What we point to in all these discussions and apparent exchanges is the self evident fact of your own being.  This simple, obvious and yet profound fact of your very own being; this presence of awareness that you cannot under any circumstance negate, and at the very same time you cannot grasp with any thought, word, or concept, or as any apparent object.

If it is closely looked into, THIS presence of awareness or awareness of presence is not your personal presence.  It is not your presence or my presence, rather it is self-existing, self-knowing, without the need of any god there to create it.  Have you ever looked into yourself in this way?  Did you as the apparent entity, Mr or Mrs So and So, have any hand in creating the body-mind vehicle that you seem to inhabit, or did it arise spontaneously without your wanting it to?

How did all this happen without your permission or without your wanting it to happen or appear?  Have you ever looked along these lines or considered this apparent mystery?  This sense of presence, I am, that is what was born, and it wasn’t until the age of 2 or 3 years that you became aware of your existence as someone or something  seemingly separate or apart from THIS ever present awareness-consciousness.  The concept “I am”, and no one can grasp “I” as it is only a thought or concept; and so aided by the parents and society in general, one adds to that concept ‘I am’ all the events and experiences that occur from that early age onwards, and so takes on the false face or identity, I am So and So.

Because of this false identity with the body-mind vehicle which has arisen spontaneously, there comes with that the fear that I am going to die and disappear.  Now this consciousness, “I am” that has arisen spontaneously and will depart in the same way, how has it come about, and what exactly is the cause of it?  Because of what has all this come about?  This is the riddle or koan that has to be solved.  How did you come to be – I am So and So, and because of what are you?  Unless this riddle is solved and utterly resolved, you will never know peace – the peace that passes all understanding – self-realization, the genuine, authentic, knowing of who and what you truly and ever are.

No one else can do this for you, because there is on other apart from this impersonal presence of all-knowing awareness which, up until this point; you as the imaginary entity So and So have been ignoring or taking for granted, so to speak.  You could not even lift a finger or move a muscle if that animating life essence or impersonal presence of awareness was not there, yet you don’t seem to be aware of it, or to acknowledge it in any way.  Isn’t this ignorance or spiritual blindness?

You are firmly in the grip of this “I” conceit or arrogance of doer ship and yet, you have never done a single thing or action of your own accord; you are not the doer of your actions, so where exactly does the question of karma come in?  Karma for who exactly?  Have you ever considered any of this?  Isn’t it high time that you did, or is this constant psychological suffering something that you relish and enjoy?  Ask yourself these questions and see for yourself, no guru or priest is going to do this inner work for you, as in your ignorance you may have somehow hoped.

Stop ignoring this naked awareness that is ever present, Omnipresent. Stop pretending to be what you are not – a limited separate human being looking out of “two” little peep holes in a stale meat-ball like head, and instead be this boundless space-like awareness that you are truly seeing out of – this space or no face that everything is appearing in.  Isn’t the seeing taking place from “space” there where you are instead of out of two eyes?  Isn’t the very first thing that you are seeing actually space?  Can you find any center or circumference to that space of knowing where the actual seeing is taking place from?

Drop all your preconceived ideas and acquired knowledge and simply LOOK. On present evidence, without resorting to memory, words, or concepts, how many eyes are you looking out of?  I suggest that you are looking out of a single edgeless eye – the Christ eye or the Buddha eye.  Looking out of this single edgeless eye then your whole body if full of light – the self-evident light of awareness or naked knowing.  THIS is the light that lights up every man and woman who seemingly comes into the apparent world.  Know for certain, don’t think – I am the light of the world and let your light so shine before men that they will rejoice and glorify this heavenly light of naked all-knowing awareness.  Wouldn’t you then rejoice and say quite confidently – I am THAT I am, that is prior to and utterly suffuses consciousness and the manifest world?

- End.

The subject that we are discussing here is non duality – One without a second, as it is pointed out in Advaita in Hinduism. This has also been expressed in all of the major world religions as well. If as the ancients and others have stated and pointed out, that Reality, God, Truth, or “what is” is non dual, non conceptual, pure awareness-consciousness, then obviously that does not leave any room for a you or a me, or any separate personal entity whatsoever. How can there be a “me” apart from consciousness? If there is one, then that is dualism or duality and what we are saying, expressing , or pointing out is that there is no duality in this ever present non dual essence of all knowing awareness-consciousness that you always and ever are; THIS ever present natural state that is neither yours nor mine, but simply “is”.

