most essential nature is not any different than Being present, or rather, Realizing Presence. While it is with the best of intention that people run around saying things like "just be present" or "I'm trying to stay present", it is not actually possible for us to be present. We are Being, we are Presence.
The matter of being present to our lives is one of realizing the Presence that underlies our whole life situation. It is not a matter of going from 'not present' to 'present'....in that way, there is no such thing as actual presence because it ends up just being a 'me' who 'got present'. This is already living in ignorance of the ever-present nature of Presence.
Realizing Presence, though, is the most important thing we can do as human beings. It is the realization of what has always been True, and the reality of what we have always been~ Pure Presence.
The matter of being present to our lives is one of realizing the Presence that underlies our whole life situation. It is not a matter of going from 'not present' to 'present'....in that way, there is no such thing as actual presence because it ends up just being a 'me' who 'got present'. This is already living in ignorance of the ever-present nature of Presence.
Realizing Presence, though, is the most important thing we can do as human beings. It is the realization of what has always been True, and the reality of what we have always been~ Pure Presence.
The Preciousness of Uncertainty and Doubt
There is a great gift provided to us directly from Life itself. It a gift that I am calling the Preciousness of Uncertainty and Doubt. This the basic law that Life enforces to bring us to a full and authentic awakening to the Self. The good news is that it works, the bad news is that the vehicle that Life uses can also be the catalyst to deep resistance and suffering.
The good news...
The good news is that Life is unrelenting in its movement to awaken all to the basic Reality. Life provides us with exactly the appropriate teacher and teaching at the perfectly appropriate time. This is evidenced by the appearance of uncertainty and doubt in our lives. Essentially, self-doubt exists because as long as we have some notion or idea of ourselves as fixed, Life will disrupt that pattern with great doubt.
When we become very certain (of ourselves, our ideas, our beliefs, etc.) Life has already provided the necessary medicine- uncertainty.
There really is no such thing in the quest for spiritual awakening as self-confidence, self-worth, nor is there any certainty to be found. Psychology and belief systems may provides temporary (and sometimes useful) senses of self-worth and certainty, but when it comes to Reality there's really no such thing. The sooner we get clear on that and give up the insistence on finding some certainty or developing self-worth, the sooner we come into accord with the nature of Life.
The bad news...
The bad news isn't really bad news, it just implies that likely Life is going to have to be very fierce in tearing away the illusions that we hold to so strongly. Ultimately, any certainty or self-worth that we discover only sets up the conditions for our disappointment, because NO idea, belief, feeling, or experience is lasting...and the only 'things' we can rely on are those things. In this way, Life is inviting us to give up our need for certainty or a good feeling about ourselves, and arrive right Here, where we rely on Nothing.
The funny thing is that in relying on Nothing, we simultaneously rely on Everything...so the need, desire, or drive for certainty is just irrelevant. It's not that we've arrived at certainty and 'found our self', it's simply a matter of no longer wanting for anything at all.
The good news...
The good news is that Life is unrelenting in its movement to awaken all to the basic Reality. Life provides us with exactly the appropriate teacher and teaching at the perfectly appropriate time. This is evidenced by the appearance of uncertainty and doubt in our lives. Essentially, self-doubt exists because as long as we have some notion or idea of ourselves as fixed, Life will disrupt that pattern with great doubt.
When we become very certain (of ourselves, our ideas, our beliefs, etc.) Life has already provided the necessary medicine- uncertainty.
There really is no such thing in the quest for spiritual awakening as self-confidence, self-worth, nor is there any certainty to be found. Psychology and belief systems may provides temporary (and sometimes useful) senses of self-worth and certainty, but when it comes to Reality there's really no such thing. The sooner we get clear on that and give up the insistence on finding some certainty or developing self-worth, the sooner we come into accord with the nature of Life.
The bad news...
The bad news isn't really bad news, it just implies that likely Life is going to have to be very fierce in tearing away the illusions that we hold to so strongly. Ultimately, any certainty or self-worth that we discover only sets up the conditions for our disappointment, because NO idea, belief, feeling, or experience is lasting...and the only 'things' we can rely on are those things. In this way, Life is inviting us to give up our need for certainty or a good feeling about ourselves, and arrive right Here, where we rely on Nothing.
The funny thing is that in relying on Nothing, we simultaneously rely on Everything...so the need, desire, or drive for certainty is just irrelevant. It's not that we've arrived at certainty and 'found our self', it's simply a matter of no longer wanting for anything at all.
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