The Glass House

The sense of personality, of personal identity, does carry weight, but how real, how permanent is it? Is it not possible that the self is but a reflection in Awareness of sensations in a body, and subsequent concepts and opinions about those sensations?

With further refinement and sensibilities, further contours and subtleties develop. Now we have a full blown personality with opinions, preferences, sensitives, and hurts.

With a personality and concepts fully developed, our image of self takes on a solidity that cannot be justified. It cannot establish itself in any permanent way. So we must defend it, this paper tiger in a glass house. It looks real, but is as fragile as wind.

This fragility is betrayed by our willingness to defend it. Are we not willing to defend it to our actual death? The image has taken on life as its own. We will kill to defend it.

The willingness to defend this image to the point of death reveals the security it falsely provides. This something so ephemeral, so unreal, and yet so precious we are willing to die for it!

Giving up that false self is the only real death we can ever experience. The prison of the conceptual house can be seen through, but the guts to do so are directed at defense, "at all cost."

Presence

There is an opening here. It has methods of perception, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, touch. The opening has use of hands, arms, and legs for movement. It has a mind to use in pulling all this together. The mind extrapolates, comes to conclusions and reports back to that which is open. But what is it that is open? Everything listed above is for the use of that, but what is that?

The body is here, no doubt, with all these openings reporting. The mind is here and it is interpreting all the reports. But who, or what, are the body and mind reporting to? Even the mind knows that something is looking at it. Could it be that in the end, you cannot be defined by what the openings reveal, nor what definitions the mind creates?

You cannot put your finger, much less your mind, on what you are. You are an unknown. But there is no denying that you are here. All the openings reveal that you are here. The mind knows you are here. It just can't put it's finger on it. 

What is looking through all these openings? There is an unknown here, always present, always aware. It knows that it is here. It knows that it is present. It knows the body, it knows the mind. But what is that? 

This undefinable presence is known to be here, but it is not an object. It is the knower. Any of the millions of forms, with all their openings, open to this. This, that takes in all the knowing, all the perceptions, of all the forms. This is what you are. You are That. 

The Open Path, Recognizing Non dual Awareness

 I had the honor recently of reading a book by an author I had not previously encountered. The book is The Open Path, Recognizing Non dual Awareness by Elias Amidon. What a pleasant surprise to discover such a well written book in a genre I thought I had pretty well exhausted.

If I try to distill down to a couple of words a description of this book, the words would be "gentle" and "clarity." These may not be big action words, but when we are considering the field of Awareness, that which is subtle beyond measure, a book such as this is striking.

Though feeling like one is riding a gentle breeze, this book has the depth and understanding to point very clearly into what is beyond words. At first glance the book does not strike one as particularly hard hitting, but this turns out to be deceptive. Gentleness and clarity do not lack power, and continued reading allows one to see the depth of the insight.

A wonderful aspect of the book is that it does not tag itself to any particular religion or non dual lineage. From the world at large, those writings that point to Awareness from whatever tradition, are used well, and delicately. It reminds one of the passage, "He who calls on me by whatever name, is mine and dear to me."

From a good deal of reading in the field of non duality, one can state confidently that doing "self inquiry" is a common and oft repeated instruction. However, it is seldom that one runs across a book that gathers and expounds on the self inquiry process. Elias Amidon makes it clear that "self Inquiry" is not a single note, but has many contours and edges. He lays them out in a very clear terms. It becomes obvious that this writer has explored this path, "opened" it up, and made it available.

It  is obvious that this author comes from the standpoint of Awareness. With gentleness and clarity,  this book carries power that points to a deep understanding. It is clear that years of working with the process of opening are behind this book. 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone on the path to discovering that which already is.

Maury Lee 

Understanding is All

That which is, suchness, can through an apparent individual state, "there is enlightenment. There is understanding." But the sage will not say, "I am enlightened." Others may call that person a guru, an enlightened being, but that apparent individual will not have any sense of "I am enlightened." For the sage there is no individual left.

Anyone who truly understands no longer has a belief in himself as a separate person. The understanding wipes that slate clean. Thus the sage speaks, eats and sleeps, and apparently has likes and dislikes, but he himself, no longer has a sense that any individual remains.

Words will come from an apparently separate body, a seeming particular mouth, but there will be no separate person speaking. Actions will happen but they will belong to no one. Awarenss appearing as consciousness is all. Understanding is all. None other.

It appears a paradox to those remaining in ignorance. But close examination is required. The same lack of center that you can't find in yourself is that same no thingness that is all there is. If you do it well, you too, can be nobody, and All there is.  

New Book "Simply Being" on Amazon Now

I had the privilege of reading Simply Being by Charlie Hayes. What a delight. By the way, he may just piss you off. That's right, and in the next line he may simply ask, "Who's pissed off?"  

Charlie's writing is very straight forward. Simple as Being. No fancy outlines of a path or breathing techniques, just simple looking. Who needs all the delays of doing when simply looking works? The only thing that becomes obvious in the end is "How did I miss this?"

This is blue collar pointing. No fancy terms, no complications, just look at who's thinking, who's asking the questions. Amazingly, nobody looks, and that is the only thing in the way. How complicated can looking be? Well, if you are looking with all your assumptions, you are looking in the wrong place, and Charlie Hayes points this out very clearly. 

Charlie doesn't protect his reputation. He tells stories on himself. Guess they're just stories to him. Right on! Good stories full of pointers. Once you see beneath the stories, what's not pointing? Everything is a pointer. 

The book takes verbatim questions. You get to experience directly the straight talking exchange. The dialogue between Charlie and the various seekers is the real thing. Charlie invites you into the looking. It's real and it works. 

There are excellent passages from some of the great non dual sages. The quotes tie in well with the questions and dialog. It's clear that Charlie is not blowing his own smoke. But Charlie's take is original and fresh. 

If you are really willing to look, and willing to look clearly, it is really simple and obvious. Then you too can be "Simply Being. "

Maury Lee