How can there be Omnipresence and “me”, Mr or Mrs So and So? That would mean that there is something added to, outside, or apart from Omnipresence, and in actuality there is only THAT. To have something outside of Omnipresence is an impossibility, so it is clear that the entity “me” is a total fiction, an imaginary entity, a phantom, or what we call in Advaita, the child of a barren woman. Now, a barren woman has never had a child in the first place, so who in fact are you who is seemingly reading this? Ask yourself these questions and find out directly for yourself, don’t wait for something or someone outside yourself to give you THIS or you will wait forever. No one is going to give you, teach you, or tell you anything. Work out your own salvation with diligence.

There is an “appearance” of duality and there could not be any manifestation at all if it did not appear in the so called pairs of opposites – day-night, sound-silence, hot-cold, man-woman etc; however, even though it may appear like that it has never changed its true nature as non dual awareness-consciousness. The sky still appears to be blue, and there still appears to be water in the mirage, however it is clearly seen and known that the sky is not blue, nor is there ant water in the mirage appearing in the distance, although there appears to be.

If through investigation and clear seeing it is directly seen and known that there is no me here separate or apart from awareness; then that being the case, if, right here and now presently I can’t find any me or separate entity whatsoever when I directly look, then might en it dawn on you that there isn’t one? If there is no me or mine apart from this awareness-consciousness right here and now on present evidence(not taking into account thought or memory) or direct investigation, then when was there ever one? Doesn’t that lead to the conclusion that there never was any separate person or entity there at any so called time, even though it was believed that there was one? There never was any separate person or entity there with any substance or independent nature of its own at any time, was there?

Rather shocking conclusion on the one hand, and yet extremely liberating on the other. If there is no self or reference point with any substance or independent nature of its own apart from this impersonal all-knowing awareness, then who can suffer, have endless problems, grow old and die etc? The answer is no one. No self, no me, no entity, no problem – isn’t that so? And this is exactly what the Buddha discovered in his moment of enlightenment under the Bod hi tree.

He directly saw or realized that all apparent forms and things were inherently empty of any any substantial self or entity as such, and that form is nothing but emptiness, and emptiness is nothing but form. Form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. The same is true with feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. This was a genuine insight into the truth of non duality, and that is that form and emptiness are not two different things but rather one non dual essence expressing and appearing as everything – a boundless emptiness suffused with awareness – an all-knowing awareness or empty cognizance.

This cognizing-emptiness is the true nature, the natural primordial stateless state of every apparent thing. The awakening or so called enlightenment of the Buddha(Buddha means fully awake, aware) was the direct seeing-knowing that every apparent thing animate or inanimate is nothing but Buddha-nature – all knowing awareness-consciousness – cognizing emptiness. So it is emptiness itself that is doing the cognizing and not any person or entity there who can do anything. THIS is the fundamental insight that when clearly seen and known can never be lost because it is simply known that there is no person or entity present there who could gain or loose anything as all is awareness-emptiness – THIS awake nothing or no thing – THIS very wakefulness, and there is nobody, not Buddha, Christ, Ramana Maharshi, or anyone else who has ever gone beyond nothing. So get a taste of this wakefulness, this aware no thing and you have gone as far as anyone has ever gone, so to speak. In this ever present wakefulness there is no one superior or inferior to you, there is only this boundless equanimity or suchness.

This awareness-consciousness is nothing to the time-bound mind and that is why it is being ignored by the apparent entity – “me”, Mr or Mrs So and So. Therefore in emptiness(awareness) there is neither form, nor feelings, nor perception, nor mental formations, nor consciousness; no eye, or ear, or nose, or tongue, or body, or mind; no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no object of mind; no realms of elements(from eyes to mind-consciousness); no interdependent origins and no extinction of them(from ignorance to old age and death); no suffering, no origination of suffering, no extinction of suffering, no path, no understanding, no attainment.

Because there is no attainment but only “what is”, there are no obstacles to overcome, no fear, no enlightenment, just THIS – realizing perfect Nirvana – nothing else, nothing other in non duality. All Buddhas in the past, present , and future(simply a way of talking or expressing as there is no such thing as time), thanks to this Perfect Understanding, arrive at full, right, and universal Enlightenment. Full, right, and universal Enlightenment is realizing, knowing, directly and clearly that there is no enlightenment(who or what separate entity is there that could be enlightened?), there is only THAT Supreme non dual animating life essence – not two, no other, now or ever – just THIS, nothing else! You are THAT.

End.

What is it that we need to know and acknowledge?  Isn’t it this ever present fact of our own being, right here and now presently?  Isn’t THIS impersonal presence of awareness, or awareness of presence, what I , First Person, present tense, singular, truly and ever am?  Before there can be any god, don’t I have to be there first, prior to any and every apparent thing?  Knowing THIS is the only genuine knowledge, and that is self-knowledge, self-realization.

