Written on October 22, 2008 by Tom Stine / 10 Comments »
All of our thoughts are conditioned. We all are thinking exactly along the lines we are conditioned to think. Programmed like a computer. Anybody who thinks they are actually choosing of their own free will the line of thinking that they have is completely deluded by their thinking.
Written on July 25, 2008 by Tom Stine / 17 Comments »
I had the pleasure of interviewing a wonderful spiritual teacher, Larry Melton, who lives and teaches in Davis, California. Larry was a student of Adyashanti’s for a few years, and then after he experienced a profound spiritual awakening, he was asked by Adya to teach.
Our conversation is focused primarily on Larry’s experience of spiritual awakening, how that developed over the years he spent in spirituality, and what all of that has meant for his life. We also discussed awakening quite a bit, and it was fascinating to hear Larry’s perspectives and insights. I think you will agree. So click play below to listen now, or download the mp3 and take it with you on your iPod.
I know from my prior experience with videos that some of you may prefer to read rather than watch or listen. To accommodate everyone, I’ve had a transcript made of this interview. You can obtain the transcript by subscribing for free to my newsletter, Living from Consciousness. Enter your email address in the sign-up box to the right, and you will receive an email with instructions for downloading the transcript. Current subscribers will be receiving an email, too, with instructions for downloading.
I like to provide my subscribers with unique content not found here on the website, and this transcript is simply my way of saying thanks to my subscribers. Remember, the newsletter is free, and I respect your inbox and your privacy (but you knew that, right?).
Written on July 18, 2008 by Tom Stine / 33 Comments »
In my last article, I shared some ideas about the proverbial “enlightened guy.” As I mentioned, I prefer the term awakening as it has a little less historical baggage associated with it, but no matter, I think we all know at least something about the subject, no matter what we call it. As spiritual awakening is one of the primary topics of this site, I thought it would be good to have some more discussion about it. And interestingly, Adyashanti provided just what I needed.
Here is an excerpt from a satsang Adyashanti did at the April 2008 silent retreat of his that I attended. I’ll let him do the talking, then I will offer a few comments:
There’s awakening and then there’s awakening, isn’t there? There’s a moment that we can call an awakening moment… An awakening moment isn’t any old spiritual experience. As a matter of fact, it’s almost none of the spiritual experiences that we’re told that it is. But there can be a moment of awakening.
So there’s a moment of awakening, and then there’s actually being awake. And very often the moment of awakening, actually, it’s significant in the sense that something has fundamentally shifted, that you can’t go back on, even though you might re-delude yourself and lose sight of it and start a whole long process of struggling and then trying to maintain it. And all that stuff.
But ultimately something at the seat of consciousness has fundamentally shifted. Then there is the other awakening. It’s the other awakening that sort of is the process of awakening, which is that thing where it starts to dissolve the spiritual ego, dissolve the “me,” dissolve all those things that you immediately apprehend in the moment of awakening but doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to be living it a year later.
Then there is this dissolving away of all that which divides. And that for most people takes quite a bit of time. That’s the honest truth. Very few people are going to have, “Ah ha! Alleluia!” The lights turned on. And the lights are just going to stay turned on. Every now and then it happens, but usually it’s like, “Okay, now the other thing’s going to happen, and it’s going to be called the dissolving of you.”
Even though you’ve seen in that moment that there is no you, nonetheless the dissolving of you has now begun in earnest and you can expect it to continue in ways and to a depth that you never imagined. And that’s basically what it’s about.
And once that process has started, it doesn’t really need your help. It just can use you not hindering it. The “me” can’t help it along, but the “me” sure can kind of slow the whole thing down.
So, if we follow Adyashanti’s discussion, there is a moment of awakening, when what you are sees, truly sees itself for what it is. The illusion of a separate self disappears for a time, and you know yourself as One. Sometimes, this can be referred to as a “parting of the veil” of illusion.
But then, for most people, the process of awakening begins. Whatever parts of the “me” that are still hanging around, getting in the way of seeing Oneness in all places and in all moments, these parts will, seemingly over time, be dissolved. And, contrary to popular belief, this dissolving can be a process that takes years. Adyashanti has commented in other places that he has seen in take typically 3-15 years for most people.
Should we be surprised by the fact that there is awakening and then a process of awakening? Not really. For most people, that’s just the way it is. In the Zen tradition, the Sandokai says, “To encounter the Absolute is not yet Enlightenment.” Same basic idea. The veil parts, but then more is seen through over time. To be certain, this process has been my experience.
