Can THIS immediate presence be postponed?

Regular Notes:

Email: Hey Gilbert.
I just finished the e-book of yours,"Everything is clear and obvious"....Wow! - I don't know but, well, after that, there is no need to read anything. - I have never read a text before where IT is possible to happen.

There appears that there is a 'reason' why non-duality will never be popular. - It's because it leaves you with nothing, and now....who wants that?

Well, Osho once said that you have got to put some sugar on the truth , otherwise nobody will take it.

Anyway, thank you for the e-book. - I am going to read it forever. - I am 'behind' the lines.- regards Roshi

Reply:

Hi Roshi, The e-book is clear and precise with NO sugar. - One could say that that is intentional, even though I do know that if I added some sugar it would be a lot more popular - but my 'privacy' would then be crowded by seekers wanting more and more sugar. - It is interesting to note that Osho had hundreds and hundreds of followers around him constantly, yet few ever got to speak with him 'one to one'.

Osho put lots of sugar on the truth - he was seductive a story teller - a very popular one - popular because of his charisma, the sugar and his ability to entertain and make seekers swoon in a 'temporary' blissful state. - The seduction and the devotional aspect is so sticky and binding for the mind and 'heart'....and 'ego' sense.

Charismatic teachers seem to collect seekers, not set them free. - Only a clear teacher has freedom to move about without being surrounded by seekers, decade after decade. - How this situation is mistaken for a way to freedom is mystifying. - When speaking with such devotees, it is obvious how fragile their beliefs are and how the truth is avoided at all costs.

Osho collected many stories from many traditions and was also an accomplished student of philosophy etc. - He had a bright intellect, that is for certain.

My comments may offend a few, (nothing new in that) and the fact that the 'thing' that is offended is actually the obstacle that keeps them bound - that 'factor' is the thing that needs to be investigated. - Old ideas and old attachments are stale - they keep one from SEEING what is immediately obvious.

I have enjoyed some of his writings many years ago – today I see that he is very clear at times and at other times his words are expressing confusion and so they are merely entertainment for the mind. - So many of his devotees are still wandering about seeking without finding. - I know of none that ever went beyond seeking.

There is ONLY this moment of KNOWING - and even the notion that there is a 'moment' is just another concept, an 'appearance' IN this 'knowing' that I AM – The truth is that I AM THIS unchanging presence.

The unfolding patterns of life do not stop - the emptiness is full and IT over flows and appears as THIS immediate LIFE and what you ARE is the KNOWING of it – so you are prior to all appearances.

Yes, you are behind it all - beyond it all - but there is nothing you can say about it in objective terms - all expressions are spilling out of that space of knowing - you are THAT.

In listening to your own voice, can you find where the words are arising from?

Please feel free to write whenever you wish.

Warm regards - Gilbert.

P.S. The e-book mentioned is download-able from the main website - top right hand side of screen. http://nondualitynotes.blogspot.com/200 … ce-be.html

Second email from Roshi:

Hi Gilbert!
I have a question about the statement Bob says: “Start with the fact that you are that”.
But how can you start with "that" if you don't Know (aware of) That? - If you are you are already there?

That statement has a tremendous importance for me, it's a way to go around the concept of me - may be!

Roshi

Reply:

Yes. - It is a tremendously pertinent statement - the same as "I AM THAT".
The simple fact is that what you truly ARE does not have to go around the concept of ME.
NO STEP needs to be taken in any direction - all 'directions' are only conceptual and all lead AWAY from THIS fact of BEING.
YOU are present and aware! - Or more correctly expressed - There is PRESENCE 'before' any thought arises.
(Also- During the thoughts appearance and after its disappearance) - that is SO because presence is timeless - appearances are transient.

Some of my associates in this Non Duality 'thing' get hooked on specific details, like the difference between Consciousness and consciousness (Big C, little c).

All that stuff is just not necessary.....and it is conceptual. - There is no having to "first see this before you can see that". - Pure SEEING is happening 'before' the mind realm kicks in, with all its conceptual stuff. - KNOWING that fact is so immediate and so obvious - but no spiritual empire can be built upon what is TRUE.

All spiritual empires and reputations are built upon conceptual differences and preferences etc.
All such 'things' are transient! - There are NO exceptions whatsoever - no matter what ANYBODY says!!!

What you truly ARE cannot be a transient appearance - a thought, an image or concept, mood, state or whatever.
It is so Clear and Obvious, no one sees it - because they approach it from a place of ignorance - as a conceptual form, ME, and that is NOT the living presence - not the real, not the I am-ness (presence).

So to start from the fact that you are THAT is simple - drop all conceptual frameworks and just BE - SEE and KNOW – Know-ING THIS presence without boundaries, without conceptual prerequisites – IS not through the mind – it is before what the mind translates it as.