Realizing, knowING, that I am prior to everything and the know er of it, is the timeless actuality of true wisdom.  This self evident fact of one’s very own being, right here and now – self-existing, self-shining like the sun, timeless Omnipresence, is being totally overlooked and ignored by the time-bound entity, the illusory body-mind appearance, that one usually and mistakenly, takes oneself to be.  Nisargadatta Maharaj directly pointed out to me, many so called years ago, that I was not what I had taken myself to be; and by that he meant that I was not my body or my mind of memory, made up of accumulated thoughts and concepts forming this dead image or imaginary reference point – “me” – Mr or Mrs So and So.

If I am not the body or the mind then what am I?  Find out!  Just briefly, for a moment, pause a thought.  Now in that momentary pausing or stopping of thought, what is there?  Have you ceased to exist when the thought is paused, there in that so called gap?  No, you are still present and aware.  In fact you are awareness itself – non conceptual awareness, which in Dzogchen, the most direct and clearest expression of Buddhism – Dzogchen translated means ‘the great perfection’, and the great perfection simply put, in one sentence is – non conceptual awareness.  Aren’t you THAT?  Are you unaware presently, here and now?

Can you negate your awareness or boundless being?  Can you say I am not, or at some future time I will not be?  If you can, what is letting you say this?  Isn’t it this changeless background of space-like, all knowing, awareness that is allowing you to say this?  Have a look along those lines for yourself and see if the truth of what is being said or pointed to does not dawn upon you.  One has to drop all preconceived ideas, memories, thoughts, and concepts of what others, including ones parents, and society in general has told you, and simply and directly look.

On present evidence, not what you remember or what you have been told, how many eyes are you looking out of?  Obviously the answer is not two eyes, but one edgeless single eye – the Buddha eye or the single Christ eye that allows your whole body-mind to be filled with light, there where the actual seeing is taking place – the light of knowing, seeing, being, feeling, hearing, beginninglessly and endlessly – THIS colorless, formless, light of all knowing awareness is what you truly and ever are.

This light in oneself, is the light that seemingly lights up every man and woman that comes into or appears in the world. THIS light of naked knowing, this seemingly ordinary everyday awareness is the great enlightenment that all are apparently seeking, not realizing that they are that awareness.  You can’t seek that Reality of non conceptual, impersonal, self-shining, self-existing awareness because of the ‘fact’ that you already and always are THAT Reality, or what we call Parabrahman, the non dual Absolute in Advaita Vedanta.

And this very fact that has just been stated and pointed out here, is what the Jnani or self-realized refer to as ignorance.  This Reality of your natural state or true being is being ignored by the seeker who continues to look outward into the appearance world of time-bound shapes and forms, not realizing that the shapes and forms, sentient beings, mountains, rivers, stars, and galaxies, are in point of fact, nothing but emptiness-awareness ‘appearing’ as other than itself.  There “is” no duality in non duality, there only appears or seems to be, and you, as that time-bound entity Mr or Mrs So and So are taking the appearance to be the Reality, and this can never happen.

You as that separate entity Mr or Mrs So and So are a total fiction, the child of a barren woman, so to speak.  Nothing of the kind has ever happened at all and you are nothing – no thing – not just a total vacuum, but a boundless, awake, aware, nothing or no thing – space-like awareness-emptiness.  Directly knowing-being THIS is self-realization, already realized.  A bit hard to swallow you may say, rather shocking isn’t it?  Hard to swallow for who, shocking for who?  Find out the answer to this koan and you are home and hosed, present and aware-knowing as you always and ever have been.

Stop right there!  Don’t go off into the mind looking for an answer there where it never can be found.  The mind is time and there is no time apart from thinking or thought.  Do you have a memory if you don’t think about it?  Obviously not, so the so called “me” is time, and time as such does not exist, there is no such thing as time, it is only imaginary.  Nothing can trouble you except in your own imagination – stop imagining (thinking) and what is there?  Nothing perceivable or conceivable – Nirvana, Tao, the natural state, or what we call THAT in the Maha Vakya or great Word or statement of Hinduism in Advaita – I am THAT, for want of a better word.  Realize, I am THAT I am, there never was any ‘other’, there “is” only THAT.  Do not continue on endlessly in the dream that you are a separate person with destiny and free will – nothing could be further from the truth.  It is this pride of doer ship that has kept you in the trap of this imaginary bondage.  Drop it right this instant and be free.  Bondage and liberation are both concepts and are only imaginary.  There is no liberation because there is no actual bondage, there is only THAT unborn, ever present, non conceptual awareness.

