The Teacher

The teacher should treat you like a friend. That's key. A true teacher knows that any student is 100% the Self, just as he or she is. There can be no superiority in that. The friend simply has knowledge the other doesn't have. That knowledge correctly shared does not come with superiority or requests for servitude. The teacher only has the authority of knowledge and understanding. He or she is due respect for that, but nothing else.

The End of Seeking

You have to take a journey because you are seeking. I did many years of searching and seeking truth. Enjoyed every minute of it. Difficulties were gateways. As Cohen said, "The crack is what lets the light in."

The end of seeking happened. I was what I was seeking. If I hadn't been a seeker I would never have come to know that. Peace comes when you know that you know, and you know what you don't know doesn't matter.

The Subjective I

The subjective "I" seems universal to me. I have it, my wife has it, my dog has it. Donkeys have it. So, can this Maury expression claim "awareness" is just mine? In a sense, yes, because the expression is unique in its particulars. 

On the other hand, I sense the subjective awareness in others, unique, yes, but the same basic subjective sense of "I". For me, seeing that this sense appears universal, and I just arrived here with it, something else is responsible for it. I'm just living out this particular instance. Whatever is the origin and what to call it is another matter. 

I seem to have lost my sense of doership. It's a bit scary. There's much to be acknowledged as "unknown." But that's okay. It's seems rather peaceful to be done with having to perfect an ego. Not that I don't have a personal sense of "I", but it just seems rather insignificant. I just enjoy what is when I can, and suffer the slings and arrows when I can't.

Deep Relaxation

 We don't have to search for some big experience to prove to ourselves that we arrived somewhere. Coming to see our true nature may happen over time. The realization that "I know I know" just might be a simple "Aha moment." A deep relaxation may be your big realization.

The Absolute and Its Function

Awareness is the function of the Absolute. As objects are known they become conscious objects to awareness. Beingness is the felt presence of awareness experienced as I Amness.

Religion vs Spirituality

You ask, what is the difference between spirituality and religion? The difference is, spirituality can take from any religion, from all, or none. Religion is a particular package of beliefs. 

Liberation Is A Dead End

For me, time is simply the recognition of change. Change happens. Measuring it is time. We measure time as in the sun rising and setting. We put that change on a watch and call it twenty-four hours. We only know the time has changed because the hand moves.

To me enlightenment is not being in a state of bliss or happiness. There is no need to chase bliss. Being here is okay. It's enough. The character is still here, but something is watching it. And the character knows it is that awareness, and not the character. Liberation is like a dead end. It doesn't need to go anywhere. 

Doing the Absolute

Once I realized "I am That;" in essence The Absolute, I realized that my life was full of meaning, whether I understood it or not. It is doing what it is doing, and I am part of that doing. So, I can just live my life relaxed in a known unknown.

Truth and Theology

We have truth, and then we have theology. Big difference. A theology can point to truth or not. Most of it is bullshit. I come from a long line of Christian ministers, theologians and seminary presidents. I know the prejudices of theology. 

I have nothing against the intellect. It is a useful tool. But when theology is based on false assumptions, all the intellectual endeavor after that failure is nonsense. That is why the mystics say "We have to become as children."It seems to me that the intellect has to confirm the heart, or intuition, not try to get the heart to conform to the intellect. This is why most theology goes off track, becomes useless and dry. The mystics of all religions kick off the dregs of tradition and get to the heart of it. Most theologians are trying to fit the heart into a system they've adopted. Therefore most of it is not helpful.

You can feel the overly intellectual and convoluted justifications in most theology. Compare theology to Meister Eckhart, J. Krishnamurti, or Christ. They spoke simply. There is more subtlety in their simple words than theology's convoluted complexity.

It is fruitless to try and explain the mystic sensibility to academy. They are two different worlds. You will be frustrated your whole life trying to make headway in their world. They will never understand the mystic.

What is the place of the heart and intuition in relationship to the intellect? I gave up on graduate school in the education department because of the intellectualism. Kids will get educated if they are loved, not because of the correct educational theory. Same difference when it comes to truth and religion, truth and theology.

"Truth is something so noble that if God could turn aside from it, I could keep the truth and let God go."  ~ Meister Eckhart: A Modern Translation (1941) by Raymond Bernard Blakney, p. 240

I Is Presence

There is one ultimate "I", the subject. That I-ness is borrowed by every form of life from the microbe to the human being. The sense of presence is the "I". Whatever form or identity you take, that "I" is always the same, though it is filtered through the form it embodies.