It is so simple, everyone misses it - because they are believing that they are a 'person' and that person is trying to become 'something' - something that they are not and can never be - they have an idea of what it is they want to become.
It is an IDEA only.

Use your own innate discrimination - whatever resonates in the 'heart' - in the being, that is usually true.
What resonates in the intellect, or resonates with the imaginary spiritual self-image or only in the head, is usually just dream-like, unreal.

Nisargadatta says - "Stop pretending to be what you are NOT and don't refuse to Be what you ARE".

P.S.
There is no point in getting hung up on any words and their meaning.
Sacred and profane are equal at the so-called 'point' of their arising.

That 'point' is empty space - there is no 'person' there - just pure knowing.
At the heart of every expression is the Non Dual 'state' of being and non being.
Every expression is THAT no matter 'who' expresses it.

There in that appearance, it also appears that some point 'away' from the heart of it all and others point straight back at it.
The 'judge', the 'judgement', the 'jury' and the 'sentence', is all 'of the mind'.

NO Separation! You ARE That.

Can THIS immediate presence be postponed?

If you have not done it already then check this out - click here. - The Urban Guru Cafe - a podcast 'radio' style program packed with 'direct pointers'.

There are many website on Non Duality but few that I feel an inclination to recommend. - There is a list of recommended ones on my Links Page on the main website. - One highly recommended site is Bob Adamson's site. - Another is Randall's site.

Randall is a young fella who 'fell out of the mind's trap' - He is 'on the ball' and is clearly expressing things well - check it out he has some 'new tech' stuff happening also. - Click here to visit his blog.

Regular Notes:

Email: Hey Gilbert.

I just finished the e-book of yours,"Everything is clear and obvious"....Wow! - I don't know but, well, after that, there is no need to read anything. - I have never read a text before where IT is possible to happen.

There appears that there is a 'reason' why non-duality will never be popular. - It's because it leaves you with nothing, and now....who wants that?

Well, Osho once said that you have got to put some sugar on the truth , otherwise nobody will take it.

Anyway, thank you for the e-book. - I am going to read it forever. - I am 'behind' the lines.- regards Roshi

Reply:

Hi Roshi, The e-book is clear and precise with NO sugar. - One could say that that is intentional, even though I do know that if I added some sugar it would be a lot more popular - but my 'privacy' would then be crowded by seekers wanting more and more sugar. - It is interesting to note that Osho had hundreds and hundreds of followers around him constantly, yet few ever got to speak with him 'one to one'.

Osho put lots of sugar on the truth - he was seductive a story teller - a very popular one - popular because of his charisma, the sugar and his ability to entertain and make seekers swoon in a 'temporary' blissful state. - The seduction and the devotional aspect is so sticky and binding for the mind and 'heart'....and 'ego' sense.

Charismatic teachers seem to collect seekers, not set them free. - Only a clear teacher has freedom to move about without being surrounded by seekers, decade after decade. - How this situation is mistaken for a way to freedom is mystifying. - When speaking with such devotees, it is obvious how fragile their beliefs are and how the truth is avoided at all costs.

Osho collected many stories from many traditions and was also an accomplished student of philosophy etc. - He had a bright intellect, that is for certain.

My comments may offend a few, (nothing new in that) and the fact that the 'thing' that is offended is actually the obstacle that keeps them bound - that 'factor' is the thing that needs to be investigated. - Old ideas and old attachments are stale - they keep one from SEEING what is immediately obvious.

I have enjoyed some of his writings many years ago – today I see that he is very clear at times and at other times his words are expressing confusion and so they are merely entertainment for the mind. - So many of his devotees are still wandering about seeking without finding. - I know of none that ever went beyond seeking.

There is ONLY this moment of KNOWING - and even the notion that there is a 'moment' is just another concept, an 'appearance' IN this 'knowing' that I AM – The truth is that I AM THIS unchanging presence.

The unfolding patterns of life do not stop - the emptiness is full and IT over flows and appears as THIS immediate LIFE and what you ARE is the KNOWING of it – so you are prior to all appearances.
Yes, you are behind it all - beyond it all - but there is nothing you can say about it in objective terms - all expressions are spilling out of that space of knowing - you are THAT.

In listening to your own voice, can you find where the words are arising from?

Please feel free to write whenever you wish.

Warm regards - Gilbert.

P.S. The e-book mentioned is download-able from the main website - top right hand side of screen.

Second email from Roshi:

Hi Gilbert!
I have a question about the statement Bob says: “Start with the fact that you are that”.
But how can you start with "that" if you don't Know (aware of) That? - If you are you are already there?

