STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES: There is NO "Unconscious"

Every part of your world; every tiny detail you experience, is purely a product of your mind. Knowing this, and living from that knowledge, is freedom beyond your wildest imagining.

Student: I believe that the problem is that many of my thoughts and beliefs are unconscious to me. Therefore, what obstructs knowing my Source are the thoughts in my mind that I am not conscious of.

Teacher: You have invented imaginary “places” in the mind for which to conceal your fear. These places, or layers of your mind, are not real, but you do believe that you have much to hide. There are NO unconscious "levels" of the mind through which to safely lock away your fear.

You simply project it "outward" and there is where it is revealed to you as separate from you. However, in your refusal to accept ownership of the parts of your mind that you fear, you refuse to acknowledge parts of YOU and this is the purpose of your projection. This refusal is what you call “unconscious.” But, make no mistake, you are aware of all the thoughts you idolize as "truth."

Student: You’re saying that I do not have an unconscious and that the things of my mind that I do not wish to know because of fear, I do not repress, but project outward into my consciousness and it is there that I see it apart from me.

Teacher: The world IS you and you are your world, but you have projected your belief that the “experience” of a world is external to you and thus, you hide from what you fear. Therefore, it remains where you place it and, although you frequently suffer from it, you believe it is not your responsibility simply because it is NOT a part of YOU.

If you continue to believe in the "experience" of an outside world, there is no doubt you will fear what you believe is "outside" and, therefore, it must continue to victimize you. This must continue until you take responsibility for the origin of what you SEE and see differently. Essentially, in seeking freedom from victimization, you seek freedom from yourself, because you are victim and victimizer.

Student: What about the "pleasure principle" and my need to reduce inner tension?

Teacher: You have no idea of what is pleasurable, so why take the trouble of assigning it to some vague and unknowable place that you have labeled as “unconscious.”

How could you know what is in your best interests when you have no idea who or what you are? I continue to ask this question and you have yet to answer, although you continue to "live" as if the answer is known to you.

Conducting your “life” based on self-deception is unreliable and has failed to bring you pleasure of any permanence, but has clearly allowed you to fluctuate between pain and pleasure, often in complete confusion as to which "state" you experience. Do not rely on your old and worn out mental constructs of what you believe is in your best interest. Merely admit that you do not know and leave your ‘self’ open to learning, otherwise you will remain confused and victimized.

Student: I certainly know when I am in pain as opposed to pleasure.

Teacher: Once again, you have confused the body WITH the mind in your denial that the body is a delusion OF the mind. Pain, as a bodily stimulus, is easily recognizable since you do believe you are a body and the body must survive for the self to "live." Pain merely informs you of this obscure and confusing need to "survive" and, in that function, you embrace it.

Imagine if you were infinite and had NO end; what use for "pain" in that which cannot die? Obviously, pain would have minimal effect in alerting you to bodily needs, since a body that “lives” forever could not embody a "self" that believes in death.

Yet, physical pain does NOT concern you as much as the "suffering" that you require in order to maintain awareness of your "existence." Would you choose to suffer, if suffering were completely under your control? I teach that it IS, simply because you cannot die. Only that which dies can suffer.

Pure, unconditioned joy is impossible to that which is concerned with survival and you interpret suffering as symbolic of your being “alive.” Imagine if you did NOT suffer, how would you know your “self”? If the self could NOT suffer, it would experience only joy. Essentially, this is our goal because you do demand unconditional joy and there is NO reason why you should NOT have it, since it is the gift that awaits your acceptance.

Nothing else exists.... except in your mind.

Student: But there is no doubt that we perform irrational behaviors based on reasons we are not aware of?

Teacher: There is much you are not "aware of," but denial is a choice and not some deep dark place of unknown and unknowable “drives” and “motivations” that victimize you against your will. Look to your world and there you will clearly see what you contend is unknown to you. "There" is where you placed it, in fear of what you made that contradicts what you ARE.

You cannot hide from the mind through the mind. But you do believe you can hide from the mind through a "world." I teach that there is nothing to hide FROM. Nothing you now believe makes any difference to the Truth.