Arriving Unannounced

My "being created" is just the simple fact that I didn't create this body or mind. It is obviously the product of some creative process that this human being had nothing to do with. I arrived here unannounced even to myself. Had to discover what the hell was going on.

Obviously, from the body perspective, it's a setup. Experiences happen a certain way because of how the form is made. When I look honestly at my humanness, not of my making, I can't even find free will. Sure, I feel like I make choices, but I don't see freedom in them.

The only freedom I have is that I also know that the essence of who I am has to be that which created me. Like the Bible says, we are created in the image of God. Yep. We are that. And if we take that on, we are totally fee. And then, beyond that, there is nothing to oppose The Absolute, so where is there bondage or freedom. It's just this, as it is, without anything to judge.

The Void

Someone asked me how my experience compared to Bernadette Roberts experience. This was regarding her book "The Experience of No Self. 

Below is my answer.

===============================================

I didn't read Bernadette Roberts till about 10 years ago, so I had already gone through hell years before. I lost all my so-called Christian beliefs suddenly when I went to college. It was hell because every reference point and meaning left overnight. It's hell because the void has no reference point and therefore no way out. This makes it feel eternal. I've heard the void described as blissful, but that was not my experience. 

The only thing I had was common sense, which told me that what I was feeling could not be the final answer, as no one would want to live like this, suicide would be the best answer, and if this was correct, the human race would extinguish itself. So I went about trying to make a life worth living. Not easy with no reference point. It took a long time. 

Since I could not live in a meaningless void I went looking for meaning. It took many years. Atheist for years, then agnostic, and then to a spiritual understanding of God. God had to be there because I was a created being. It just had to be a new God, a different God, or we could say, a new understanding. 

Roberts did the same thing. I was a little disappointed with her because in the end, she clung to some of her classic Christian tradition, such as the Trinity. In the end she couldn't let go of everything, even if it was only an empty shell. 

I totally agree with her that if you are feeling a sense of unity, then there must be a separation that feels unified. There is a step beyond that. There can't be any separation when "You are That." You know you are in essence That, while at the same time expressing That as the relative human appearance. It gives you the freedom to be the person you are, warts and all. 

Being a human is God's problem, not yours. On the other hand, knowing the essence of yourself as That, what harm would you want to do? 

Where Do Principles Come From?

Some still claim that consciousness arises from the brain. If that's the case, where do the principles of mathematics lie? Are those principles created by the brain, or are they discoveries that some of us discern? For thousands of years these principles were not known, or little known. 

Does quantum physics come out of our brain from a new combination of neurons? Or does it seem more logical that the principles of mathematics and quantum physics have always existed? These types of principles seem to be behind the principles of matter and determine how physics operates. It defies logic to believe they came out of matter, or came out of a brain, millions of years after the big bang. 

It makes sense that these principles existed prior to matter, and that they underlay matter, and are the principles that determine how matter operates, and how the neurons of a brain operate. 

What exists first, the principle of music, or the creator of music. Does the composer create the principles of music, or does he come to know them, understand them, and then create with them? 

The consideration of these examples, surely points to the fact that these principles existed prior to matter, prior to neurons and brains. Only consciousness perceives these principles, and it is obvious that these principles were prior to the creation which makes use of them. 

How long will it take for science to let go of the prejudice that neurons create consciousness? Brains and neurons are more like radio receivers that filter out static and tune in to consciousness. Better radios get better signals, and subtler brains grasp deeper concepts. But everything the brain discovers comes from somewhere else, beyond matter, beyond time and space. 

The Absolute and its principles are prior to anything our brains discover. The whole universe is nothing but an appearance in awareness, the function of the Absolute experiencing itself. 

Time

Time is the measurement of change. Without change, time would not exist. 

If there is a time of the year when you have no schedule and one day seems like the last, time seems to slow, or as we say, drag. The only measurement may be that the sun went up and came down, or that there was a change in the weather. 

When the sages say that the Absolute is changeless, they are pointing out that the Absolute is outside of time. This is why the identity shift of a realized person gives them the knowledge that they are eternal. This is why they can say, "I was never born, and therefore cannot die." They become the measure, not the measured. 