See and simply “be” THIS that you always and ever are, and give up seeking and becoming which implies time, knowing that there is no such thing as time, and that time as such, is an illusion and utterly imaginary.  This alone is self-knowledge and self-discovery, of which there is no ending or beginning.

End.

Mullah Nasrudin, standing on the bank of a river, watched as a dog came to drink.  The dog saw itself in the water and immediately began to bark.  It barked and barked all morning and into the afternoon, until it was foaming at the mouth.  Finally, dying of thirst, the dog fell into the river – whereupon it quenched its thirst, climbed out, and happily walked away.  Nasrudin said, “Thus I realized that all my life I had been barking at my own reflection.”

Whenever one thinks or takes thought so to speak, it is usually about about some other person, entity, or thing.  It is never on oneself that one thinks or contemplates, but rather on some other person or thing, and this is dualism – I and the so called other.  But who is this ‘I’ that I take myself to be?  You cannot think on this I that is yourself, because when you turn your attention around one hundred and eighty degrees and try to focus on yourself that you think is doing the thinking; this so called separate ‘I’ disappears and can not be found or located, and all that is there is a boundless, impersonal, awareness or presence.

Perhaps THIS is what you truly are, and not the apparent separate entity, Mr or Mrs So and So, that that you falsely imagine or think yourself to be.  Who is the thinker?  Find out for yourself, I am not going to tell you because it will not help you unless you see this for yourself.  Isn’t the thinking, just like the seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching, arising spontaneously  by itself without the input of any any separate person or entity  that is doing the thinking, including all the naturally occurring sense functions?  Have a good look at it, don’t just say – I don’t know, find out, otherwise forget about non duality all together and just continue with your unexamined, miserable life full of uncertainty, anxiety, and self created psychological suffering.

Who is this suffering happening to, who and what is this apparent separate I?  From whence and from what has this I arisen?  Has this apparent separate I got any substance or reality of its own apart from this naked, non conceptual aware no thing that is at its base or foundation?  Never mind about others, like my wife or my husband, my country, my politician, my priest, or my religion, whatever that may or may not be.  All that is secondary and of no importance unless I find out, know, re-cognize, or realize who and what I am first and foremost – First Person singular, One without a second.  When I know who I am, then I automatically know who the imaginary others are also.

The subject is non duality – THIS ever present, Omnipresent, ONE without a second.  If reality, god, or truth is non dual One without a second as I now know for certain to be the case; can you who are reading or contemplating this be separate, apart from, or outside of THAT Supreme Reality that is at the very core of of your own being here and now?  Are you aware, are you knowing, even without a thought or concept, right here and now?

If you are, then THAT must be what you are.  Just this, nothing else – THIS awake, aware no thing, this unqualified immediacy that so called things are appearing in and on, has never changed or altered in any way whatsoever.  Can you remember a time when you were not aware?  Even in deep sleep or under an anaesthetic, you are still aware, you still existed then even as you do now.  This awareness, this awake no thing has never grown old, it was the same and present when your physical body was two years old, ten years old, or one hundred years old, and it will still be present when the body-mind vehicle disappears and resolves itself  back into this emptiness-awareness or no thing that it always and ever “is’.

Awaken from the dream that you are mortal, fallible, and full of sin and realize once and for all that you yourself are the deathless spirit or essence, the non dual Absolute.  What did you hope to find, what did you hope to achieve in this Maya dream of manifestation?  Have you attained what you set out to attain, have all your desires been fulfilled?  Of course not, because you were looking in the wrong place, not realizing that what you are seeking you already are.  There is no “me” there who can have any desire; knowing this you are desire less, effortless, whole and complete – utter freedom itself without any boundaries or limits – limitless capacity, suchness, boundless being.  So simply “be” what you truly are ( an awake nothing or no thing ) and don’t pretend to be what you are not – a limited person, entity, or thing caught up in endless becoming, which is time.    – End.

 This that we are pointing to is no thing to the mind, yet it ever is.  This unqualified essence or Omnipresence is what you truly and ever are.  You as that indefinable immediacy never begin or end, yet all apparent things have their seeming beginning and ending in THIS changeless, boundless, aware or awake no thing.  There is no becoming in this being that you can never negate, yet simultaneously that you can never grasp with any passing thought or mental concept.

This that has just been stated is the very essence and crux of this so called teaching of non duality that we are seemingly trying to convey.  There is nothing more obvious or simpler than this very ‘fact’ of your own being – infinitely and eternally.  So start from the fact that you already are THAT.  If you start from anywhere else you will be starting from the mind which is time and utterly dualistic in its very functioning.