That statement has a tremendous importance for me, it's a way to go around the concept of me - may be!

Roshi

Reply:

Yes. - It is a tremendously pertinent statement - the same as "I AM THAT".
The simple fact is that what you truly ARE does not have to go around the concept of ME.
NO STEP needs to be taken in any direction - all 'directions' are only conceptual and all lead AWAY from THIS fact of BEING.
YOU are present and aware! - Or more correctly expressed - There is PRESENCE 'before' any thought arises.
(Also- During the thoughts appearance and after its disappearance) - that is SO because presence is timeless - appearances are transient.

Some of my associates in this Non Duality 'thing' get hooked on specific details, like the difference between Consciousness and consciousness (Big C, little c).

All that stuff is just not necessary.....and it is conceptual. - There is no having to "first see this before you can see that". - Pure SEEING is happening 'before' the mind realm kicks in, with all its conceptual stuff. - KNOWING that fact is so immediate and so obvious - but no spiritual empire can be built upon what is TRUE.

All spiritual empires and reputations are built upon conceptual differences and preferences etc.
All such 'things' are transient! - There are NO exceptions whatsoever - no matter what ANYBODY says!!!
What you truly ARE cannot be a transient appearance - a thought, an image or concept, mood, state or whatever.
It is so Clear and Obvious, no one sees it - because they approach it from a place of ignorance - as a conceptual form, ME, and that is NOT the living presence - not the real, not the I am-ness (presence).

So to start from the fact that you are THAT is simple - drop all conceptual frameworks and just BE - SEE and KNOW – Know-ING THIS presence without boundaries, without conceptual prerequisites – IS not through the mind – it is before what the mind translates it as.

It is so simple, everyone misses it - because they are believing that they are a 'person' and that person is trying to become 'something' - something that they are not and can never be - they have an idea of what it is they want to become.
It is an IDEA only.

Use your own innate discrimination - whatever resonates in the 'heart' - in the being, that is usually true.
What resonates in the intellect, or resonates with the imaginary spiritual self-image or only in the head, is usually just dream-like, unreal.

Nisargadatta says - "Stop pretending to be what you are NOT and don't refuse to Be what you ARE".

P.S.
There is no point in getting hung up on any words and their meaning.
Sacred and profane are equal at the so-called 'point' of their arising.

That 'point' is empty space - there is no 'person' there - just pure knowing.
At the heart of every expression is the Non Dual 'state' of being and non being.
Every expression is THAT no matter 'who' expresses it.

There in that appearance, it also appears that some point 'away' from the heart of it all and others point straight back at it.
The 'judge', the 'judgement', the 'jury' and the 'sentence', is all 'of the mind'.
.......................................................................................................................................................................

The false cannot stand up to the investigation.

Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

Quote: - "Duality is due to two 'entities' - the 'seer' and the 'seen'."

Notes:

THIS immediate presence is all there is - it cannot be postponed or escaped from, except seemingly in the mind-scape of duality.
Where are you seeing from?
Is that 'place' not clear and empty?
Is there any duality in it?

It, that space-like awareness is where the thinker appears and disappears.
The seeing, the knowing is non dual - it knows itself.
The so-called 'mind' cannot recognize its birthplace - its own origin - it can only label it with learned words and ideas.
- Gilbert.

An email received:

Hi Gilbert,

I must first inform you how much I enjoyed the podcasts which were recently posted on the Urban Guru Cafe. - Absolutely brilliant and lucid pointers! - Please thank the producers for this invaluable help.

I am at a seemingly frustrating junction (for a lack of a better word) on this pathless path. I've read everything that I've been able to get my hands on in English (Ramana, Nisargadatta, Bob, your works) and it has been extraordinarily helpful. - But, I've reached a point to where I've realized that all reading is fruitless. - I don't care to read anymore (or for much of any book for that matter). - I might read a paragraph here and there from time to time, but I fully understand that I won't "get it" from reading, nor will I if I meditate, chant or any other practice.

There is nothing to be said, there is nothing to be done for realization, this is certain. From this conclusion, - I've been going about my role in life and "playing the part" in the comedy lovingly, doing what's needed of the moment without regard to the results - living quite peacefully and happily. - The call home is very strong, but living in this manner is postponing the HERE and NOW.

Recently, I have been brutally honest in my self-inquiry; mindful of all thoughts and actions.- I am starting to notice more periods of clarity - moments that don't have labels or feelings.- It is much like being an invisible video camera.

Self-inquiry is mentioned by many to be one of the most direct paths to realization because it points to correct understanding. - This method seems to be the most effective for me - but this seems like it is becoming another practice, like meditation, where I devote hours of time and postpones the NOW. - Intellectually, I understand that if I truly want it NOW it will reveal itself in THIS MOMENT.