All form changes, be it matter, thoughts or feelings. Awareness sees the changes because itSelf is changeless. 

To know oneself as awareness is be outside of time, to be deathless, to be the observer, the subject of all that is. 

Experience and Understanding

Spiritual experiences are like data, or information, but without deep inquiry and contemplation there is no knowledge or understanding. "Spiritual experiences are not trophies," ~Anne Sweet. Settling for a bunch of experiences, is close to being a pin up poster. We must go beyond experience and extract the meaning, the truth of our being, and all it's implications. We study till we become our own authority. Freedom is when we can leave the teachers behind. 

We were given a heart and a mind. Spiritual people tend to denigrate one or the other, but both need to be satisfied. Wisdom does not arrive with an experience or two. The mind has it's part to play, even the part where it knows its limits. When the mind and heart are both satisfied, the personality can relax into Being. 

Of course, actualization, embodiment, walking the understanding, is a continuing story. 

Born In The Tiger's Mouth

I was born with my head "in the tiger's mouth." From early childhood what passed for truth and satisfied most people, did not satisfy me. A deep soul itch craved an answer. Raised in the Christian tradition, I could not buy the theology. So the search was on. The Christian mystics, on the other hand, seemed to have a deeper understanding of God, and it was not confined to the standard accepted theology. 

In reading the Upanishads, the Indian sages seemed so Christlike, but their interpretation of God seemed much more scientific, abstract, and not based on belief. This discovery was profound for me, and touched that deeper part of my soul seeking satisfaction. From J. Krishnamurti, to Aurobindo, to Ramana, and Nisargadatta, I devoured it all. Compared to the Eastern sages, only the Christian and Muslim mystics seemed to be at a level that salved the itch. 

Knowledge is power. Experience was not enough for me, although ecstatic and profound experiences did occur. Extracting the understanding from those experiences is what I call 'realization.' Intuition drove me, but the intellect was not satisfied until there was understanding underpinned with the mystical experiences that felt more real than anything else I had experienced. 

 

All of the above is to try and explain how there seemed to be 'no choice.' I was born with a search already intact. It drove me to explore and risk my sanity to know a deeper truth. I don't feel there was choice in that matter. Since I had read so many mystics and sages, I was well prepared for any leaps that needed to be taken. I already knew that any leap would be unsettling, even making me question my own sanity. This knowledge was such that when it came time to let go and just be That, it did not feel like any choice at all. It was what needed to be done. A lifetime had pointed to this. The leap was obvious, and from my point of view, rational. 

It is paradoxical. Just as it takes one to know one, the sages seem to speak from a different domain. And they are. The point of view of the Self has a viewpoint beyond the personal. I personally do not feel we have free will. But as soon as you take on the identity of Self, there is only complete freedom, beyond the concepts of free will. 

My choice was not seen in 'retrospect.' A trajectory was there from birth. Any choice was beside the point. It was not a personal choice. It has to be the will of God or it would not happen to anyone. When the truth that I am awareness itself was seen, what choice was there? It was just a fact to be accepted. If it was personal, why would they call it grace? 

The Path To Silence

The silence so often spoken of by sages is not something that can be forced, or practiced. It is the natural result of dropping into pure awareness. Both the Jnani and the Bhakti can come to this natural silence. It's not a matter of a particular religion, but does result from the pursuit of truth or unconditional love.

The silence arrives on its own without effort. Yet effort is required in one's search for truth or unconditional love. Since all religions are a path to truth and love, it matters not which one conditioned you. Just go deeper. Trust your intuition, and pursue these two until your heart and mind are satisfied. Then you will know the silence. 

You Are The Knower

In the game hide and seek, the players are known, but they hide from each other. Only in hiding can the game be played. The absolute does the same thing. Without hiding itself, there is no game to play (Lila) and no discoveries to be made. So the formless manifests in form and the observer becomes the observed.

So the limitless becomes the limited by creating form. Without the hidden, the limited, there is no game. Form and limitation were needed for there to be space time. Without form only the absolute is.

The truest spirituality is discovery. Even creativity is a discovery process. Discovery can only be non dogmatic, otherwise the game is over. No answer can diminish the infinite.

Paradox is a big part of the play (Lila). We are an apparent person, yet in essence Self. Apparently separate, but in essence one. It seems we can say in all humility "I am Brahman," because to know this, negates our egoic superiority as an individual.

