14 December 2008

In Search of Self




by Naira Yaqoob

‘It is good to value the things money can buy,
but it is good, too,
to check up once in a while and make sure you haven’t lost
the precious things in life that money can’t buy.’

There are many things that are extremely vital for us but we may not give it any thought. There are many things that are hard to grasp and even harder to explain, especially to those minds that live in a closed and oppressive society as ours. There are many things that need to be thought about and adopted in our lives. There are many new things to learn and old things to unlearn in life. And among these things there is a great duty to perform. A sacred inviolable duty, and we spend our whole life trying to violate it. I call this supreme duty next to worshipping our Creator. Our duty to ourselves.

‘Life must be lived forwards, 
but it can only be understood backwards.’  – Soren Kierkegaard

How true it is that life is what actually goes on with us while we make other plans. What happens on a daily basis constitutes life as a whole. And we spend our whole life in learning, educating, earning and rearing. Everyone undergoes these phases in life. Hence all claim to live life but what have we lived if we have not made any difference, if we have not contributed, if we have not thought, if we have not revolted, if we have not questioned…

Our experience of living is composed of many compromises. Why? Submissions. Why? Fallacies. Why? Sacrifices. Why? Dependencies. Why? Regret. Why? Sorrow. Why? There are so many of us who are living because they are born. There are so many of us who consider life a burden, a bore. There are so many of us for whom life is for living but not worth living. There are so many of us who are not able to justify their life and existence. We are not able to understand that we ought to live a life of purpose, achievement and happiness. This maybe unnecessary for the survival of life itself, but is essential for its growth and, if this means something to us, for its happiness. This makes us to know our Self, discover its needs and meet its demands. This leads us to a search of our ‘Self’…

It is extremely important for an individual to be happy. Being alive is one thing; being spirited and happy is another. This zest makes all the difference between living your life and loving your life. The joy is not in things, but in us. If you want to be happy, BE. This enables a person to spread happiness to others. Happiness is experienced when your life gives you what you are willing to accept. Unless a person is happy on his own terms, he can never do justice to his self or to another. And hence the creation of circumstances that lead to his happiness is a prerequisite to the achievement of this high goal of man. It is our duty to keep our own selves happy and only then try to make others happy. It is only then that a person can genuinely make others happy, without any regret or sacrifice.

It is also important to be strong. Life will be worth only when we make it worth. And this is possible if we are strong enough to do so. God never promised us to take away our pain – he promised us the strength to bear it. As is said: ‘Pain and suffering is inevitable. Being miserable is optional.’ Hence, we should not pray for an easy life but rather pray to be a strong person. Strong in terms of mind. Strong enough to live and accept every thing that life offers – pain, grief, happiness, wealth, opportunity, and deprivation. Strong enough to set our own standards of behavior regardless of how others behave towards us. We should look upon adversity as an experience that will leave us stronger for the life ahead. Such strength is power. That arms us to face anything, even the unexpected.

It is important to develop or adopt a philosophy of right living in order to nurture great thoughts, values and beliefs. What is the worth of a being that has not thought, believed and advocated a philosophy of his own? Or if not this, then read, observed and followed a philosophy of another. It is said: ‘Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.

Therefore, the right ideas, the right values and right philosophy should be advocated and spread. We must adopt a philosophy of reason and self-interest. This self-interest should be fully loaded with rationality and consideration. It is here that I advocate the philosophy of Objectivism propounded by Ayn Rand. To quote her: “My philosophy, in absence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.’

It is important for an individual to have rationality. Reason is a tool in the hands of a wise man. This equips him to fight the battle of his life and justify his existence upon earth. We are conditioned to listen to others instead of trust our own instincts and common sense. However, we must utilize our mind and logic to think and then act accordingly. This does not mean not listening to others. It means listening to others but not passively accepting everything that comes our way. Reason is man’s only means of acquiring knowledge and emerging as a winner. We need to develop an independent, logical, and reasonable mind.

It is important to have some self-interest – a word implying selfishness and greed to a common man. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be so. It is rightly said that it is one of the beautiful compensations of this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. It is then that a person is able to genuinely help others without any claim of pity or sacrifice. In seeking self-interest, we are able to avoid a monstrous feeling called pity. Though considered a virtue by people, in reality, this emotion destroys man, his worth and his ego. In seeking self-interest, we are also able to avoid self-sacrifice. Again considered a virtue by people, in reality, this self-sacrifice is a violation of our duty to us and our right to exist. It is this Self that can be, but must not be, sacrificed. It is this un-sacrificed self that others must respect in us and we in them. It is said that to be able to look back upon one’s past life with satisfaction is to live twice. And this is possible if we have no regrets, no sacrifices to our credit.