Could you please help clarify this issue?

Jason Chicago, USA

Reply:

When we say that we intellectually understand something it is highly misleading for ourselves and everyone else. - What can be recognized is that this clear presence of knowing, which is 'understanding' is 'a-priori' - BEFORE the intellect (comes into play). - The intellect is 'of the mind' (process) and understanding (how it is known here) is an aspect of awareness – awareness is non-dual and mind is dualistic.

This discrimination between awareness and what we call ‘mind’ (thought, image, concept and ideas etc) is necessary.

Self-realization has been made into a BIG DEAL and that in itself ‘creates’ a problem that cannot be solved (for the mind).

This so-called 'moment' THIS moment right now is self-realization just AS IT IS.

How could it not be? - and for whom is it not self realization?
The whole universe in this instant - THIS INSTANT is that movement of self-awareness - it is self-aware - there is no other awareness!

There is a long standing habit , which is 'going back' (so-called going back) to 'when' the mind first took on a belief that 'I am not that' - separation - me and not me.

THAT moment is truly THIS moment (No time-No separation - One presence) and so in THIS moment one can be free of that habit (or any habit) just by SEEING what the mind does and knowing that what you truly are not that habitual activity. -Anything seen is an appearance IN or ON awareness. - You are awareness - there is nothing else.

If you let the mind rest on nothing at all - in BEING the SEEING and nothing other than THAT immediate function-ING (seeing), then everything is recognized to be an appearance - EVERYTHING, thoughts, states, the body, the world and the universe all APPEAR in that KNOWING space.

We have simply ignored the obvious and have 'gone' with the thoughts, believing that they are real.
What is REAL is unchanging and it is empty of all qualities except for that KNOWING.

So, even though individuals attempt to be self realized, that is impossible because it can only be relative and so it is limited.
The one who has realized THIS - that sense of individuality has almost totally dissolved into the KNOWING and never returns as a believed in 'entity' and yet the body and mind continue as the functioning expression of THAT self-realizing ONE. The realization is that I AM THAT - that ONE without a second.

Radical, in the terms of worldly things, and yet it is the only true nature there is.

The individual, trying to 'do' something in order to 'gain' liberation, is a trap and it is something that can never bring the result desired. - The FORM can never become the FORMLESS. - It can only ever APPEAR and DISAPPEAR. - This can be seen very easily in the nature of things. - Have a look.

(Those who pretend to be individuals that have been liberated through some 'action' are fools - even though they may be highly regarded by other fools and held up as great teachers etc. - They may 'know the spiritual teaching inside out' and yet they 'teach' only their own arrogance - ignorance and so no one really finds freedom with these teachers - all they can do is pretend to have found it - just like their teacher. - These short stories I tell about ignorant gurus are not necessary! - so forget them.

The ONLY way out of the messy business of seeking is in NO MIND.
Gurus usually feed the seeker with endless concepts and that is slavery to concepts.
It is never ending.

Meditation is useless because it takes on a mechanical nature very quickly and it nearly always includes a fixation, an idea of a meditator and then lots of concepts are added onto that 'me'.
Just SEE that the living intelligence that you ARE is the very thing that imparts meaning to all that you read, see or hear.
The stress of seeking dissolves naturally as this SEEING recognizes itself as beyond everything.
This 'knowledge' is not popular simply because it dissolves the habitual grasping identity.

How many can bare that?

Everyone has the possibility if only they hear the clear message because that resonation uncovers the courage to be what one is.

Stay with what resonates with you - in this presence of being aware just relax into an open view. - Drop all concepts and just be.

Do this as often as possible and everything will reveal itself.
As soon as there is any sense of grasping that subtle resonation will appear to disappear.
Some say that one must be earnest and it does appear that way in many cases.
When the mind is one pointed, many distractions will naturally stay away.

Make a space in your life for this - it is the only purpose there is - not a 'purpose' for someone or some-thing - it is simply a space in which one can recognize what is real in yourself. - Once discovered, you will not be able to name it or describe it - but that KNOWING is unmistakable.

Warm regards - Gilbert.

Awareness is Non Dual - Mind is the transient content of awareness.

Bob's new book is about to go up on the site for ordering.

It is called "One Essence appearing as Everything". - It is a potent book and will prove to be quite popular once word gets out about it.

Some requests for more notes came in. - What has not been said already? - How many times is it necessary to hear or read this stuff. - I am quite amazed at how the expressions keep spilling out here. - There appear to be so many ways to 'point' at IT. - It is extremely simple and yet that is why it is so difficult to see - it fact it cannot be seen and there is no seer to see it. - It is that which is seeing. - Knowing that, then all one needs to do is see that everything appears in THAT spacious awareness. - There is nothing that can appear anywhere other than in awareness.