We can find peace and the end of seeking in knowing I am That. But that does not end our curiosity or love of exploration and discovery. You can know you are the knower, and yet not know everything.

A Simple Love Song

Seems like songs are mostly about love. Love found. Love lost. Come back. Get lost. It's a yo yo, a roller coaster ride. Nothing ever stays the same.

Except, one thing. Awareness.

Behind all the scenes, the ups and downs, the constant is awareness. The mountains, the valleys, the skies and the ocean, where do they appear? In the constant shinning light of awareness.

The love of awareness is constant. Whatever appears is loved. No judgment follows. No guilt in awareness. It sees what it sees; that's all.

There is no other to awareness, so where could loneliness arise? Only in ignorance, the sages say. A simple mistake corrected by a simple realization. You are not an object, a human, a person, but awareness itself. Simple knowledge.

Awareness is all there is. How could you be separate? A simple knowledge so hard to realize. You are knocking from the inside, said Rumi. A perfect metaphor. 

Hate The Sin But Not The Sinner

For all the teachings about about not judging and not hating there are just as many that say don't sin, and don't cast pearls before swine, hate the sin but not the sinner. Discernment is a cherished method of realization and that is a judgment function. These statements about not judging are better understood if you use the phrase "don't condemn." A realized person would see a wrong, (therefore a judgment), yet not condemn the sinner, (love him anyway). Discernment is absolutely necessary. Making judgments is necessary. But It is not necessary to hate the sinner. Realization is seeing the innocence of the sinner. On realization one sees all as equal; one essence. The realized make judgments. They just don't condemn. Nisargadatta says, "The sinner and saint are just exchanging notes." Discernment but no condemnation. The final realization is that I don't condemn myself either. No matter what I've done, I'm as innocent as a flower. I am love itself. There is no separation between me and That.

Discover Awareness

Have you discovered that you are not a who, but a what. I am, you will find out, is pure awareness without content. Obviously not a person.

The reason we can ask "Who am I?" is because at some fundamental level we know that our essence is not a person. But, you will notice, the person does have a relationship with the I am. The two are one with apparent separation. What a wonderful trip.

Discover The Truth

Meaning is like the discoveries in science. We don't create meaning, we discover it. The truth was present before you were born and will be there after you're gone. So just relax, fall into yourself and see what's there.

So much goal orientation is mental gymnastics, orchestrated to make the ego feel like it's got somewhere to go. The truth is already here, present and accounted for. Let go and drop into it. It has only to to be discovered.

Love Itself

Love has nothing to do with others. There is only one love, and it's you. When the self loves the Self the whole creation becomes love itself. There was never another, it just seemed so. When this becomes obvious love is not hard to find. It was you all along.

Lost and Found

God loves the lost as well as the found, but only the found know the cost. 

Every Life Is In Service To The Whole

It seems apparent to me that "every life is in service to the whole" because life, existence, is one interrelated whole. Individual forms exist, but they are not self created and owe their being to the supreme. The creator made the forms and choreographed the dance.

When we acknowledge the creator, we follow the dance. Those who do not acknowledge the creator feel separate, alone, on their own, and need to grab their share.

There is only one dance, and it is in honor of the creator. Those who honor the creator know they are a part of the whole and work to find where they can contribute. They know the whole has their regard as well. Those who don't know this are fighting on their own with no knowledge of support.

False Assumptions Are Deadly

Can you really be happy if you are out of touch with reality? Same for truth. To deal with a situation you have to know the facts of the situation. This is why beliefs and assumptions can be extremely dangerous. You can build beautiful castles in the sky on false premises. But they will not last. They come tumbling down with the next storm.

I have known extremely intelligent thinkers with powers of logic that plow lesser minds into the dust. They usually win intellectual battles, but they lose the war. No matter how pristine their logic, the precision of their thinking, if it is based on a false assumption or two,  winning a battle is of no avail.

A much simpler mind that is willing to look at its assumptions, that is willing to challenge its beliefs, has a much better chance of having a successful life. Their house is built on rock, while the great mind that failed to challenge their beliefs, built their house on sand. That house will not stand.

Every life is in service to the whole. Some know it, some do not. Those who know it live a life of gratitude full of reward. Those who don't, live a life of clutch and grab, stressful to the end.

You Are The Authority

Some of us have an innate intuition that guides us. I always trusted mine and it served me well. If a book, teacher or guide doesn't resonate, go another direction. If it does resonate, go for it, but keep discernment front and center. You can learn from others, but put no head above your own.