Student: But what about my upbringing and social conditioning? Clearly, these early factors influence my behavior.

Teacher: Once again, this is only true because you require it. Make no mistake, you require your own victimization. The self-identity that you worship must suffer from a past that will culminate in a future that you have determined must include your death. This is what you fear more then anything in your world and this is what you “repress” and defend against by simply projecting it outward INTO your world. However, recall that I teach that there is nothing outside your mind.

Student: But what about the ego? You have frequently used that Freudian term to indicate what it is that I must transcend.

Teacher: You seem very committed to “transcending” what you believe is REAL and, make no mistake, your self or "ego" suffering makes it very REAL for you. But if you did NOT suffer through it, how real could it be?

Your suffering makes it REAL!

I ask that you transform what you believe, otherwise you will experience sacrifice and this will only serve to intensify your commitment to an "ego." To "transcend," or rise above, merely asserts that you are somehow below "something" that must be above you. You are below NOTHING, not even God.

I have used the term “ego” because you know it well and we can only work with what your mind provides. You believe you are a mind in a body and within that mind is an ego that you associate as your “self.” This association serves only to dissociate from Truth. That was the purpose you gave it and now I teach a new purpose for the BELIEF that you demand be “you.” Do not become confused by your own absurd concepts, but allow me to aid you in transforming what you once believed was true.

I only provide that which you desire to know, WHEN you desire to know it. I can provide all that you would ever need. As to "when" you need it, that is your choice.

I teach that all the contents of your mind are available for observation and you observe these “unconscious” processes in every moment. Yet, WHAT you observe is not as important as HOW you observe it. There is only one way to see your "world" and that is what you require I teach you. I will fulfill my function, because it is your purpose that I do so.

EGO DYNAMICS: Fear and Greed in an Age of Desperation

Recently I came across an interesting stock market report by CNN (“the most trusted name in news”), entitled “Make Fear and Greed Work for You.”

“Those are the emotions that rule the markets, and changes in stock prices simply reflect the swing of the pendulum between the two extremes.”

Actually, those are the emotions that rule the world, as long as the world embraces acquisition and loss as defining it. Therefore, those who experience the 'world' will be taught to define themselves by those standards. My gain is your loss and, in a world of limits, there must always be winners and losers.

Capitalist markets and monetary-value systems are egoic inventions manufactured to define the ego-self through fear and greed or loss and acquisition. Both states of mind accentuate “you” as existing and without them, the ‘self’ could not exist and you could not know your ‘self’ as "you" now do.

Many wish to extricate themselves from this dynamic by refusing to play. But who has not experienced fear or greed and conducted their life accordingly? In fact, your daily functioning is solely based on acquisition and defending against loss. These are the games of the ego and we generally refer to our participation as "life."

Unfortunately, most spiritual ideologies are unsuccessful in defining the self through "love," because they, too, embrace the egoic desire for acquisition. Seeking to acquire a "spiritual goal" (awakening, enlightenment, non-duality) that perpetuates disengagement from the world is a problem, because it has always been true that if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.

Postmodern ego exists, or self-actualizes, through what it acquires. Loss is equivalent to psychological death (recall the actual suicides in the market collapse of last year). We grieve loss, because it is a psychological dying of the self, bit by bit. It’s not the death of a loved one the ego grieves, but the loss of the love object to the ‘self.’

Ego’s do not like to lose and, because of loss, may experience a living-death. Deprivation or loss defines the self as rigidly as does acquisition or 'getting.'

Fear and greed don't just the fuel capitalist markets, but are components of the ego-self or that package of beliefs you define as “you.” Greed demands competitive acquisition and fear demands defending, or protecting, what you have acquired. Whether cooking the books to hide huge bank losses or “keep your dog off my property!” You will do what it takes to defend what you have acquired simply because you believe it defines you.

‘Life’ is defined as protecting what you have acquired believing it defines “you” and the U.S. constitution was based more on protecting property rights, than in upholding “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Property rights, or monetary value, is the measure through which your "happiness" is determined. Without those standards defining your ‘self,’ you would become desperate because the beliefs that defined you would now negate you as less than 'alive.'