And yet. And yet, is that even true? While it may appear that a process is occurring, it also seems, to those who reach the endpoint of this process, as if the process never occurred. That which is awake is awake, now, forever, always. How can it ever be asleep, for it is the fount from which springs everything of form? I’m sorry to say it, because it can sound to the mind like I’m hedging, but awakening is filled with paradoxes. No way around it.
Of course, I will have more to say on the subject of spiritual awakening in future articles. I look forward to your comments! Namaste.
Written on June 22, 2008 by Tom Stine / 5 Comments »
Greetings from Sedona, Arizona. It is beautiful, it is hot, the hiking is superb and the food excellent. Yes, I am here to attend a 9 day Sedona Method retreat, but being in Sedona is part of the experience. I came early this time, so I had a day and a half to enjoy this marvelous town. I’ve been to Sedona 14 times in 12 years, both for retreats and pleasure. One of my favorite places in the world.
Last night the retreat began. The supposedly “advanced” 9 day retreat is a mixture of Advaita-style non-duality teachings (think Nisargadatta Maharaj and Adyashanti) with a touch of personal development and a pinch of basic Sedona Method. It is very different, though, from what other teachers do for a non-dual type retreat in that our “guru” for the 9 days, Hale Dwoskin, actively yet gentle engages people directly to see past their limited sense of self or “me-ness” as he would say.
It was very obvious that for a lot of people in the audience (160 attendees, by the way), these ideas, while not complete new, were a bit difficult to understand. Hale’s intro left a lot of people scratching their heads. Even those of us who knew all about it were forced to wonder. As my friend Kerry put it, “Even though I did this same retreat 15 months ago, I am still wondering what we are going to be doing here for 9 days.”
This bit of confusion was not due to a lack of communication on Hale’s part or understanding on ours. It simply stemed from the fact that these teachings are perplexing to the mind. They are teachings for that which we truly are which is beyond the mind, beyond thought, beyond the ability to conceptualize with words.
Think about it (if you dare): what you are is not your mind, not your body, not any concept, not any idea. Even the words I’m about to use to describe it aren’t it and don’t even come close. Words like awareness, consciousness, spirit, Life, these are merely pointers to the Truth. But not the truth.
The implications of these ideas are astounding:
I know some of the above may sound crazy to some of you, but further investigation reveals that these are more accurate representations of the way things are than most of what we believe. I invite you to investigate them for yourself.
These retreats are quite different from what you find in the Sedona Method audio course and book, as well as the normal 7 day retreat. But they are equally helpful in letting go of problems. Actually, more so, simply because they help you to see beyond all problems. They offer the possibility of a true ending to the issues that have plagued you for a lifetime.
As I mentioned, I will try to post daily during the retreat. I hope to be speaking with you tomorrow. Namaste.
Written on April 30, 2008 by Tom Stine / 3 Comments »
Get 20 “enlightened beings,” 20 of the greatest avatars that ever walked the earth and put them together. The most enlightened avatars from the whole of humanity, get 20 of them in the same room, and start asking them about the thoughts in their heads. And they’re not going to agree. Because that’s not where the Oneness is. That’s not what’s unifying. It’s only if you get down to the fundamental nature of being. Then there could be agreement.
Written on April 28, 2008 by Tom Stine / 34 Comments »
I finished my second 5 day retreat with Adyashanti last Friday, and I’d like to share with you my experience once again. I will follow the same basic format as the last report, so have fun doing a comparison between the two.
As I mentioned in my last retreat report, the purpose of the retreat was to deepen one’s experience of Truth, to experience a true opening or moment of pure awareness, and to possibly experience an abiding awakening. Adyashanti is a big proponent of “awakening in this lifetime, if not now.”
A middle class guy, he used to work as a machinist before he started the spiritual teacher gig. Serious student of Zen for 15 years. A talented speaker and teacher. A guy who likes playing poker. All these are descriptions of Adyashanti. And while I could list 20 more, none of them would even come close to explaining to you what he is like.
I was born a skeptic. I used to be quite judgmental, especially of what I would have called 20 years ago “that religious crap.” My mom taught me from a young age how to find fault in anything (God bless you, Mom!). While it is true that I have changed over the years, quite radically to be sure, I would like to think I’m probably somewhat immune to the whole guru-disciple relationship, or at least extremely uninterested in it. I’m still a touch skeptical.
And guess what? Adya has setup his teaching and organization to make something like that almost impossible. No ashram, no worshipping the guru, none of that. A very welcome change in the spiritual world. A model for others to emulate in my opinion.
This retreat was Adya’s first since returning to teaching after a 3 month absence due to illness. He was in rare form. He was funny, energized, extremely approachable during satsang, vibrant, alive. He was all of these things last December, to be sure, but this retreat everything was double. His time away served him well. He had 350 people laughing, deeply moved, and experiencing Presence.