Everything you see is actually awareness appearing as this and that - and 'you' cannot separate what you see from what is truly seeing. - Awareness is SEEING. - Awareness is also appearing as every thing. - This is obvious but thinking about it makes it seem complex. - It is thought that appears to be complex. - We take the concept to be real and get into trouble.

There is no separation anywhere - and so there cannot be any separation between these two aspects of awareness. - What you are APPEARS to be an individual, yet when you investigate it, you find nothing of any substance except the apparent substance of experienc-ING - which may appear to you as a like dimensionless membrane between these aspects - awareness and 'things'. - You and the world. - But are you separate from any of the elements, air, water, earth, fire (the body is warm from the inner fire) or space?

The body is a living vehicle which appears to be a host for awareness - yet it is nothing but awareness.

One can sense the living force pulsating therein - Because there is awareness of that life force, it means that what you are is even prior to that.

When that single cell divided after fertilization there was no true separation - it was totally happening within a vast integrated wholeness - No Boundary anywhere.

The world cannot appear unless what you are is there first - yet the world is nothing but the immediacy of THAT appearing as OTHER - What is truly One - appears as multiplicity.

These links below takes you to 2 video clips of Gilbert speaking recently at Bob Adamson's meetings.
1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTuRGV6VHDk
2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoWHR00HJV4

Many popular teachers rely on this idea of a future deliverance. - Their whole teaching falls to pieces without it. - They are convinced that they are enlightened and they are shamelessly promoting that IDEA because it sucks people in, in droves. - It is only an idea - a popular one - but just because it is popular does not mean it is true. - People believe all kinds of nonsense, things that have no actuality at all. - The idea of a separate enlightened being is totally erroneous and should be treated as such. - No harm done to anyone. - Some teachers believe that they have improved the age old teaching because they themselves are so popular - The reason that they are popular is because their teaching indulges the imagination and allows the seeker to stay bound to concepts about the future and 'doing' something to 'get there'.

- It does seem that the courage to cut away all the bullshit in one's life is not a popular way to go.

What is so refreshing about Bob Adamson's 'teaching' is that he tells it straight - he says that it is not for the (specialized) few, as has been promoted by almost all modern teachers one can think of - It is actually the reverse -THIS is everyone's RIGHT. - Everyone is THAT.

Why is it so hard to realize this? Isn't it simply because we have ignored our true nature? - the simple message is not some protracted practice that drags out into years of frustration and self pretense - It is very simple: Investigate - Take a good look - follow what is indicated and SEE for yourself.

An email to Gilbert -

Watched your second you-tube video - yes, upon really seeing – in the looking, it is clear that awareness is always still and everything appears to happen/move within it - and awareness is not affected by anything that happens - remains still - almost solid yet spacious. - Regarding your previous e-mail - even though I can see that "I" exist only as thought, habit, felt sense - I am still holding on to the concept that someday I will not identify with this me – good - sometimes just saying it things shift. -

Thoughts/feelings stickiness shifting - I did have about a ten minute stickiness but it disappeared with laughter at a thought/direct looking. -In gratitude and love, S.

Reply:
- The thought that there is someone holding onto a 'future time' when there will be no identification is just a thought - the same identification - drop it !- the energy of belief keeps it going - there is only this moment - and in dropping thought - which is easy to do - one is HOME – Instantly! - The idea that I am not THAT HOME BASE - is just an erroneous belief - it only seems to have substance because it is an old habit of thinking - and it has been 'believed in' for so long - seemingly reinforced year after year since childhood.

That is why we must see through it a few times - each time the hold is loosened.
SEEING is always happening - it is the potency of Awareness - KNOWING and it is and can only ever be THIS immediacy.
It is here right now, complete in its pure functioning - it is THAT which imparts all qualities, 'real' or simply imagined - qualities imparted to 'things' that appear in the mind.
You ARE that pure functioning - that living essence.
The mind appears as a 'wanting' a wanting to make what you truly are into a concept, a 'something' - something 'objective' so it can claim it and hold onto it - but it always fails - because THAT 'something' is actually 'no thing'.
Not nothing ! - No Thing - That is why the Gita says: The sword can't cut it.....the wind can't dry it.....water can't drown it....and fire can't burn it.......It is space-like awareness and THAT contains all of the elements including what we call 'mind'.