All Is Well

I'm a good loner, so I'm in my element. Since the Covid-19 stay at home order, I've installed a bamboo floor in my office. Fixed a plugged kitchen drain, and installed a new garbage disposal. It's time well spent. It's like Zen for me. When I do manual labor (I did this with no help) it's like meditation. Nothing goes on in my mind but the task at hand. I'm pretty sore right now, but the jobs are done.

Tomorrow I plant my tomatoes and maybe watch my garden grow. I don't really have the ability to panic, and I'm not feeling stressed. I do my best to console some relatives who think it's the end of the world. But all is well. I do know that.

Unique Aloneness

In your absolute unique aloneness you are one with everyone. From alone to alone to alone, one. I got a sense of this one very cold winter day. I was looking out the window feeling very alone. I saw a squirrel hopping across the snow and then up a tree. I thought, he is so alone, no one cares whether he lives or dies. In that moment my alone and his were one. There was no separation.

Awareness As Identify

Obviously the creator is doer of all things. The point is, the creator in itself is not affected. So, if you identify as the creator you get to enjoy the world in all its glory with security and peace. The essence of the creator in life is simple awareness. It is the field in which we play. 

Truth and Beauty

I was intrigued with enlightenment, not because it was cool, but because it was beyond what was typically known. Truth is what was behind my seeking.

Beauty and truth walk hand in hand. When you see beauty you see essence. Beauty like presence is everywhere but usually unseen. 

Tripped Up On The Road to Enlightenment

When the seeker trips and fall on the road to enlightenment, he just might call it grace. Every seeker needs to trip and fall. A good big crack in the skull just might to the trick. As Leonard Cohen wrote, "it's the crack that lets the light in." A nice fall might just put the seeker out of his misery. A hard enough fall opens to a new light and the seeker is dead.

The Forgotten Journey

Who is our master? Are we ourselves, masters of our fate? Or have we simply discovered ourselves here, at odds with a world we did not create.

Do we parlay with the existentialist? Lending our disparate words to journals of despair? Or do we play with the materialists? He who dies with the most toys wins.

Are we as innocent as we proclaim? Or are we up to something. Have we hidden something from ourselves just to make the game more fun?

There appear to be choices, but if we did not create ourselves, these choices only feel like choices. They cannot be real! And freedom, expounded with flaunting zeal, is hollow as the grave.

And what of all our individual purposes, if we are but a small part in a big universe? Are we not dependent on our brother, and he on us?

And yet, intuitively we know that there is some purpose, uniquely ours to do. There seems to be a Being assignment, an itch we need to scratch.

Some few among the many feel this itch more profoundly, more deeply, more searingly. We, the seekers, are willing to drive ourselves nuts, seeking high and low for a knowing lost.

We drive ourselves mad, even long after our friends have told us so, and left. Isn't all our seeking due to this intuitive itch, this craving, this drive to know?

We cannot justify it to your friends, much less ourselves, yet we continue on. Hasn't this intuitive knowing informed us all our lives?

We curse it, yet continue on. Our heads are in the tiger's mouth. Where is our free will now?

Have we come here trailing clouds of glory, and Karma too? And so we chose this journey, agreeing to forget the reason why. But the forgetting is a thorn. We know we have forgotten something.

This, our crown of thorns, the search for something we forgot. The clues are few, and the search is costly. We even loose ourselves in the process.

A sense of eternity is in here somewhere. Could we but put our fingers on it we could relax. And so we claw and scratch, and point. Sometimes we follow, and then we abandon.

Perhaps the soul has been here before? Perhaps many times. If we are eternal, it may not be otherwise. Somewhere the game is known. We have known it. We want to know it again.

We journey on, knowing that the unknowing knows, whether we can put our finger on it or not.

I Never Got Anywhere

I'm not getting anywhere, 

and I'm not going anywhere, 

for you see I'm all ready here. 

I never went anywhere, 

and I never got anywhere, 

because I was always right here. 

The Self was always here, 

and I never noticed, 

go figure. 

So can I be proud, 

of all the fruitless effort, 

squandered all over town? 

To find myself, 

when I wasn't really lost;

such a fool. 

So here I am, 

having never left, 

or gone anywhere but here. 