As a collective consciousness, we are beginning to experience an Age of Desperation (and it may not be "quiet").

When the foundation of your self-defining belief-system is suddenly pulled out from under you, you will experience a free-fall into doubt and fear. This is why your defining foundation must not be built on the shifting sands of a self-definition extracted from what the world teaches, because the world teaches greed and fear.

Become an infinite player in the games the ego devises. With no expectation of outcome, you will experience no loss. Expect rewards and you will experience deprivation and define your 'self' through absence as opposed to presence, lack as opposed to fulfillment and bondage as opposed to freedom. When you have nothing to gain, because you have nothing to lose, fear and greed can no longer limit "you."

The Enlightened Commando Mommy

You don’t know what you need, but the proprietors of truth do and they claim it is their job to teach you.

Yet, because you are steeped in ignorance, you must be enticed. Otherwise, how else will you discover your teacher of truth, if you are not magnetically allured to do so?


Dave Oshana is an alluring merchant of truth that demands your attention. Dave says:

“Enlightenment cannot be taught. It is not a body of knowledge or a set of behaviours. However, when a person deeply desires to know the Truth meets one who knows the truth then something magical can happen, and enlightenment can occur.”

Dave Oshana owns the truth and he will give it to you, provided you believe in him. Yet, one wonders, if Christ couldn’t do it, what makes these truth peddlers think they can? If Buddha couldn’t change the world, how will Dave Oshana do it?

But note the disclaimer (just in case you fail to become enlightened):

"The student must ensure that he/she is prepared to receive the Transmission. This opportunity may not present itself ever again. Oshana was at pains to remind me that he himself does not know if and when he would be directed to restrict his teaching even further. If you are drawn to the Energy and you are sufficiently prepared then open yourself to its all-encompassing influence, as you may not have this chance again in a thousand lifetimes! The student must be prepared to serve the Enlightenment Energies, to become an instrument through which it functions in this universe."

Are you "sufficiently prepared to open yourself to its all-encompassing influence"? If not, then you lose and are cursed to a thousand lifetimes. Whew! What a let down, but these are the rules to the game of "awakening." Come prepared for what you expect and, make no mistake, you will have it. But it won't be truth, because truth cannot be restricted to your expectations. The fact that you believe it can be, is why you seem to be without.

Actually, the ancient secret, lost to the modern world, is that truth is a communal affair, not available to individual minds still divided against themselves:

"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else." - Buddha

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ ... " - Galations 3:28

But wouldn’t ya know it, the ego went and co-opted that whole schtick. Now we have personality cults to suck in the ignorant (but faithful). Some might say that Truth is not supposed to change the world.

But then, what good is truth? 

The truth merchants understand the attention deficit, hyperactive modern mind. They realize the ego must be stimulated by conventional metaphors and paradigms. Thus, for Dave Oshana:

“Liberation Commando Style: The expulsion of the False Identity can occur whilst human awareness is present but it usually only gets in the way of the Enlightenment Energies. What is more likely to happen is that the awareness is 'numbed' temporarily for the Enlightenment Energies to function more efficiently. Rather like the Russian Commandos who gassed both hostages and terrorists in a bid to save lives in their rescue mission.

The urge to teach is undeniable - The Enlightened Teacher is like a mother who is there for her baby at all times. She cannot deny the cries of the child for milk regardless of time or place.”

The Enlightened Commando Mommy is the ‘hero’ of this dream.

She protects her babies and gives them truth by attacking and destroying the "evil ego" within. Notice the dramatic metaphors conforming to the egoic need for status quo, conventional paradigms of truth.

How can a world absent of truth give you truth through that same world’s conventional paradigms invented by the ego? The world reflects scarcity, limit and loss. Therefore, the "awakened master," and his "truth," must be a limited resource. Only a few can own the truth.

Oshana’s magnetic personality is apparent from his pictures. But then, who wants to sit at the feet of a boring guru? We need to be drawn in and mesmerized by the magical truth of the enlightened master.

Welcome to the Cult of Personality.