 It is quite obvious that you cannot get to the timeless – THIS ever present, non dual essence or Absolute, from time which is dualism or becoming.  Becoming is time and there is no becoming in being.  There is no duality in this non dual Absolute or no thing that you truly and ever are.  There is an appearance of duality no doubt, but the appearance as it appears is not the reality.  There is the appearance of a snake in the harmless rope seen in a dim lit area.  However in actuality there never was any snake in this rope of non conceptual all knowing awareness or consciousness; there only appeared to be.

This is all that needs to be known.  Once this is re-cognized and fully realized, everything becomes all inclusive again.  The body and world still appears and one still uses the words “I” and “me” knowing fully well that there is no separate I or me in this mirror-like aware no thing that is the source and origin from which all apparent things come and to which they seemingly return.  Then appearance and reality are paradoxically the very same know thing.  Form is emptiness and emptiness-awareness is form.

This is the fully rounded view so to speak, where nothing is accepted or rejected.  There is no dividing up of things into the relative and the absolute – spirit and matter – God and man etc.  These words that are being written or spoken are not dividing anything – this naked knowing awareness remains unaffected throughout eternity and you are THAT.  The world appearance was never created at all, it never existed at any time, and it is only an illusory appearance like the silver in the mother of pearl shell.  There is only ever this unborn awareness appearing and expressing as every apparent thing.  You cannot possibly be anything other than THAT now or ever.  This alone is self-realization already realized, the truth and actuality of non duality; nothing less than this.

Seeing this, what needs to be done and by whom?  Nothing needs to be done and there is no one who can do anything.  There is just this immediacy of choice less, effortless, awareness.  Aren’t you THAT right here and now?  Is there any need to seek it or acquire it?  The very search itself is the problem because the search implies a seeker who at some future time is going to acquire or get this so called great enlightenment.  You have then placed yourself in the trap of time, thinking that at some future time you are going to reach your goal of enlightenment.  You have then moved away from this immediacy into the mental concept of time.  Mind and thinking is time and this immediacy is timeless.  As soon as you move off into conceptual mental thinking and imagining you have then created an illusory separate entity “me”, who then thinks that he or she is thinking the thoughts, whereas in actuality thoughts are arising and passing away effortlessly without there being any entity or person as such thinking them.

This is what clearly needs to be seen, not by any entity but by clearly seeing and investigating and noticing that there is no separate entity there with any substance or independent nature of its own now or ever.  Stepping off the razors edge of this timeless, naked non conceptual awareness into the mental, imaginary concept of time and space is how the unnecessary psychological suffering is created and maintained.  Just realize that you can never get out of or leave the NOW of this timeless Omnipresent, naked, all knowing presence awareness, and then you will directly see that all problems are purely mental or imaginary, as the so called person or entity that they are happening to is the child of a barren woman who then builds a castle in the air and tries to live in it.

This child of a barren woman then goes to drink and bathe in the waters of a mirage.  A total impossibility and absurdity.  See this and be free.  Don’t pretend to be what you are not – a separate, limited, time bound person or entity, and don’t refuse to be what you are – this awake, aware, boundless, limitless no thing – the non dual Absolute or Supreme reality, One without a second.

End.

“The Absolute Cannot Be Remembered Because It Cannot Be Forgotten.”

Without remembering that, and without putting in any efforts, the experience of the world happens.

Now, for those who have identification with the body, this knowledge has no meaning  -  it cannot act.  Despite this fact, the visits these people make will not be totally in vain; they will bear fruit at some future time.  The effects of these visits will be like the aftermath of the rains: grass and plants will be seen coming out automatically, sprouting.”

These above words of Nisargadatta Maharaj are extremely profound and poignant, for I am one of those so called people he is referring to who visited him in the final years of his earthly existence.  What he said and the seeds of consciousness that he planted at the time have come to fruition and born fruit here, so to speak.  What he said, his powerful words penetrated into me, lay dormant and finally germinated and bore fruit many years later, and seemingly after the fact,

They worked in spite of me, not because of me.  The “me” that I am referring to is the identification with the body-mind that I had taken myself to be at that time.  This identification has now resolved itself and disappeared and left me with what I truly and ever am – THIS impersonal awake or aware nothing, the no thing that I always and ever am.  I never existed as that entity or body-mind appearance that I took myself to be – I only appeared to, and even the appearance(reflection) would not have been possible without this empty, colorless, formless space of all knowing awareness or infinite intelligence.

