Seeing-Knowing

All of our problems revolve around two assumptions.

They are IDENTITY…..

and BOUNDARY.

If you investigate either of these concepts it may reveal something that has eluded you for a long time.

That is if we entertain the idea that ‘time’ has some real qualities – but that is another question.

Since we are talking about Non Duality – ONE without a second, so any identity must be that ONE.

Since there is only ONE, there is no ‘other’ to compare it with, except in the appearance of ‘things’ (perception).

Mind projections are not excluded but they need to be disregarded in this investigation.

Since there is only ONE, then whatever is seeing must be that ONE.

Any idea about this seeing must be a concept – and all concepts appear and disappear. The ONE which is SEEING remains constant.

Now, if we investigate the concept of BOUNDARY what can be found apart from concepts and mind projections?

Example: The boundary between the Ocean and the Land cannot be found as a distinct ‘thing’. The Water penetrates the land and the land penetrates the Ocean. All boundaries are relative assumptions.

So, when looking for the boundary between ‘I’ and ‘not I’ we may come to SEE that the concept of separation is merely a common belief, one that has no distinct delineation, except as a perception. All impressions and perceptions are of the mind. The idea of ‘me’ or ‘I’ is harmless on its own.

It is what we add to these ideas that seem to cause so much trouble. All that can be added to these ideas, is more ideas, experiences and apparent conditions of being this or that.

BEING is not this or that. There is only ONE BEING, which contains all there IS.

Investigate these ‘things’ and SEE for yourself. There is no point in taking anyones word for being reality.

See for yourself – there is no other way.

The cold wind blows through my window………hands are chilled.

Fingers are warm as I type these words.

A fire is burning inside this form.  The light of this fire is an aspect of this natural seeing.

At times the flames seem to engulf the whole manifestation.

All beliefs have been scattered to the nether regions.

All there is is this knowing presence.

It is not ‘I’ as a form or entity.

The vastness of this expansive appearance is contained within this presence.

There is no separation.

Dualistic mind:

Two mice chase each other, each one believing that the ‘other’ is an impostor. – The mind is dualistic. – Clinging to any dualistic notion will automatically generate endless thoughts.

Stop thought and SEE that all thoughts are like leaves on a tree. – it seems that Equanimity hides behind the appearance of all things. – Yet there is no in front or behind, up or down, right or wrong in non conceptual awareness.

Recognizing this activity clearly and instantly lifts the focus out of thoughts and a burden is released.  Conditioning is transcended and the mind is free from the habitual bondage.   As a theory this is useless information.  For those who taste it, it may ring true.
For the dualistically bound ‘entity’, such information is just not acceptable. – Argument ensues and endless debate. Be quiet and see what IS.

According to a recent comment on the Urban Guru Cafe, “Ramana Maharshi has said that the mind (thoughts of self) never returns, perhaps he meant return with power…” Not only does it imply a ‘special state’ for the author, Ramana, but it keeps the mind (me) believing that it has not arrived at that state yet. On top of that ‘we’ have many teachers who have a photo of Ramana Maharshi next to them in their meetings and they ‘pretend’ to be in the same ‘state’ – and it is very good business for them. No one ever seems to get free of the worship syndrome and the teachers display all the signs of the ‘In Crowd’ and the ‘pink haze’, as someone once described it, which surrounds the whole ‘scene’ is highly addictive. Those who are genuinely speaking directly do not cultivate these atmospheres of delusion. When you can SEE clearly these ‘scenes’ are more or less the opposite of what they pretend to be. No one seems to want to look at this and that is obviously due to erroneous beliefs. They are all trying to drink water from a mirage.

Of course these kind of simple statements by Ramana and other clear speakers are the apparent cause of so much misunderstanding, only because they are conceived of with a self-center right smack in the middle, which implies “I don’t experience that”. – So, let me put it in very simple terms that anyone can understand. – Do you remember the first time you saw through a mirage of water? – Did a mirage of water ever truly convince you that there was water in it, after you had seen through the mirage? – It may have caught you out for a few seconds a few times maybe.

Today, you do not believe in the mirage of water. – The mirage still appears to be water but you KNOW it isn’t, more or less instantly. – So, it is the same with this ‘thoughts of self’, they may still appear to come and go but you KNOW that there is no ‘self’ that has any substance or independence.