It's a paradigm we know well and most likely will learn nothing from. Millions of 'personalities,' teaching "truth," have left things pretty much the same for centuries (many would argue that life has become even more inhospitable).

Of course, this is the definition of insanity, whereby, we all continue doing the same thing over and over again, but each time expecting different results.

Look in my eyes, what do you see?
the Cult of Personality
I know your anger,
I know your dreams
I've been everything you wanna be
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the Cult of Personality

Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set me free

I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face of your T.V.
I'm the Cult of Personality
I exploit you; still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi
I'm the Cult of Personality

Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set you free
(Living Colour)

The Non-Duality of Christ Consciousness

Essentially, there is nothing external to mind.

However, you believe a part of you resides externally from mind and have split experience into two parts, body and consciousness. Inevitably, this results in a divided experience of mind distinct from body. Therefore, everything the body ‘seems’ to come into contact with is automatically considered as separate from ‘mind,’ because it is in mind that the ‘self’ resides and all else must be dissociated from ego-self in order to maintain ego boundaries.

Christ Consciousness is the unification of the parts by dissolving boundaries through realization that neither mind nor body, self nor world, is outside conscious experience. However, it does not engage in this non-dual realization through negating or dissociating from any parts of experience. In fact, the non-duality of Christ Consciousness embraces all the parts in realizing wholeness. Absolutely nothing is, or can be, excluded and to do so would be to maintain ego boundaries, thereby, projecting the self away from the self's own constructs of reality. Splitting reality is cause for suffering because you are actually dividing a unified, non-dual mind and such is the nature of duality.

You believe that ‘perception’ proves duality “real” and, thereby, rely exclusively on bodily sensation as “knowledge.” However, you cannot deny that all experience is ‘within’ consciousness and this tends to evoke doubt that the body even exists, since it is in consciousness that the body is experienced and not vice versa.

Subsequently, this causes doubt, or fear, that “you” even exist (simply because you associate exclusively with a body).

Therefore, to reinforce and maximize existence, you have come to rely almost exclusively on ‘perception,’ and the body’s capacity for ‘sensing’ a world, to provide you “knowledge” of who and what you are. Rarely do you consider that this “knowledge” is actually provided by yourself to yourself within consciousness through your own self-concept. A self-concept that also defines life as primarily of the body, while being solely contained in consciousness.

You conduct your 'existence' as if nothing enters your mind that has not in some way come to you through the body. Even that which may enter consciousness completely devoid of bodily mediation is rationalized to conform to bodily sensation. This is why so much is poorly interpreted and that which somehow sneaks past bodily mediation (sensation) is then defined as "mystical."

Christ Consciousness is concerned with knowledge that is not mediated by the body, but that does not negate or deny the body, nor the ‘self,’ but includes it within the whole. This is what the majority of "non-dualists" struggle with, in their desire to experience non-dualism by negating the experiences of ego-self, body and world.

Christ Consciousness is merely the realization that perception is nothing more than an outward projection 'within' consciousness that is not external to consciousness, as there is no division to mind. In fact, in this sense we could say that mind does not exist, since there is no split between an inside or an outside (mind/body) to the experience of “you.”

Christ Consciousness is the realization that you are your world, but also that your world is you. No projected split can occur and this is the delusion of a separate self seeking self-maximization by reinforcing the boundaries delineating it.

Christ Consciousness is a unified “Trinity” in which no part is subordinate to, or in contrast with, any other part. This was the message of “I and the father are one.” Yet, this does not deny an origin or source, but includes all as joined with that indivisibility.

There is really only one indication of Christ Consciousness and that is a complete cessation of fear.

Fear identifies with the dualistic conflict of disunity, but is actually the manufacturing of contrasting parts, seeking to idolize some parts over others. This creates dualistic levels and degrees to a 'reality,' in which some parts are feared, while others are made sacred and we are often confused between what is to be feared and what to be idolized.

Christ Consciousness perceives neither sacred nor profane, because there is neither fear nor idolatry of any parts. However, the recognition of Chris Consciousness is realized through another and this is the most difficult part for ego-self to accept.