Just as the reflections are not apart from or independent of the spotless mirror and are in the final analysis nothing but the mirror, even so whatever seems to appear or disappear in the so called manifestation is nothing but THIS impersonal non dual essence or Absolute.  Without this impersonal empty space of knowing awareness, prior to, during, and after the appearance of consciousness, which is time-bound mind; nothing could be seen to appear or disappear ( apparent birth and death ) for that matter.
This is what needs to be seen or re-cognized and that is that Reality or simply “what is”, pure being, Non duality, does not change.  How could it if it is Reality or what we call THAT, in Advaita – even in the Biblical injunction “I am THAT I am.  You can call THAT Tao, Christ, Krishna, or Allah, any of these terms will serve equally as well.  Aren’t you THAT, right here and now, presently?  Can you say I am not existing?  If so, who would be saying that?  Isn’t it THAT or the Reality of Non Duality itself that enables the expression through the time-bound mind of the thought or concept I am?

Is there any duality in non duality?  You may say, there certainly appears to be, however the ‘fact’ is that there is no duality in THIS non dual Absolute that you truly and ever are; therefore there is no relationship in THIS that you truly and ever are.  Relationship is dualism, me and the so called other, and there is no other now or ever.  You , as that non dual essence alone exist, there ‘are’ no others.  Nothing ever happened, reality never changed and you are THAT whether you know it or not.  The most important thing is  the very ‘fact’ of your own being; start from the fact that you already are THAT, the very First Person Singular – I am, infinitely and eternally.

So, all this time, and I should not be even using that word(time), you have simply been duped by illusion, because in spite of all the apparent movements and changes, reality or “what is” has remained unchanged.  Now is the time to stop ignoring THIS and simply be what you truly are.  There is no becoming in this timeless being or Omnipresence.  Acknowledge it, re-cognize it and be – I am THAT by which I ‘know’ I am.

Has anything ever happened, has reality ever changed?  Turn your attention around one hundred and eighty degrees and directly look and see for yourself, what you are looking out of.  Isn’t it clear and empty there, color-less, form-less, aware emptiness or a fully awake nothing, that the seeing, hearing, and pure functioning is taking place from?  Isn’t it a fact that there where the actual seeing and knowing is taking place from on present evidence, that you are the very opposite of what society and others, including your family and friends have told you that you look like?

Everyone has to look and see this for themselves so to speak.  No one else can see this for you, each has to see it for him or her self.  Just talking about it conceptually is useless, although the words as pointers spoken from this direct knowingness can, if taken on board, cause a resonating or recognition in the hearer of the truth of what is being referred to.  This awareness that you truly and ever are has never changed or altered in any way, and it is closer to you than your own breathing, closer even than your own hands and feet.  THIS is the silence and stillness at the very core of your being, the truth and home of non duality.

Non conceptual, ever fresh, presence awareness is nothing perceivable or conceivable, yet it always and ever “is”.  This awake nothing that you truly are can never be made into a separate person, thing, or object and it is not something that you can attain or become, so we say, start from the fact that that you already are THAT non dual Absolute or changeless reality that you, as the apparent separate entity are seeking.  We are talking about and pointing to the actuality of non duality here, and if reality “is” non dual One without a second as countless sages have pointed out, then that means that duality is only conceptual or imagined, and has never for a moment existed in reality for the simple and obvious reason that there is no duality in non duality, even though it will always appear to be there, just as the mirror is always covered in reflections which in themselves have no separate existence or independent nature of their own, and are nothing but the mirror itself.

Just as the mirror itself is never truly seen because of the countless reflections appearing in and on it, this awake nothing, or boundless aware no thing is never seen and is being ignored, because this “me” of memory or the acquired mind which is time, does not want to be nothing, does not want to disappear and simply be the the timeless space less essence – THAT which never changes.  This made up entity the “me” or time bound mind does not have any power to do anything, although it has been believed all along that it does have power of its own.

So this is what we are seemingly asking you to do, and that is to question this belief that you are a separate entity who has destiny and free will, that you began at some time in the past, that you were born and that you will die at some future time.  What I am suggesting is that there is no time at all, and that beginning and ending are only mental concepts and that what you are is the timeless – you in essence are timeless and space less!  You never had any beginning and you will never have any ending, you were never born nor will you as THAT non dual Absolute, pure awareness or consciousness ever die.

Quite a bit to swallow at one go, isn’t it?  Go into it, question it, find out the truth for yourself.  See THIS for yourself and actually realize the unquestioned assumptions and limitations that you have placed upon yourself with the help of society, culture, and religious beliefs and conditioning’s.  Question all this and see the prison of all these concepts and beliefs vanish before your very eyes.  You are not what you have taken yourself to be – a limited, enclosed, sentient, human being, but the unlimited all knowing potential itself, what we call THAT in the great word or statement of Advaita Vedanta – I am THAT!

