If you believe you are suffering and you are going to get enlightened, and then embody the enlightenment, there is an imaginary story playing in your head. Do you see this?
But when you see there is just consciousness, the whole story falls apart. There is no one to get enlightened, and there was never anyone suffering. It was happening in the story, as a story. So this is why many say, “No one gets enlightened.” And also, at the same time, you see there was never anyone suffering. It all gets thrown away. All there is, is consciousness and the stories that are playing in your head—stories of a suffering person, stories of an enlightened person, or stories of an awakened person who must embody his awakening. They are all stories and none of them are true. The only truth is “I Am,” this consciousness is, and you're done. There is nothing else. There are no levels of attainment. No levels of embodiment. There is no one to embody anything. That is all conceptual nonsense. Believing in that conceptual nonsense is delusional and creates more suffering for yourself! Get out of your head, drop all the concepts and you are free—as you are—right now. Try it!
~
Writing from: Dogs, Cats & Dreams of Spiritual Awakening
—Stephen Wingate
Art: Unknown
One to One
Q: I’ve been reading lots of Advaita and recently realized that I have been chasing enlightenment like it’s a thing, an attainment. That’s ridiculous.
A: Of course it is.
Q: I know, but thoughts keep coming up that “I don’t want to waste my life. I want to realize whatever is possible to realize.” I know one cannot make enlightenment happen.
A: You see, enlightenment or liberation and all the rest of it is something fabricated by the mind. These are labels, concepts.
Q: Exactly, but what do I do now?
A: You don’t do anything. You never have done anything as a separate entity! But doing happens. It’s the same as when the sperm and ovum came together. Where were you then?
Q: I understand that. But what do I do?
A: Just let life unfold, just the same as your life has been lived so far. You must realize that the mind, which is the “I” that you take yourself to be, has never done a thing. It hasn’t got any power to do anything.
Q: Okay. Well, I know that chasing liberation like it’s a thing is absurd, but every day thoughts keep coming up that “I want to get rid of this ‘me’ identity.”
A: If you look closely, you’ll see that this ‘me’ identity has no power or independent nature. Could you have that idea of a “me” if you weren’t conscious or aware?
Q: So, you’re saying it’s fine to have the “me” identity?
A: Yes. It’s going to appear, but now you know the falseness of it.
Q: Okay. As my life is being lived, it’s just as well if I have no thoughts about gaining enlightenment?
A: Well, have a look at this: enlightenment implies something that you haven’t already got. And that’s taking you away from presence, taking you away from omnipresence, which is all there is, into an anticipated and imagined future that doesn’t exist. So, you’ve put yourself into a trap.
Q: It’s really a strong habit. Often, when I find myself not chasing enlightenment or feeling I’m not thinking about it enough, I actually feel guilty.
A: You have always been and you always will be. What you’re seeking, you already are. Start from that. You don’t have to try to do anything; you only have to scrape away the rubbish that is stopping you from seeing it. It’s as simple as that. It’s so simple that we miss it.
Q: What about all these teachers who say you must do meditation and yoga and all the techniques? What’s that all about? Is it useful?
A: For some people, it might help to slow down the mind a bit; it might thin the clouds out a little bit so they can see the sun shining in its fullness. For some people, meditation and other techniques just happen. But if you can see the directness of this teaching, all these things are unnecessary. There is no need to go anywhere or do anything. Presence awareness is what you are. Just relax into presence awareness.
~
Dialogue: 'Sailor' Bob Adamson
From the book: Living Reality —by James Braha
Art: Images to link to source
Beautiful Words
Seeking for something,
desiring for something
is the basic disease of the mind.
Not seeking, not desiring
is the basic health of your being.God is not a thing.
God is not an object.
You cannot seek Him.
God is this whole.
How can you seek the whole?You can dissolve in it,
you can merge in it,
but you cannot seek it.The seeking simply shows that
you go on believing yourself separate from the whole
—you, the seeker, and the whole, the sought.
And if you stop seeking Nirvana,
you will find Nirvana hidden in life itself.
If you stop seeking God,
you will find God everywhere
—in each particle, in each moment of life.
God is another name of life.
Nirvana is another name of life lived.Drop all beliefs,
they are hindrances.
Just be alive.
Let that be your only religion.Life—the only religion.
Life—the only temple.
Life—the only prayer.~
Nirvana: The Last Nightmare
-Osho
Sights & Sounds
"What Will You Do with Enlightenment?"
U.G. Krishnamurti
4:04 min
Funny One
An Encounter in the Tibetan Mountains
Cartoon © Copyright: Chris Madden
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