It is important to have individuality and an ego. Everybody has a story and everybody is a story. This story involves these elements in their true essence. The elements that make us stand out in a crowd and stand by our own Self. Man’s ego and his individuality lies at the root of all progress. If we don’t believe in and stand for something, we have no integrity, no individuality. If we give up our ego, we lose all there is in us. We cannot be a traitor to anything or anyone, except to our Self. We cannot be faithful to others unless we are faithful to our Self. We do the greatest harm to mankind by destroying our ego, our individuality. We should not be forced to do anything that goes against our will, belief or ego. And if we are, we ought to refuse to surrender our self-respect, integrity and ego to anyone.

It is important to have consideration. A consideration that makes us realize the responsibility of and to our life. This consideration enables us to understand that each one of us has a life to live – a life of our own and not of another or for the sake of another, whether good or bad. It prevents us from resorting to escapism. If each one of us will accept and face our life and responsibilities that go with it, the world will be a happier and easier place to live in. If not, it leads to an intra-personal conflict, a frustration within Self. Why should we fall into this trap if we learn to live the right way, with the right attitude assuming our responsibility with each decision that we take, with each move that we make?

It is important to achieve something in life. What is the worth of a being if he has not contributed anything, not achieved anything? Though we judge ourselves by what we feel we are capable of doing, but others judge us by what we have already done. What we have already achieved. This contribution may be in terms of thought, philosophy or deed. That is why great people direct us not to follow footsteps of others but rather try to create our own milestones. Create something new. Especially if it makes a difference.

We need to defend our Self and justify our existence. We need to nourish our Self with things that are important to us. There is no need to scorn those who make the attempt. People, who are not doing anything substantial, radical or incredible, should not stop others from doing so. There are people who always compromise and kill their small revolutions. But there are some who can’t and don’t. We all have to live our share of life. How we live, that makes all the difference.

‘Man – every man – is an end in himself,
not a means to the ends of others;
he must live for his own sake, 
neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself;
he must work for his rational self-interest, 
with the achievement of his own happiness 
as the highest moral purpose of his life. –– Ayn Rand.     

Precepts of a Peaceful Warrior

The martial arts have always been deeply rooted in Buddhism and Taoist practice. This is evident in the warrior codes, precepts and tenants of the various martial arts traditions. The following precepts are combined from the various warrior mind philosophies that I have been taught during the 28 years of my training in martial arts. The original sources are unknown to me. When I am often questioned about the violence and negative karma that may be generated by training in an art of war, I find myself reflecting back to these words that I have learned to keep close to my heart. These words that remind me, that the martial arts, although translated literally to mean "the art of war", is truly an art of peace. 

The Warrior strives to reach above himself, his false perceptions, his adversaries... His highest achievement is not one of victory, but one of absolute truth. 

A warrior, once a warrior, will always be a warrior. 
A warrior is the epitome of controlled compassion & controlled violence. 
A warrior speaks from the pure heart and mind, transcending the ego. 
A warrior is one of great discipline. 
A warrior is a man of few words, refraining from speaking without reason. 
A warrior has not the luxury for excuses. 
A warrior recognizes the differences between the meaningful & trivial. 
A warrior can never afford fear, he lives in poverty of fear. 
A warrior learns how to defend before the attack. 
A warrior continues to develop the skills of his trade without end. 
A warrior seeks unity of mind, body, & spirit. 
A warrior understands the merits of compassion. 
A warrior pursues a knowledge of all things, regardless of nature. 
A warrior's profession is war, his product is peace. 
A warrior integrates the practice of truth within all his day to day activities. 
A warrior sees the truth within himself, within his adversaries, within the world. 
A warrior is not separate from all things, but strives to flow as one with all things. 
A warrior is as water taking the shape of its container. 
A warrior places the lives of those innocent & weak above himself. 
A warrior knows pain, sadness, joy, & solitude. 

Have compassion for all beings, causing them no unnecessary hurt, nor needless harm. 

Refrain from needless competitiveness, from contriving for self-advantage, and from subjugating others.  