End.

Non-conceptual, ever fresh presence awareness is the reality of “what is”.  This reality that is presently being pointed to can never change or alter in any way shape or form otherwise it would not be real or fit the definition of reality; which is THAT which never changes.  This ever fresh, naked, all knowing, non-conceptual essence of pure awareness is the very fact and truth of Advaita or non duality.  This that is being pointed to is a boundless emptiness suffused with all knowing awareness or intelligence.

Everything that seemingly appears and disappears can be nothing but that self shining emptiness.  Form is none other than emptiness and emptiness is none other than form.  This statement attributed to the Buddha is nothing but a confirmation of the reality of non duality.  Everything, literally everything is THAT self same one essence expressing and appearing as other in the seeming pairs of opposites.  There is no other way that anything can appear and that is dualistic ally, I and other than I, day and night, man and woman etc.

The manifestation of consciousness takes place dualistic ally in the pairs of opposites and without this contrast there could be no phenomenal appearance at all.  If there wasn’t day there couldn’t be night, wasn’t sound there couldn’t be silence etc.  Even though consciousness manifests in the pairs of opposites, it never changes its true nature as the pure non-dual essence, as pure consciousness or awareness, non dual One without a second as it is stated in Advaita.  This of course is paradoxical to the mind which is of the nature of time and is composed of memories, concepts and images from a past that is already dead and gone.

The mind as we are referring to it here is a useful instrument for daily functioning, yet it has no substance or independent nature of its own and is only a reflection or shadow of the ever present consciousness that animates all things.  This pure consciousness or awareness is the Supreme Reality, God, or Truth if you want to give it that label, however no name or label can ever explain or define THIS that you truly and ever are.  Consciousness is not a thing or object, it is actually an aware no thing, a vast boundless emptiness suffused with intelligence or knowing.

This unlimited potential which is the reality of “what is”, can never be grasped by any limited thought, word or concept and that is why we say that you will never be able to find the answer to this mystery of your true identity in the mind of memory, the acquired mind of the imagined entity “me”.  Consciousness contains the mind, the mind does not contain it and there is no one who is not conscious or aware.  Therefore I say, hold on to this consciousness I am. love this consciousness, be warm towards it, worship this consciousness and there is nothing that you will not be able to know.

The mystery will be revealed to you and there will be no door that will remain closed to you.  This knowledge I am is utter freedom and effortless living, but you have to acknowledge it, love it, worship it and be one with it instead of ignoring it, as you as that separate entity have all along up till now, been doing.  Ignorance is not bliss, it is darkness, stupidity and the pride of doer ship.  To think that you are separate, apart, small and limited is not true humility as it pretends to be, but actually pride and arrogance.  True humility is to see and acknowledge your own unlimited potential and immortality as pure conscious awareness.

Non-dual devotion is devotion to your own Self.  Who do you love most of all?  You love your own Self and there is no greater love that THAT.  It is not for the sake of the wife that the wife is dear.  It is not for the sake of the husband that the husband is dear.  It is not for the sake of the child that the child is dear.  It is not for the sake of the friend that the friend is dear.  It is for the sake of of your own non-dual Self that all these things are dear.  This statement from the Upanishads, a pure expression of Advaita Vedanta in Hinduism is a direct acknowledgement of your true nature or natural primordial state, so simply be as you are in this ever present natural stateless state – I am THAT.
- End.

How did I come to be, and what does this being-ness depend on? This is what needs to be known or realized. Non being to being, and then again non being, on what does it depend? Don’t you, as that naked, non conceptual aware presence have to be there first or prior to all these seeming happenings? First person singular, I am. Examine THAT, investigate THAT non dual essence, pure, naked all knowing presence awareness. This knowledge “I am”, is the only true knowledge, all other knowledge is only a form of ignorance, a dualistic expression appearing in the changeless, formless, boundless all knowing awareness that you always and already are.

Are you aware right now? How do you know that you are aware? You just simply know by noticing that you are not asleep or unaware. It is as simple as that, but do we pause there and stay with the subtlety, with the actuality of this that is being pointed to, or do we immediately rush off into the habit energy of the me of memory or the so called mind which is time, the dead past, and try to seek the answer there? This is what we usually do, go off into mind stuff and endless mental conceptualization, trying in vain to find what we have never lost, this deathless, timeless, essence of naked knowing awareness.