Simplicity and Trust

Have you ever noticed that simplicity and trust go hand in hand? For example, in a relationship, if you trust the other person and they trust you, life can be navigated very simply. But if trust is lacking, things get very complicated. Think about it. You will see that it is so.

The same relationship is in operation between the self and the Self. When you give up trying to out think God, or the universe, and accept that there is no choice but to trust the process, your life gets much simpler. A peace descends because you are not fighting what is.

Now, this doesn't mean that you forsake discernment. You are still required to make decisions, make a living, do what needs to be done, but, the decisions become easier, and often spontaneous. Why, because there is trust that the universe is doing what it knows best. You do not judge it, but take what is deemed bad, or evil, in stride, trusting that a purpose is in play.

You know your piece of the pie, but may not know the big picture. If you trust that the big picture knows what it is doing: that it is good, then what choice do you have to make? Life becomes peaceful and easy. Trust is the relationship that abides between self and Self. That's enlightenment.

When Do You Know You Are Enlightened?

Don't seek enlightenment because you think it would be cool. Don't seek it because you think it might make you special. Enlightenment will take all your specialness away. Seek only because you can't help seeking. If the seeking seems to come from your bones, then go ahead and seek. For sure, be more interested in truth than enlightenment

How will you know when you've arrived? There are so many takes on what enlightenment is, which definition will claim you've arrived? What teacher will tell you that you made the grade? Will the teacher's affirmation make it so?

Everyone is unique. There is not one path to enlightenment, but many, and the varieties of awakening are endless. Seek the truth rather than enlightenment. The truth always satisfies. It is only you who will know that your seeking has ended. It will be only you who will know you know. So be open, be honest, and the truth will set you free.

Fear on Realization

Realization does not always cause fear. Sometimes it's a relief. In my case it was gradual. I kept telling my teacher, "I feel like I'm dying." But it wasn't scary. It was just strange. It felt crazy, out of this world, but not scary. It felt like I had lost my mind, but nobody noticed.

I still had to eat and go to work, and I did. I didn't go around talking about dying, or loosing my mind. I had found out long before that the pursuit I was on, and the things I had discovered, were not discussed in polite company.

My favorite mantra at the time was, "The difference between a schizophrenic and a mystic is that a mystic knows when to keep his mouth shut." I practiced that. After all, the real guru is inside, and it speaks silently.

Perhaps I had read enough of the great sages and mystics to know that the dying was just a dissolution of the ego, and that in the end all would be well. So, I just went with the collapse and loss of identity.

It turned out well. The ego is just a tool. It falls into place. It steps aside and doesn't try to run the show. When it's no longer the top dog, things become peaceful, easy, spontaneous. That's my experience. 

Spring

Nothing wrong with the simple life. The mundane is full of wisdom and joy. Seeing the dandelions come up tells me it's Spring. I don't need the calendar.

Pride and Dignity

Pride comes before a fall, but dignity can be upheld even in degrading circumstances.

The Process of Recognition

Recognition or Realization is when one sees that one cannot possibly be a separate entity outside the ineffable essence that is all existence. This realization can be arrived at intellectually or experientially. Both are a form of knowledge. The experience of oneness or unity is a profound marker and is often life changing. However, the sense of unity usually passes and one is simply left with the knowledge "that this is so."

To me the witness is "the being awareness." In other words, the true witness is not a person, but impersonal consciousness. Awareness is the observer, no matter how personal an experience may be. Being awareness, outside of personhood, develops over time.

Yes, ultimately all is well and good, no matter how the person may feel at a given time. This knowledge lessens suffering. Identifying with awareness as opposed to the person also lessens suffering. There is also a sense that even though there appears to be personal choice, one knows that this is likely not the case. As Advaita says, "You are not doer." If this is so, feeling that one has choice is sort of irrelevant.

As awareness comes to the fore and ego recedes, the mind tends to quiet down. It need not be forced to do so. It will naturally subside. Who is left to defend when the person is surrendered to the Divine? 

Die Before You Die

I had a teacher who used to say "God is the only one you can give yourself to and get yourself back." This seems like a paradox, but it does point to the false nature of our ego self.

You see, we are not what we seem to be. We are not this body or mind, limited in so many ways; born into this world and discovering that we die. What do the sages advise? Die before you die! So true.