Nevertheless, it does not require the physical presence of another and could even be the memory or image of another (since any such contrast between real and illusionary is egoically delusional). However, it does require that you 'see' your ‘self’ as not separate from another and this is only possible when you do not assign or apply any purpose to another whatsoever.

When they no longer need conform to a purpose you have determined, contrasts dissolve between you and an instant equality emerges naturally, without need of any capacity for judgment.

Yet, this is fearful to an ego-self that knows itself through the manufacture of delusional contrasts and value hierarchies, which it employs to inflate or aggrandize itself as ‘existing’ through exclusive boundaries. To experience a complete lack of contrast is often referred to as an experience of non-duality and it is without fear on any level or degree. This is what some refer to as “perfect peace” and, through a complete absence of conflict/fear, Christ Consciousness is realized as the extension of being in mind and not the projection of ‘self’ in consciousness.

(of course, this is all just theoretical metaphysics and has no resemblance to 'reality')

Hahaa!
mikeS

You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack

You may find yourself in another part of the world

You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile

You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife

You may ask yourself; Well...How did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down

Letting the days go by/water flowing underground

Into the blue again/after the money's gone

Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground

You may ask yourself

How do I work this?

You may ask yourself

Where is that large automobile?

You may tell yourself

This is not my beautiful house!

You may tell yourself

This is not my beautiful wife!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down

Letting the days go by/water flowing underground

Into the blue again/after the money's gone

Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

(Talking Heads)

Your Own Personal Enlightenment

Many teach that you must seek “awakening” for your ‘self’ and then your world will magically bend to join with your awakened mind.

I merely suggest that it will be through your relationships that awakening will be experienced and the world will bend to join the two that have become one, because the world was created from that merger and so were you.

However, this is absolutely absurd to some.

Healing happens in relationship. An enlightened mind is a healed mind and we all agree that the world is sorely in need of healing.

But when you achieve your coveted, and deeply sought after, personal “enlightenment” will you bring along the sick, the weak, the needy and frightened? Will you be grateful to them for your freedom and free them with you? Or, have you left them behind as too burdensome for your personal journey?

Have you relinquished your burden, and thus your responsibility, in the bliss of non-duality and personal “awakening"? Have they ceased to 'exist'?

If the truth you discover is for your mind only, how can that be true? If the starving masses of Ethiopia do not get ‘it,’ how can you have ‘it’ without them? Does that make truth, denied to the many but granted to the few, still an illusion?

Do they receive gratitude for your awakening? Do you give them rest for which to lean upon for a while? Are they grateful for YOUR enlightened mind? Will you “teach” them how to become enlightened... just like you? Is teaching the only task the “enlightened” can perform? Why do they NOT perform miracles? When will they raise the dead?

Do you really believe that you can awaken without the rest? Who could have taught you this?

Ancient history is confounded by billions of egos all claiming a different interpretation of “truth.” This merely proves it is NOT known. Because of this, we have much “spirituality,” but are absent of spirit.

Is your neighbor awakened? What about your wife or husband? Your children? How can you be and see them as NOT? But, if they ARE, then who do you teach? It’s a swirling vortex of hypocrisy with the claim that if you are not “awakened” then you do not understand.

Like the rich man who plays golf to prove he’s rich, the religious “awaken” to prove themselves “spiritual” and they will teach you this much (and, make no mistake, it's all "religion"). The hypocrisy is the same and, as the rich man ignores poverty and suffering in his right to personal wealth, the spiritual ignore it in the right to personal enlightenment.

If “non-duality” is your ‘church,’ can anyone become a member? Is spiritual enlightenment exclusive to a select few? What is the cost of membership? Whom do you exclude?

If the world is NOT awake, you will most likely not awaken without it since, as the priest’s of “Oneness” rightfully claim, you are the world and the world is you.

However, if by chance you interpret yourself as having experienced an “awakening” of sorts (and there seem to be many sorts of awakenings) it’s best to just give it away. Because, until they have it also, “you” have nothing of any value. If you refuse to part with it, and clutch to it religiously, then realize that you can’t take it with you because it is of no value and what is of no value must surely be left behind.

Ahh…but I’m sure your personal awakening is very valuable to you. Because it's the truth, right?!