BELIEF is the apparent cause of all these ‘problems’. – Belief in a self-center that is not actually here or there. – All the ‘problems’ that ‘we’ appear to have are due to two sets of two apparently different factors.

Identity and Boundary. – And Perception and Seeing. Seeing, immediacy, belongs to naked Being and Perception belongs to mind, process. – Investigate any of these aspects of being or mind and realize your true nature.

No one can do it for you. – In the instant of a genuine intention to discover what is, a response comes from intelligence and intelligence ‘acts’ – it cuts through the erroneous beliefs and all resistance is put aside. – In one instant the whole matrix of belief is rendered passive. – Why would you ever believe in the ‘me’ again, if it has been seen through? It still appears to be real and the belief that it is real appears in the apparent ‘others’ who still believe a ‘me’ in themselves.

Such is the drama of life. The mind says “Yes BUT……..”

It is the best show in town.

Those who imply that they are enlightened individuals and that a ’shift’ happened to them are doing you a dis-service. – Remembering some word or whatever may ‘appear’ to help.  – Belief in luck or in some god or in some fortuitous blessings bestowed by some guru or socialite will not truly ‘do anything’.  – It is the concept that I am separate that causes all the trouble.

Investing energy into that ‘idea’ will just keep pumping up the self-image and then draining you of energy over and over. – Neurotic behavior is common because ‘we’ oscillate between hope and despair.

There is NO answer in the mind. Recognizing our true nature is not via the conditioned memory.
A concept cannot see. – Seeing is happening.  – Drop the idea that there is an ‘I’ that is seeing, pause all thought and see that you are already complete just as you are.

BEING IS.
The mind is in a ‘state’ of ‘becoming’ and so, simply notice that it never arrives. – It keeps wanting ‘more’.  – There is no more.

Mind will go on dividing THAT-NESS into ever-more and more postulations of ‘time’ and ‘not having’.  – BEING is complete just as it is.
The simplicity of direct pointing is of no interest to the ‘me’. – This is why very few ‘appear’ to be genuinely interested in the direct pointing. – It is a geometric display like a flower. – Many petals appear.  – One central stamen.

Pollination (hearing the message) brings a natural transformation and the fruit appears. – At the core of the entire display (of the universe) is the heart essence which remains forever beyond the appearance.
The complete display is intact as every possibility. – The appearance is merely the appearance of multiplicity.

The heart essence is ONE.
You are THAT.

Clarity is the prerequisite, upon which everything appears. Clarity does not belong to anyone or anything. A fog and the clearest crystal drop of water appear on or in the same clarity. Some point unrelentingly to that clarity.

Recognition spontaneously happens. It is nothing other than seeing. Seeing is happening – why is clarity seemingly not here?

It cannot not be here or anywhere else either. It is belief in concepts that seemingly cloud the mind. Yet they all appear in the same clarity.

Trying to grasp it always fails. There is no success or failure in this. Success and failure appear in the same clarity.

Many teachers keep the ‘seeker’ on the ‘path’ to a ‘future time’.

Oddly enough these teachers are heralded as clear teachers – but it is not so – clearly it is not so.

For those who can see, those not under the spell of these ‘teachers’, they are clearly nothing but tyrants and bullies.

Yet – It all appears on or in the same clarity.

There is nothing perceived and no perceiver without seeing (perceiv-ing).   The word ‘Perceiving’ is not the same as the word ‘seeing’.

Whatever the functioning, walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, thinking, it is just plain functioning without a ‘doer’.  – The walker, seer, the hearer, the breather or the thinker are conceptual add ons.  – Trying to grasp it with the mind is truly frustrating, simply because it just can’t be ‘done’ – and the ‘doer’ is just another thought.

Intellectuals find this ‘subject’ exceedingly challenging and frustrating. – Usually ‘in life’ they can ‘stay on top’ via their honed ‘strategy’ mind game but with this, it just doesn’t work.  – ‘People’ get offended.  – The ‘person’ is not reality.  – Intellectuals complain the loudest.

Words appear to convey something.  – Often they feel empty?  – That can be very significant, so it seems.  – Why are ‘we’ so afraid of empty words?

All words are empty (all phenomena is empty). -  It may seem that ‘we’ navigate our way through ‘feeling’ our way.  – All of our preconceived notions are upside down and back to front and second hand.  – The value system of society is biased towards keeping the dream alive.
Who is asleep and who is awake?

Who needs to awaken?