I see from your emails over recent times - that things are clearing away - it is a sign that all is well - and this you (will) know without a doubt - that 'happens' as the space of awareness 'seemingly' opens out into spaciousness - which it already is (openness itself) - so it is the mind content that appears to have more space around it – the mind is less cluttered – the body is less engaged with reactions to thoughts - each thought appears in space - and they are obvious, yet they are not seen at all - just like space itself - we see it yet we cannot truly say that we do actually see it - because it is no thing. - Warm regards - Gilbert.

Note to the reader:

If there is still some doubt there, then examine the following points.

Have you unknowingly been misled by a pretentious 'enlightened being'? - Because you have innocently believed what you have been encouraged to take on board? - Does that message imply that you have not arrived yet? - That it is going to take some time before you will emerge from a dream. - Does the teacher say "Stand up and walk out of your dream?" I say bollocks!

There is 'no one' that is 'in a dream' and there is 'no one' that can 'walk out' of a dream. - It is just a con job of the most insidious nature. - Wakefulness is right here and now - obvious and overlooked - trampled on by common concepts - that 'I am not there yet'. - It takes no time to see this - seeing is immediate. - Concepts do not obscure awareness - believing that they do is just a concept - wakefulness is and must be what you are.

Because of these teachers of erroneous information, the main points of what is true keeps being overlooked - and that point is this:

Understanding Non Duality is absolutely simple.

There can be nothing that is simpler than Non Duality.

Who 'you think you are' can never ‘come into’ or ‘become’ this non dual understanding.

That belief, that ‘appearance’ in mind is only ‘content’ – it has no understanding and can never have any understanding whatsoever. – It only ‘appears IN or ON Awareness’ as ‘a translation’ of perceptions in mind, appearing as, as words, images, thoughts, concepts and ideas. – We say ‘I understand’ or even ‘I am an enlightened being’.

Such things are really misunderstanding. – It is nothing but dualistic notions – an ‘I’ that is ‘enlightened’ or ‘understands’. - Some 'I' has ownership of 'a state of mind'. - These teachers say that they have woken you up and that they will teach you HOW to live an enlightened life and also have 'enlightened relationships'. - Oh dear! - Poor misguided 'teachers'. - The 'school fees' should be refunded. - No harm done - it is ALL in appearance only. - There is no one to be misguided - is it fortunate? - For whom?

The common appearance in spiritual circles is the gathering of seekers around a teacher, a guru, who is believed to be ‘special’ and the atmosphere is one of adoration and devotion etc. – These teachers commonly portray themselves as being Non Duality Teachers. – They even say the Non Dual classic lines: ‘there is no teacher’. – What the common ‘seeker’ misses is the fact that this realm of adoring ‘someone’ is the old ‘worshiping an idol’ - the golden calf syndrome, which the symbolism in the story of Moses points at.

Everyone takes the story with a grain of salt, as a quaint story, overlooking the deep significance of what it potentially reveals. – We ignore the obvious and clear living evidence of our own nature and pay homage to images, objects and ideas in the mind. – That is the bondage of self. – Unwittingly these teachers encourage this adoration only because they have not seen their own vanity, which laps up all the attention. – It is all indulgence in ‘self-image’ and their pointing at what is true is nothing but impotency. – Why? - Because they themselves are nestled in that bondage of self and so they cannot do anything but speak like a parrot and emulate whatever they have imitated or gleaned from the ‘teachings’ of others.

Some readers imagine that I have an issue with these teachers and that I am not spiritual, too blunt and without feelings. – It is not so. – What I SEE in these teachers is that they are like ‘sign posts’ that actually ‘point away’ from what is the Obvious and Immediate Truth. - The imagined ‘entity’ of a seeker indulges in self-preening and imitation and all manner of internal drama and contrived notions about this ‘entity’. – This can never be what one truly IS. – It is not the authentic natural state of awareness that everyone IS.

The emptiness of that bondage of self is not recognized – because the mind is engaged in ‘stories’.

The naked clear evidence of simple presence may ‘appear’ to be devastating to a ‘self-image’ and so what is clearly obvious, without a thought, is foregone, simply because one is not willing to face what is true – and that not wanting to face reality is a realm of imaginary ‘things’ woven around a ‘self-center’ which has no existence at all.

The guru or teacher is only a ‘sign post’. – An accurate sign post, one that points you directly back to what you truly are is what is necessary – but only necessary until what needs to be seen, is seen.

Such SEEING is not going to take years, months, days or even hours. – It is already happening. – The subtlety of recognizing what you truly are is not in the mind as such - not ‘in time’ - it is the essence that you are. – It is in the very nature of awareness – don’t look for a ‘thing’ – it is not an objective ‘thing’ – it is THAT which is SEEING right now. - How could a thought, concept or an idea bind you? - They are all empty, ephemeral appearances. - Contemplate that. Have you ever seen a thought? - Truly? - Do they weigh anything? - Yet we beat ourselves up with thoughts - how ridiculous it all is?
Investigate what you are and stop pretending to be what you are not.
How many 'steps' does it take to arrive at what you truly are? - Surely NONE.
- You ARE THAT.