Your own personal jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares

Your own personal jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who’s there

Feeling unknown
And you’re all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone

Lift up the receiver
Ill make you a believer

Take second best
Put me to the test
Things on your chest
You need to confess
I will deliver
You know I’m a forgiver

Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith

Your own personal jesus...  
(Depeche Mode)

Conceptual Imprisonment

Love cannot be conceptually understood and this is why it's not available. However, it can be experienced by engaging to understand it. Unfortunately, you engage from prediction and, therefore, suffer disappointment, because it can never be what you predict.

Attempting to extend outward from a concept is to demonstrate misunderstanding. To experience a concept is, of course, no experience at all. This is equally true for "non-dual awakening." If you think you've experienced “it,” then clearly you haven’t.

Love is an awakening that is unpredictable and cannot be prepared for, since you have no idea what it is. To predict and prepare is to set conditions upon an experience for which you have no understanding. When you think you know, you only imprison another within your concepts, thereby, imprisoning yourself. To define what you need from your own “knowledge” is to deny the truth.

Yet, when you engage without knowing or defining, you allow an openness for surprise.

Surprise is natural, while concepts are completely made up. Love, like enlightenment, must come as a complete surprise. Otherwise, you can be certain you have come prepared for the experience you expect based on what you predicted and, make no mistake, you will have it as expected. Yet, it's funny how what is expected seems to lose value over time, which means your preparations have been useless.

This applies as equally to "non-dual awakening" as it does to love, since both transcend time and are thus, timeless. Prepare for either, based on past learning, and you will experience neither. However, your ego will inform you that you have experienced the concept you were prepared to experience and you, obviously, will become a “believer." Are you a believer?

The world is full of "believers," but exhibits little in the way of truth. Love transcends the world, but if you awaken to it based on the world’s specifications, you have nothing other than what you had before. And who wants that?

To predict is to construct experience based on past learning. What is “loved” is the concept of another and not the other at all. In fact, essentially the other has ceased to exist by becoming a concept that you have constructed for which to fantasize an exchange of conceptual "love" based on your predictions of what it is. But concepts are always empty and there is nothing you can experience from a concept. Duh!

Yet, it’s funny how we look to concepts for our salvation, rather than to each other. But wasn't that the Buddha/Christ message? What happened?

Imprisoning another through a concept means that the other will exist only as a concept and "love" must be predicated upon conformance to that concept and for the ego, nothing else will do and anything less feels like betrayal. Therefore, if another fails to conform to your concepts, the ego can only see "love" as absent and will adjust accordingly.

This is why the ego seeks endlessly for love, but dies without it. To awaken to it, is to live and many realize this just prior to dying. In a moment they immediately understand what they were here for. Do you know what you're here for?

Love is “awakening” to truth and therefore, can come to you only through another because the truth of you is in them. It can’t be realized alone, through deep contemplation or years of meditation. It must be engaged with in the understanding that you cannot predict or prepare for it, whatsoever. Fail to see it in them and you will mistake the truth of yourself and choose your own imprisonment by limiting what you can awaken to in them. This is because "they" are indivisible from "you."

"and all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside"

"in your eyes

the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete

in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light, the heat I see
in your eyes"

(Peter Gabriel)

If It Makes You "Happy"! (then it can't be all that bad)

Does your “spirituality” make you “happy” because you believe it's “true”? Does your religious ideology include your death?

Death is probably the only aspect of life that we’re not too happy about. In fact, all religious ideologies have their origin in the fear of death. Just think, if you could never die, what could you ever worry about?

So what happens when the venerable “awakened master” dies? I love the neo-advaitist platitudes, “if you are not a body, then what dies,” as the exalted one scratches his illusionary butt (which seems to prove the body still has some control).

Well, I guess if it makes him happy…

It’s probably not a question of what you ARE or what you ARE NOT. Note the either/or paradox that even the priests of the non-dual struggle with. Of course, you are not a body AND you most certainly are a body. Duh!

Isn’t it great that you can have it both ways? Doesn't that make you happy?