When accepting authority over others, know also that you accept responsibility for their well being. 

Value true friendship, and fulfill your obligations, rather than striving with egotistical motive.  

Seek liberation from the negative passions of hatred, envy, greed and rage, and especially from delusion, deceit and sensory desire. 

Learn to let go of that which cannot be owned, or which is destroyed by grasping. 

Seek the courage to be; defend yourself, and your convictions. 

Accept transience, the inevitable and the irrevocable. Know that change exists in everything. Negate the barriers to your awakening; discover the positive in the negative, and seek a meaningful purpose in what you do. 

Be just and honorable; take pride in what you do, rather than being proud of what you have accomplished. 

Having humility and respect, give thanks to those from whom you learn, or who have otherwise helped you. 

Act in harmony with your fellow beings, with nature, and with inanimate objects.  

Know that a thing or an action which may seem of little value to oneself, may be a priceless treasure to another.  

Help those who are suffering or disadvantaged, and as you yourself become awakened, help those who seek to make real their own potential.  

Know that there is no shame in questioning.  

Be diligent in your practice, and on hearing the music of the absolute, do not be so foolish as to try to sing its song. 

Remember to renew the source, in order to retain good health. 

Seek neither brilliance nor the void; just think deeply, and work hard. 

When still, be as the mountain; when in movement be as the dragon riding the wind. 

Be aware at all times, like the tiger which only seems to sleep, and at all times let the mind be like running water. 

When you are required to act, remember that right motive is essential to right action, just as right thought is essential to right words. 

Beware of creating burdens for yourself or others to carry. 

Act with necessary distinction, being both creative and receptive, and transcending subject/object dichotomy. 

Know that you are not the center of the universe, but learn to put the universe at your center by accepting the instant of your being. 

Seek security within yourself, rather than in others. 

Know that even great worldly wealth, and the accumulation of material things are of little worth, compared with the priceless treasures; love, peace and the freedom to grow. 

Allow yourself to be, so that your life may become a time of blossoming. 

BY– Ch'onsa Kim

Light

Many days, I spent in wonder: 
Who am I? Where do I come from? 
Where am I going? 
This writing is the result of my meditation. 
It is by no means truth.
The truth, can only be realized within. 
These words interpret 
What I have found within my own heart.

We are body.
We are mind.
We are heart.
We are spirit.
We are light.
The body is what does.
The mind is what thinks.
The heart is what feels.
The spirit is what lives.
The light is what is.

The body is sustained by food, water, and air.
The mind is sustained by truth.
The heart is sustained by joy.
The spirit is sustained by purpose.
The light is sustained by its source.

The light is what was before being
and remains after being.
Yet being is not separate from what is,
for it is light taken shape and form
and coming into being.
Everything is light and born of light.
Even the shadows do not exist without light.

Examine the ten thousand things,
beyond form,
and find its only being
is the shape of its light.

The difference between the living
and the non-living
is that the sentient tend to the light.
The rest are like lamps without oil,
cold and still.

The world of being
is a world of suffering,
a world sustained by shadows.
It is created by our mistaking
this body, this mind, this heart and this spirit
for what is.
In forgetting our light
we forget what sustains us,
draw away from the source,
and we begin to grow dim.
We hunger
and desire is born.
We consume the light
of what surrounds us.
Our fulfillment is always short lived.
A desire fulfilled is replaced with another.
Fire must always be fed to be.
Suffering is born.

In the world of non-being
the flame is no longer fed.
It is losing self,
it is being no longer,
it is the flame put out.

Neither be
nor not be.
Instead,
be without being.

Like the bright star
in our corner of the universe,
that does not let go
of what she protects,
the source of our light
keeps us near.

Close your eyes
and see the shapeless form
that embraces us
within and without.
Close your ears
and hear the whisper
of the music that calls us home.

Find your original face.
Find the Way back home.

NOTES
Light: The energy which is the essential ingredient of all existence. 
The world of "Being": Existence which is commonly referred to as the illusion of self that abides in Samsara. 
Non-being: The extinction of being, non-self which is commonly referred to as nirvana. 
Be without being: Abide in Tao. 
Bright star: The sun, whose pull keeps the planets in our solar system from spinning away and out of control. 
Home: I don't know where I come from, but I know I shall return. What I do know within my heart is that the light from the source is untainted and pure, and I call it divine love. In my humble opinion, love is what sustains all and love that is without measure is eternal and everlasting. 
Namaste' : The light within me bows to the light within you. 