There is only one true death. It is when you see through the ephemeral nature of your ego self. It is the only separation between you and eternity. It is subtle to be sure. Unbelievably so. But worth the trouble. When you feel like you are dying, usually in bits and pieces. Hang on. The ineffable remains. That is why so many have said it feels like coming home.

So give yourself completely to God (not of any particular religion) and the veil will drop. The little self was never true. The illusion of a separate self dies. That is the death the sages speak of. Surrender is that door. It is the passageway to freedom. As Jesus said, "The truth will set you free."

Resonate

We need a teacher that resonates with our own heart. Then we know that the vibration is already in us. Then the teacher is just helping us open a door to it. When the door is fully open, it is our room, our presence, and the teacher is just a friend. 

Leaves Have Character

Can you picture man as leaves in the wind? Each leaf flutters and bounces in different ways. Each floats with a different character. But who notices the wind that moves all the leaves? 

Live and let God

Since we didn't create ourselves, the Absolute is the doer. When you realize the Absolute as your true identify there is no question of free will or not. The Absolute does what it wills and there is no question of bondage or freedom. Meaning comes from being That.

I don't worry about what is the meaning of life. Since the The Absolute created all this, it must be getting something out of it. I don't know what the purpose of this life is, but it's not my problem. I just live my life as best I can; as morally as I can, and that's it. If the Absolute wants me to do something, it will happen. It's peaceful living this way. It's sort of confirmation of the phrase, "Live and let God." 

The Atman is Your Guide

Since we all have the Atman inside, truth will resonate if we are listening. It may be the "still small voice" against the trials and tribulations of the world, but it is there. With this in mind, listen to any teacher or guru that resonates, but keep in mind that the ultimate discernment lies within.

A teacher may be the greatest teacher on earth for a month or years, but you may outgrow the teacher. It does happen. When the teacher no longer resonates, seek out another, or go deeper inside. If you put someone above you, do it tentatively. Complete surrender can be a disaster if the teacher is on an ego trip.

The Atman is our own and it bestows upon us a liberty that gives us sovereignty. Albert Einstein gave a speech in which he riffed on the importance of individual liberty. He gave the speech on October 3, 1933 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In it he said,

"We are concerned not merely with the technical problem of securing and maintaining peace, but also with the important task of education and enlightenment. Without such freedom there would have been no Shakespeare, no Goethe, no Newton, no Faraday, no Pasteur, and no Lister. Today,the questions which concern us are: How can we save mankind and its spiritual acquisitions of which we are the heirs? How can we save Europe from a new disaster?”

Einstein reminded the audience to keep clearly in mind what is ultimately at stake: "individual liberty."

If we listen to our inner voice, that Atman, we can trust ourselves to discern the lying fake gurus. Only follow that which resonates. David Hawkins calls spiritual teachers who purposefully mislead "Spiritual Rapists." Those are harsh words, but the spiritual seeker is the most precious of students, and they should have the best on offer. 

Just Be

The ego doesn't need to be dissolved or beaten up. If you are not the doer, who cares what the ego is thinking? The story is there, the ego is there, but you are the aliveness behind it all. The mind or ego doesn't need to understand it to be alive. So just be.

Why is Enlightenment a Realization?

To realize implies something that exists being discovered. The Self or pure consciousness is. We may not have heard of enlightenment, the Self, or pure consciousness, but this does not negate the fact of its existence.

The discoveries of Einstein and other great minds were not created by those minds, they were just the first to uncover them. They already existed.

It is the same with enlightenment. The Self exists. Some discover it. Many do not. We don't need to do anything to bring the Self into existence. It is. It is existence itself. It is the awareness, the space in which all experience occurs. The space in which all objects, thoughts and feelings appear.

We spend most of our life caught in the web of experience, thinking and feeling. But there is the possibility of discovering that we are beyond all that we experience. We may discover that we are beyond and prior to any experience, or any object. We may discover the awareness in which all we know appears.

We may discover the space, the awareness, in which all things appear. This discovery is enlightenment. It is the noticing that one cannot be other than the space in which all experiences obtain.

Like the discovery of gravity, or the speed of light, enlightenment is the discovery that we are the container of experience, and not the experience. We are the awareness that allows the appearance of a person and all it may experience.

There is nothing we can do to become that. We can only realize that. With that realization we discover our true identify. What could be more grand than to realize we are that Self which contains the whole universe. Outside of time, outside of limitation. Eternal existence, consciousness, peace.