Can you enter into that clear space from which thoughts emerge?

You are THAT which is SEEING....THAT which is KNOWING - how could it be otherwise?
The natural state is 'your' authenticity - it is unquestionable.
Nothing can be added to THAT and nothing can be taken away.
Awareness is non dual - unmediated knowing - it is timeless - it does not come and go.
Mind is time - mind is thought, concept, image etc, and each appearance in mind, whether it be a concept, an idea, a thought or a state, a mood or whatever, it will disappear.
The clear and empty nature of mind is nothing but awareness itself. - So why not call it awareness. - There is no mind apart from its apparent contents and all of that is insubstantial since it all vanishes without a trace. - Yet isn't it thought that we bind ourselves up in?
What is the basis of the bondage of self? - Belief in erroneous details.
Who is bound up in ideas?
Ideas can appear to be creative and they can appear to be destructive.
Someone has a creative idea and puts a patent on it - then ends up in a court case because someone else had the same idea.
Ha! - People don't have ideas! - A 'person' is an idea. - All thoughts, ideas and concepts just appear on awareness. - Do you imagine that you know where they come from?
Can you enter into that space where they emerge from?
I bet that you have never looked into that space thoroughly - because it scares the pants off you. - You much prefer to stay this side of it, bound into conceptual realms of duality.
So much fear over nothing.
What could be back there in that clear space of direct cognition?
It is your own true nature. - Nothing to be afraid of.
You 'go there' every night in deep sleep.
But SEE this - The 'space of knowing' is NOT divided at all - this side and that side is actually one all inclusive wholeness and its apparent 'axis' is yourself.
The 'axis' of the mind is fluctuating all over the place, through identification with anything and everything.
The 'axis' of mind and the 'axis' of being can align themselves and a new way of being comes into play. - (This revelation will be explained more fully in a new book, which is planned to be finished in a month or two.)
Watch the mind, watch what it is telling you and know that you are not in that 'stuff'.
It is chattering away with its old routine - just watch it, catch it at its game. - Be the conscious presence.
The mind stuff has no power or independent nature - you are the awareness of it - 'it' is not aware of you.
Just watch the mind, as often as possible.
So simple, so effective - yet seekers want elaborate practices and complex methods, plus a hero to worship and to show the way.
Just be awake to 'what IS' and see through what is not.

Emptiness speaks to Emptiness - (revised note)

“The lamp of the body is the eye:
if therefore your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light”. N.T. - Mathew 6.22

The light by which you see and know - is non-conceptual awareness.

Here below is a revised note written when I started this blog:

Emptiness speaks to Emptiness.