The question “Are you awake?” is a cutting question in the immediacy.  – The response must be “Yes, I am awake”.  – In the instant of checking to see if I am awake there is a ‘silent gap’.  – Upon that silence and stillness the whole universe moves.

Naked Wakefulness is clearly obvious.  – ‘You’ will not be able to define it or label it with any words that will stick to it.

All we can do is point to THAT.

I am THAT – you are THAT.   Everything is THAT.

Yes, in the knowing that belief is merely belief, then it is pure knowing. Belief in erroneous concepts appears to distort the clear and obvious.

In seeing, everything is what it is. Yet it appears that ‘we’ perceive things that do not exist – and that includes a reference point called ‘me’.

It is simply a reference point, an image of self, believed in and never questioned. So, see if you can find it.
That is a simple invitation and it seems odd that everyone is willing to talk about the ego forever – but no one wants to really find out if it exists or not.

Why not find out for yourself?
Why not? Because the investment of BELIEF in that ‘me sense’ is just too long winded, so it seems. Everything appears to be woven into the fabric of ego. But it is just an appearance, a bunch of words and concepts. It is all ephemeral. The story of me is a story. If you drop the story it disappears.

It relies on the energy of belief. It is all energy. Why is there conflict? Because reality does not fit with the image of self, with its likes and dislikes. It appears to like what supports the fabrication and it dislikes what threatens it. It is all appearance.

It is space-like awareness appearing as ‘things’.
Investigate and SEE. You will not regret it, so long as you really investigate without a preconceived idea and without an agenda.
I am not kidding about. This is serious stuff. Psychological suffering is unnecessary.
There is a billion dollar industry built around suffering and very little of it ‘works’.

This investigation does work and it is FREE.

Duality is Two. Non duality is Not Two. It is not even One, because one implies two, three etc.

Yoga means to join, to merge.

The concept of two merging is dualistic. The Clarity or Oneness is obvious – so obvious ‘we’ don’t recognize its simplicity. The mind is time, with apparent past, present and future, tugging at is fabricated fabric.
You cannot re-live a moment ago. You cannot live a moment in the future. Imagination is imagination (images). The present is a concept. The livingness is not a concept. The immediacy of naked cognition is not a concept.

Believing that there is an ‘I’ that has somehow been separated from the Wholeness of LIFE is just an ephemeral concept. It appears to cause so much trouble, therefore it is wise to investigate this apparent ’cause’. It is a fiction, therefore the fabricated cause and the resultant effect are both fiction. Knowing this is liberation. Liberation is a concept which implies bondage. Liberation from something.
What is being pointed to is THAT which has never been in bondage, it has never been in phenomena at all.

Everything appears in THAT and is THAT but not as it appears to be.
Like a man, after being confined in a dimly lit cave, comes into the light of day, he takes a while to get accustomed to the light.

The same with the ‘pointers’. Something may ‘ring true’, somehow something may resonate somewhere in being. Keep coming back to the pointers and their potency will reveal itself clearly and brightly.

Many teachers insist that their method works and that one must follow what they instruct ‘to the last letter’. A whole teaching is laid out for everyone to learn.

Learning by rote all the passages and dictates of a teaching is little more than slavery to concepts. There are rare cases where chanting a mantra works. At least it takes the mind away from its disruptive habits. An insight into one’s true nature can happen anywhere and at any time.  In the midst of a martial arts exercise, singing, praying, riding a bike, driving a car, walking in nature or down a busy street. The circumstances are not the kernel of the insight.

In most cases, I would say that the mind stops for whatever reason and a recognition happens. Then again the mind may be in full flight and an insight happens. We cannot pin point any circumstance where something is necessary for an insight to happen.

What can be said is that seeing is happening right now. That is the core ‘element’ of all insight. If the focus ‘pulls back’ from the habit of identifying with the ‘content of mind’, then an insight is happening. What the mind may ‘do with it’ is to translate it into more content of mind and so the insight is gone.

‘Sometimes’ the insight stays and everything that appears is recognized as content of mind.

Now all these words here are just a simple pointing out of ‘something’ that is really not possible to point out, so it seems.

The mind is time. The ‘person’ is not reality. Seeing is happening right now.

Who is identified and with what?

See that there is no one there and that identification is just more thoughts about ‘me’.

There is no me, apart from the thought ‘me’.

So who is it all happening to?