So if awakening is such a big deal (happy, happy, bliss, bliss!) why are so many awakened ones dying from painful diseases like the rest of us miserable sinners? If awakening is about transcending the body, why is the exalted "master" riddled with cancer? Seems like the body won that bet!

But I thought he said he was NOT a body? So does that mean the body has taken on a life of its own, without the mind?

I guess whatever floats your boat…

What if the point is to realize that you ARE your body, your mind, thoughts, and yes, even your ego? And the fact that you keep trying NOT TO BE what you ARE, keeps you from being what you’re supposed to BE, which, of course, is what you are NOT? (Ha! Love this sheit!)

Sorry. I question everything because I don't "know" (and it makes me happy!). Some people no longer question, because they "know" and "knowing" makes them happy (and they go around "teaching" everybody else what they "know" and that make's 'em happy, too!)

The question is, how could so many have gotten it so wrong, for so long? (centuries, in fact). Worse than that, the blind still lead the blind! The spiritual materialists continue to righteously bypass what they see by denying it’s "there."

...because it makes them “happy” (and it's "true," yo!)

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with denial (we're experts at it) and I guess if it makes you "happy," then your righteous denial can’t be all that bad. I usually allow the "Non-dualists," and the avatars of "awakening," to be ‘right,’ because they can get downright ornery when they’re unhappy.

"If it makes you happy
It can't be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad."

(Cheryl Crow)

The Audacity of "Knowing" Truth

Just admit it, you have no friggin' idea why you’re “here,” nor do you have any idea what your purpose is or what you should be doing.

Deep down you know this. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to stop you from attaching to all kinds of nutty religious schemes and ridiculous "spiritual" behaviors.

You still act as if you know what is needed to end your suffering and conduct your life as if this were true. Unfortunately, this “knowledge” has defined your suffering.

When you finally give up your self-identified purposes, you can stop identifying mine and I need not conceptualize a purpose for you. Therefore, neither of us remains confined to our self-imposed conceptual prison cell. We are then free to learn of one another unencumbered by the past. Until then, we will impose our imperatives upon one another and this will act as a wedge between us that will condition and define who we are to one another. Until then, we have the world as it is today and, most likely, will continue to be tomorrow.

Ego religiously attaches to the concepts of “knowledge” and therefore, we can only continue to define each other through ignorance. It really doesn’t matter what concepts you employ to define your ‘self,” even defining yourself through the concepts of "non-duality" (which seems a silly way to define oneself, but some seem to enjoy it).

Rather, it's how you define me that counts. How you see others is how you will define yourself, because the moment you locked them into concept, you sentenced your ‘self’ to conceptual bondage, because there is no division.

The only thing you are here to learn is that you don’t know who or what you are, so first, you must realize you do not know them? They are your 'salvation,' because in setting them free, you free yourself. Neither of us need be victim to the ‘world' and emancipation will occur when what the world teaches is no longer desired.

Consider the conditions of “knowledge” because ‘hell’ is conditioned by such “truth.” Pretending that you know a way out of hell, is to deny your conditions made it real. Trust that an exit strategy will materialize the moment you realize you don’t know the truth. When we both agree that we don’t know, then we can dissolve the conditions between us that we created by defining a purpose and conducting our lives based on that "truth."

To not “know” is a frightening prospect to the ego you have come to know as “you.” Can you conduct your life as if you have no idea what your purpose is? Can you give up your grand theories, your spiritual rules and your enlightened equations on the hereafter? Can you simply forget what the “awakened master” taught you? Can you burn the “Great Book”?

When you finally give up your notions of truth, you will be amazed at how audacious you were in deciding between pain and joy all those years, as if you actually knew the difference.

You can no more terminate or dissolve your ego-self, than you can dissolve the world, since both are mutually interdependent and indivisible. However, you can reinterpret your perceptions and, thereby, reinterpret your ‘world.’

The chaotic ego is fear dominated because it was fear produced. The peaceful self dissolves the fear of chaos by seeking peace in its relationships, because they are its ‘world.’ The peaceful self does not seek the guru in the world, but makes the world 'enlightened' and learning becomes a communal affair, simply because nobody “knows,” but together they can learn.