As long as you believe that there is a solid 'someone' who is going to become enlightened in some future time, then a subtle shroud of ignorance clouds the mind.
'When' this someone is seen as a transparency, a pattern appearing within this direct seeing (that I am), then it is known in an unmediated way as an appearance in the knowing presence that I am and so 'it' is known directly and immediately that I am not this appearance-this pattern of belief commonly called 'me'.
'Then', which can only ever be 'this immediacy' of now, this habitual belief pattern has already lost its hold in the mind. - Even so, it is just belief and has no real hold at all.
It re-appears due to its long-standing 'pattern of recurrence' yet its roots have been cut or loosened and with continued effortless seeing, it will be seen through and it will appear to evaporate, taking with it the afflictive identification of that habitual belief in being a limited personality.
Paradoxically for the mind, there is 'no one' making any effort to bring about this freedom. – SEEING is already happening.
It truly is here already. - Pure Seeing is from beyond the instrument of seeing, a clear space of freedom itself and is not limited by the minds interpretations, which are only content of mind, acquired mind – memory or translations of whatever has appeared in that seeing.
In looking into things carefully, one can see clearly that all of our repeating referencing to a self-center are just a series of appearances in the clear and empty nature of mind.
Whatever happens - seeing is still happening.
The question of who sees and who does not see is an invalid question.
This is a profound and simple fact and its cutting profundity is missed by just about everyone. – There is no one actually there in the pure cognition – This will never be palatable information for the mind of habitual notions.
The essential nature of seeing is not easily expressed in words.
In reading these words, seeing is happening. – What the mind makes from it is not the seeing – these Samskara, these impressions are already mind content.
We imagine that we need to get behind the impressions – get to the understanding – but ‘who’ is that? – You are already beyond the mind content, that is why it is seen and known.
Seeing is direct always. - If someone threw a ball at you, you would duck or catch it without having to think about it.
The point I am making is that 'Seeing is happening'.
The more words I use to ‘get that over’ the less likely the message works – no harm done.
The minds interpretations where the psychology (me) appears to get caught - thinking that these conceptual identifications are actually what I am and that those concepts are doing the seeing and knowing. - Its just not so!
It is extremely subtle for many of us yet so obvious it is not suspected at all.
Those who argue against such obviousness have an invested interest in a particular system of belief and it is this belief that forms the grounds for their argument.
All of it is simply content of mind! - Content of mind is not what you are.
Freedom is freedom is freedom.
It appears as a continual natural release from the past events and memories, even from a moment ago. – Seeing is immediate.
What psychological 'stand' can be taken in the face of the empty nature of unmediated direct pure cognition?
This simple profundity remains incontestable due to its simplicity – its empty nature.
In the pure space of seeing, of direct knowing, this emptiness is full of presence.
Habitual grasping attitudes and states of mind all come and go in this space of knowing that you are.
The belief in being a 'someone' also appears and disappears. - This can be seen clearly by paying a little more attention to what is happening. - The habit is to stay stuck in an attitude, within the bounds of the old habitual views and those stale states of mind. – What we unwittingly sacrifice, by not being mindfully present to what is happening, is we sacrifice the freshness of ‘this moment’ of livingness, in exchange for yesterdays impressions, memories or views – Samskaras – and that is the dead past!
DO you see that? - Now?
When can you see anything except now?
'Who' is it that can't see this obviousness?
Cast aside the old mindset and just see – know – it is subtle and it is not the seer or the seen – it is simply SEEING.
It cannot be denied – even in the blind or visually impaired, seeing is happening but not in the sense that we ‘link’ it with.
(I doubt many will agree on that – but I do not give that fact any credence)
The point is: Seeing IS happening!
A mind pattern has no ability to see or know anything at all.
The pure functions are apparently borrowed by mind patterns, which are simply beliefs in some 'entity' that is believed to be able to 'see and know'.
It is simply not so.
An open view, which clearly sees this, is already transcendent to the content of mind.
Do you really believe that you leave this moment of direct cognition?
Where do you go when you leave this moment of actuality?
Direct cognition is all there is and ever is!
This profundity confounds the intellect.
The seeker who has invested so much in the process of liberation without results still resists the clear evidence of the obvious.
Why? Simply because it can't SEE or KNOW anything! It is just a PATTERN.
Does the pattern on your kitchen tablecloth have a choice?
Can it 'do' anything? - Beyond all patterns, this actuality of knowing right now is an open view. It is already presently here (for you) and cannot be negated. - It only seemingly is cluttered by these passing visitors in the mind. - They come, they go.
Show me one that has stayed.
Are you one of these transient visitors? - or are you present and aware of all that comes and goes? There is no choice.
You cannot stop seeing or knowing. When the dream stops you remain.
There is awareness. - It is not 'something', which you can claim to be yours.
Where would the 'you' be without it? Openness remains no matter what appears or disappears. - You will not find teachers of what I am pointing out. - It cannot be taught.
IT IS the actuality (for all concerned). - All is empty. - Where are the traces of the past?
They are present in this actuality yet they are nothing but patterns of energy appearing in the knowing presence that you are.
Show me one that it not in your direct cognition!
You are free right now and 'seeing-knowing' are spontaneously happening.
Where will you go from here?
Emptiness speaks to emptiness.

Email received in response to the above note:
Dear Gilbert, I was just blown away by your recent website column on Emptiness.
Beautiful in its directness, clarity and simplicity. - You really speak to and from my Heart.
It thrilled me because I write about and am devoted to this same absolute openness, emptiness, vacancy, nothingness. - Not personal, not changeable, but absolute and constant - one essence appearing as 'many'.
At some point it dawned that 'openness' was (and is) not a personal quality, at all really.
It was (IS) an already universal condition of existence.
You don't need to try to be open. - Openness is already a fact of existence - without the openness of space, where would the universe appear?
Boundless space. - What a relief to see there is no need to try to be open - it is already the situation. - Then you wrote about the presence which occupies the openness.
Also changeless, indivisible, absolute. - This is the aliveness, the imperishable well-being we are. - Another aspect of This that we are that I seem to come to when I get right down to writing or speaking about the essence of it is Wholeness or Completeness.
Here I am sometimes struck speechless. - Everything is held within this Wholeness that You Are/I Am. - The imperishable changeless energy in motion. Where is any destruction or creation here? It is eternal substance in motion within our changeless Wholeness - - In this Wholeness I don't see any foundation for anything other than the (immediate) express-ing of this Wholeness.

- Love, Bill