By– Ch'onsa Kim

The Way of the Wise


Be true to yourself.
Be true to your heart.
Be true to the Way of Peace.
Be without being
A prisoner of the past.
She has long since abandoned us
Leaving the door of our cage wide open.
Yet, we remain within her boundaries
Like a bird that has forgotten how to be free.
Spread your wings
And fly.
Be without being.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Be true to yourself.
Be true to your heart.
Be true to the Way of Peace.
Be without being
A puppet to emotion.
How does such an invisible and silent mistress,
Without shape
Without form
Move us
Without as much as touch?
The strings that pull us
Into directions
Of haste and regret
Only exist in the mind.
Sever the ties.
Be without being.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Be true to yourself.
Be true to your heart.
Be true to the Way of Peace.
Be without being
An instrument of ego.
Our greatest player-
Ourselves.
And she plays our song so sweetly.
But what good is such
If none hears the music?
The rest of the world
Dances
To their own melody.
Your breath would fair better
As wind in your sails,
Than whistling a tune
Upon deafened ears.
Be without being.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Be true to yourself.
Be true to your heart.
Be true to the Way of Peace.
Be without being
A victim of desire.
Desiring nothing,
All shall be fulfilled.
Be without being.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Do as true to yourself.
Do as true to your heart.
Do as true to the Way of Peace.
Do without doing,
Responding,
Reacting,
Or anticipating
The World.
For in doing so
We become but
A shadow of its existence.
Do without doing.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Keep your mind true to yourself.
Keep your mind true to your heart.
Keep your mind true to the Way of Peace.
Give no mind to the noise
Of the world.
Let it deafen the ears of others.
Keep your own thoughts
Quiet
Enough
To hear the beat
And the voice
Of your own heart.
Give no mind.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Live true to yourself.
Live true to your heart.
Live true to the Way of Peace.
Live in non-being.
Live in non-doing.
Live in no-mindedness.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

By– Ch'onsa Kim

06 December 2008

NOTHING TO GET, NOTHING TO DEFEND


THE NONDUALISTIC COMMUNICATION:

NOTHING TO GET, NOTHING TO DEFEND

by Jeff Foster - November 2008

“…a sense sublime

of something far more deeply interfused,

whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,

and the round ocean, and the living air…”

- Wordsworth 


This is not a teaching. It’s not even a communication from one person to another.

 

It is a sharing, from nobody to nobody, from Source to Source, of something so intimate, so present, so damn alive that words cannot even begin to touch it.

 

From the moment I started talking about this, I knew that not a single word I said about it could ever be true.

 

*

 

The wonder and the grace of this: nobody can own it. It cannot be held, cannot be possessed, cannot be grasped in any way. Although I’ve been writing and talking about this for a few years now, I have never, ever had the sense that it has anything to do with me, with the character called Jeff. Never felt that I was in any way special.

 

In fact, that’s exactly what fell away: the specialness of Jeff. Yes, that was the shocking realisation: this had nothing to do with anything I’d ever done, or not done. Nothing to do with a separate “me”, a separate self. Nothing to do with effort or attainment or adding anything to the seeker.

 

No, no. The seeker is destroyed, once and for all.

 

*

 

And so of course, there is nothing – and will never be anything -  to defend here. There is no need to make any claims or promises about “my” communication of this message (and I’ve never, ever, seen it as “mine”.) No need to compare and contrast Life Without A Centre with any other teaching or non-teaching. No need to condemn teachers who aren’t quite as ‘nondualistic’ or ‘awakened’ as me. (Whatever the hell any of that means.)

 

No. This speaks for itself, and doesn’t need me to defend it. It’s not a teaching; it is simply an expression of the inexpressible, a putting-into-words of that which is totally beyond words.

 

I don’t own it. And even if I could own it, I wouldn’t want to. It’s too precious.

 

And with that I think, comes a certain humility. If there is any “hallmark” of liberation (or whatever you want to call it) perhaps it’s that. I can only speak from experience. You see, Jeff is constantly humbled by the wonder of what is, by the grace of this divine, purposeless, priceless play. And he knows that his words are always and forever equal to the barking of a dog or the miaowing of a cat. They are simply part of the song of being, the divine dance of nothing and everything which reveals itself in and as everything and nothing, which sings and shines from the toothbrush as I brush my teeth in the morning, from the fish and chips that I munch on the beach, from the cold autumn breeze as it lovingly caresses my cheek, from the dog shit that I step in on the way home, ruining my new shoes, for a while, anyway.