You can try endlessly to seek the answer in the mind, continually analyzing and dividing things up because this is the very nature of the mind, and that is to analyze, reason, and divide, it is dualistic in all its functioning. There is no other way that the mind can think, except in the pairs of opposites. The mind is not our enemy as it is useful for daily functioning, but it can never grasp or know its origin, which is non dual non conceptual awareness. This emptiness or aware no thing that you truly are can never be known mentally or conceptually. This is the crux of what needs to be seen and realized.

All other problems will resolve themselves spontaneously once this is truly seen and acknowledged. Know your Self before you know others. Directly know your Self and there ‘are’ no others. There is no duality in non duality or pure Advaita, which simply put means “not-two”. See that all your so called problems are because of this separate entity “me” that you have erroneously taken to be yourself. What you truly are can not be separate or apart from the life essence that is effortlessly functioning and animating the world appearance.

See that this entity me is a made up thing, a phantom, the child of a barren woman without any substance or independent nature of its own apart from this deathless essence of pure knowing awareness that you don’t have to attain or acquire, as it is always and ever present with you and ‘is’ you. This awareness that you ever are is nothing perceivable or conceivable, a void of boundless, limitless intelligence, an endless activity of knowing. Even though this that is being pointed to is a vast emptiness, it is not a total vacuum or void because it is the very livingness or reality of everlasting life that is referred to in the scriptures of the major religions.

No matter how hard you try, you cannot notice this that is being referred to because it is not a thing or object and is the ever present subject of any and every object. The First Person Singular, I am THAT I am. Full stop there! Remain as that pure all encompassing being – I am, without words or concepts. Give up becoming and simply be as you are in the natural state. You exist infinitely and eternally as this already pure non conceptual awareness which in Dzogchen, the highest expression of Buddhism is called The Great Perfection. – End.

Notes from Kings Cross Sunday 3rd May 09 By Mark West.
To come to the conclusion that I am apart from every manifest thing and without any qualities or qualifications is the realization of the ultimate principal, the natural or primordial state. This natural state that is being pointed to is endless capacity or boundless emptiness suffused with awareness, the Base or foundation of everything – an aware no thing. To impose boundaries on this ever present aware no thing is nothing but ignorance.
This boundless, empty, space-like awareness ( Rigpa in Dzogchen, the highest expression of Buddhism ), is what you truly and really, really are; and because this is self existing and self originating, it is timelessly present without any beginning or ending, and this alone is Advaita ( not two ), non duality or reality and I am THAT, and not what I appear to be as this miserable, limited, sentient human being.
Quite a shock to hear this expounded and proclaimed so simply and directly, particularly for any dream character who hears what is being said and mistakenly thinks that he or she has destiny and free will. If this illusion ( destiny and free will ) is persisted in, then you are just a dreamer trying to change the dream. And every dream is but a dream of fear no matter what the form it may appear to take. Dreams have a beginning ( birth ) and ending ( death ), but what you truly are has no beginning or ending.

Can you find where space begins and ends? This naked, non conceptual, all knowing space-like awareness that you always and already are also has no beginning and ending and is totally ineffable and inalienable. Aren’t you already aware right here and now? Of course you are, wake up! There is nothing else to be done but to acknowledge that yes, I am aware, I am awake and then remain ‘as you are’ unaltered, unmodified, uncorrected, in your natural state and simply abide as THAT.
Do not move away from this pure Omnipresent aware naked knowing into conceptual thought, trying in vain to find the answer to this open secret or seeming mystery in the acquired mind of memory. Mind as we generally know it is time, memory and anticipation, and you will never find the timeless, the non dual Absolute in time, no matter how long or hard you look there. So I say full stop! No what about this and what about my personal problems blah, blah, blah, just drop all that even if it is only for a split second and where does that leave you? You have not disappeared or fallen apart, you are still seeing, breathing, and functioning quite effortlessly without the input of any conceptual thought, person, or entity, are you not?
You are left here and now present and aware as you have always been. So if you find yourself being carried away by conceptual thinking, just pause for an instant and come home to the place you have never really left – the here and now of the immediacy of THIS presence awareness. What could be more simpler? There is nothing simpler than non duality. Reality is non dual, non conceptual, ever fresh, presence awareness, just THIS, nothing else!

This is a direct introduction to your primordial, natural state – “what is” always and ever, or what is referred to in Dzogchen as the Base or foundation of every apparent thing – vast emptiness, nothing sacred. There are no gods in THIS that you truly are. God and gods are in time and you as this essence are timeless – don’t pretend to be what you are not, and don’t refuse to be what you are – THAT, the supreme reality.
End.