 

Life happens, but there is nobody there to whom it happens. And when there is nobody there, there is nobody there who could ever become defensive, possessive or even smug about their own understanding or expression of this.

 

There is nobody there who could ever believe their own bullshit anymore.

 

Nobody there who could possibly care about what the world thinks, or doesn’t think, of them.

 

Yes, nothing to defend – that goes right to the heart of this message.

 

*

 

To the individual, this freedom, this grace, will always seem out of reach. The moment you have an individual, you have separation, and the moment you have separation you have the longing to end that separation, to heal the divide, to come home. It’s the wave longing to return to the ocean. And of course on some level the wave knows that it was never for one moment separate from the ocean - that the sense of being a wave is merely a temporary contraction of the whole.

 

The little wave is inherently a seeker, and he runs around the world like a headless chicken, trying to find something which of course he never lost in the first place. And he never lost this because he never had it. He always was it. The wave was always, always, a perfect expression of that which cannot be expressed. You – the character, the person, the individual – were always the divine expression, expressing itself perfectly, completely, and exhausting itself in that expression, leaving no trace, no residue.

 

And the cosmic joke? Even the individual’s endless and exhausting search to come home – even that was always the divine expression. It was always Oneness seeking itself.

 

Well, of course it was. There is only Oneness.

 

*

 

And so when the search collapses, what goes along with it is the sense of being an individual separate from the whole, the sense of being a little wave in a big ocean. It’s not an intellectual thing. It’s a collapse into Intimacy. Totally beyond the intellect. Totally beyond words.

 

But here’s the rub: it’s not something that you could ever have, or do.

 

Why?

 

Because you are looking for this in all the wrong places, and all your doing is directed towards a future that will never arrive. You are looking for this within the world. That is to say, you are looking for it within your world. And there is no other.

 

You see, the character and the character’s world are inseparable. Once you have a character, you immediately have a world in which that character functions. A world in which that character lives and breathes and sees himself. An angry character sees an angry world. A depressed character sees a depressing world. A spiritual seeker sees a world full of things to look for, a world full of teachers and teachings and the hope and promise of salvation.

 

The seeker only ever sees his own world.

 

And within that world, the seeker hears about awakening or liberation or whatever you want to call it. And he begins to look for it within his world.

 

Anything is possible within the seeker’s world. Within the seeker’s world there are a million different spiritual paths and processes and practices and goals. A million things to do, a million things on offer. Within the seeker’s world, you can look for enlightenment, you can wait for liberation, you can anticipate some sort of energetic transformation. Within the seeker’s world, you can go to meetings and hear about future events that might or might not happen to you. You can believe that “there is no person” or “there is nothing to get” or that one day separation will fall away. It’s a world full of belief. It’s a world full of second-hand concepts passed down by well meaning people who really believe what they tell you.

 

But what the word ‘nonduality’ points to has nothing to do with any of that. It allows it, embraces it fully, but really what we are pointing to has nothing to do with that whole seeking game. It’s not something that the seeker could ever find in his world, because what we are pointing to is the dissolution of the seeker and, along with it, his world. It’s a falling away of seeker and world, and a plunge into something much more mysterious, vibrant, and alive than the second-hand concepts ever promised – and that’s not something that could be found within the world!

 

And that plunge, well the moment we talk about it, we are into the language of seeker and world. But of course that’s the only language we have.  All teachings function within this realm of seeker and world (taken together, we could call this the “dream world”). Even these words, and the words expressed in the meetings, function within the dream world, and that is why, as I said before, I know that the moment I speak about this, it’s simply not true. The moment I speak about this, I’ve made it into something, something in the dream world, something for the seeker to hold onto and attempt to understand. I’ve turned it into something foryou to get in the future.

 

In a sense, if you want to talk about nonduality you’re doomed from the beginning. That’s part of the humility too: the seeing that you will never be able to express this. And that even the idea of a perfect nondualistic communication (if that was even possible) is still totally and completely within the dream world.

 

*

 

In this dream world, everything is in perfect balance. A depressed character is met with a depressing world. A fearful character is met with a terrifying world. A seeker is always met with teachers who will cater to the seeking, feed the seeking.

 

In fact, the teacher needs the student as much as the student needs the teacher. The student functions in the teacher’s world in the same way as the teacher functions in the student’s world. He meets a need. Because of course, a teacher cannot know himself as a teacher unless he, in some way, uses the students to create and maintain that identification. And so he clings to them as tightly as they cling to him. In the dream world, in your quest to be a person, to be a somebody rather than a nobody, in your attempt to make your life work, you always meet your own reflection.

 

And the teachers promise you so much! They promise a future event called enlightenment, or awakening, or liberation, or some sort of shift or change in perception that you can or cannot obtain.

 

But in the falling away of the self-contraction and along with it, the contracted world space in which all teachers and teachings operate, the grace is revealed, and it has nothing to do with any sort of future event, or spiritual experience, or shift in perception, or transformation of consciousness, or anything else that was promised by the dream teachers. And it’s shockingly ordinary. It’s drinking a cup of tea. It’s eating fish and chips. Except now, nobody drinks the tea, and nobody eats the fish and chips. Drinking tea just happens. Eating fish and chips just happens. Tea drinks itself. Fish and chips eat themselves. That’s about as close as we can get in language.  

 

It’s totally beyond anything you expected. And it’s not something new that appears - it’s a revelation of something that was already there, apparently hidden but really always in plain view. This ordinary life has always been longing to reveal its secrets. The fish and chips and the cup of tea (and yes, even the dog shit on the pavement) were always the Beloved trying to calling us home.

 

This is not an intellectual realisation. If it were that simple, it would just be a matter of changing your thoughts, for example from “this isn’t it” to “this is it”, or from “I’m not awake” to “I am awake”. Within the dream world, of course, changing thoughts can be a wonderful thing. If you’re going to have a dream, it’s probably better to have a happy dream. If you’re going to have a dream, why not think positively instead of negatively! Why not think you’re awake instead of asleep! Within the dream world, the individual can do a million different things to their thoughts, and thoughts in turn can create a million different experiences. But what we’re talking about here is totally beyond all of that. It cannot be captured by any thought-created formula. In fact, “there is no person” and “there is a person” both miss the point. “There is choice” and “there is no choice” both miss the point. Within the dream world, these pairs of opposites arise together and fall away together. But they cannot take you to where you really want to go: your own absence.

 

*

 

Beyond the opposites of the self-contraction, this grace, this wonder constantly shines, and in fact it is only because of this grace that the self-contraction can appear to operate at all. Being plays every role, even the role of the one who appears to be ignorant of Being. It’s all Being. That is the revelation. For no-one.

 

The person was always imprisoned by their world, without ever realising it (and then they imagined that freedom could be found within that world!). In the falling away of person and world, there is no person to be imprisoned, of course. There is just what is. Just nothing being everything. Just this – and even that is saying too much.

 

All we can really do is try to point back to this as clearly and as honestly as possible, using words to go beyond words. And in the dream world the arguments go on: “My teacher/teaching is better than yours! Teacher X is completely dualistic, she gives people a spiritual practice, which means that she still sees separate people! Teacher Y teaches purely from the intellect! Teacher Z still uses the word “I", he couldn’t possibly be liberated!” (You wouldn’t believehow often I hear comments like this!).

 

And in the dream world, some of these arguments may have some validity. But they all completely miss the point: nobody can teach this. Nobody owns this freedom. There are no enlightened people, no awakened people. No person has ever reached liberation. Because there are no people at all. The person is the mirage.

 

Nobody owns this freedom. And that’s the beauty of this, that’s the joy of it: what we’re talking about is totally free, constantly available, always and forever offering itself unconditionally. And when this message is really heard, when the seeking dissolves and the self-contraction heals, what these words are pointing to are revealed in absolute clarity, and the my-teaching-or-teacher-is-better-than-yoursgame that gets so very serious and tedious is seen to be what it always was: an intellectual game, a battle of egos, a distraction from what, for this character anyway, has always been at the very core this message: unconditional love, and the revelation and expression of that.

 

And all the while, beyond the futile attempts of the character to communicate this message and defend their communication, this intimacy which is beyond measure and yet totally so ordinary lies quietly in the background, whispering so very softly that all is well, and that, of course, there is “nothing to defend… nothing to defend…”