The silence at this retreat was SILENCE. It was huge, palpable, intense at times. Alive and vibrant. I entered the retreat in a very different place than the last one, so this time I had a much deeper and richer experience of the true nature of Silence.
Indeed, it was a silent retreat in the conventional sense, which meant no communication of any sort from Sunday evening until Friday at 11:00 am. I love the silence. Very, very good for one’s soul (well, that is if one actually had a soul).
How could the people be any more wonderful? There were older women with long gray hair and “earthy” clothing. Young guys with shaved heads. Beautiful women to give the mind something to fixate upon. Ugly old guys with big bellies eating 2 or 3 desserts at dinner. There was no one type or even close.
And then there was the star of the last evening’s satsang, the 12 Step Lady. She wasn’t trying to be funny, but her story, her demeanor, her comments, you name it, had everyone laughing uproariously. She could do stand-up. I can’t wait to get the recording of the retreat just to hear her again.
Finally, as there were a number of us from out of state, we got the experience of sharing a 10 passenger van for a 2 hour trip from San Jose International Airport to Monterey. What a great group who rode down and back together. We met for dinner after the retreat at a lovely Indian restaurant in San Jose. We came from Milwaukee, West Palm Beach, Charlottesville, VA, Barrington, RI, Chicago and of course Ozark, MO (yours truly). Blessings to all of you.
Same as before. Meditate for 40 minutes at 7:30 a.m., breakfast, satsang with Adya from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., lunch, 3 meditations of 40 minutes each with 30 minute breaks in the afternoon, rest period, dinner, satsang with Adya from 7-8:45 p.m., final meditation, lights out at 10:00 p.m. We had 5 meditations for a total of over 3 hours of sitting each day. I often skipped 2 of the afternoon meditations because my back was killing me sitting in the meditation hall. I would go sit in one of the many funky old buildings, in a comfy chair in front of the fireplace and meditate or take a walk on the beach. Those times were amazing, lots of great moments sitting in silence watching the processes of my mind.
I got up, meditated, ate, walked on the beach, sat, listened to Adya, slept at night. I did nothing else. No computer, no phone, no conversation. Just hours and hours of meditating and contemplating and sitting.
This retreat was a bit unique because I shared a room with a good friend of mine. And we spent 5 days actively ignoring each other! I tried my best to not look at him because the temptation to slap him on the back or crack a joke was high at times. He reported after the retreat that he had to consciously ignore me, too. It was great to talk with him afterwards, though, and compare experiences. He loved the retreat, too.
Asilomar, you get better each time! The former YWCA camp turned conference center is right on the beach, and this time I couldn’t spend enough time walking down to Pebble Beach and listening to the sound of the surf. Between the beach, the incredible staff who skillfully accommodated 350 silent people, the good food and the funky old buildings, well, it is a perfect location for a retreat.
I will confess that I went to the retreat with a bit of a theme. I’ve learned over time that expectations can often be less than helpful, but fortunately for me, they did not get in the way. In a certain sense, I really didn’t have an expectation. More of a push in a certain direction. No matter; my bit of theme for the retreat was to deepen my experience of oneness. And, interestingly, I did.
From the moment I got on the shuttle from the airport I started experiencing reinforcement of a framework that I’ve found useful for looking at awakening. I first learned of this framework from Adyashanti, in fact, but I’ve run across it in other places. It is best seen in the following statement from Nisargadatta Maharaj:
When I look within and see that I am nothing,
that is wisdom.
When I look without and see that I am everything,
that is love.
And between these two, my life turns.
I will write an article at some point concerning my experiences with awakening, but suffice it to say that in this framework, I’ve looked within and seen that I am nothing. And so I wanted to go beyond what had been my limited tastes of oneness, of everything-ness. Well, I really shouldn’t say “I wanted to go beyond” but, well, you get the idea. There was something pulling me in that direction.
So, when I got on the shuttle, a woman I met had returned recently from India where she had spent 3 weeks at Oneness University. A long discussion ensued, naturally. When I mentioned a bit about my interest in oneness, she recommended a book to me by Arjuna Ardagh entitled Awakening to Oneness (you know I will buy it and read it, right?). And on and on it goes, oneness, oneness, oneness just flowing out of people’s mouths, Adya’s guided meditations, you name it.
I dialogued with Adya on the first full day about some recent experiences I have had, and also on this theme of oneness, and he told me what I knew to be the case already: just let it happen. Story of my life (and yours, too, if you must know the truth). Just let it happen. It is inevitable. It is the way of all things. And so, something within me relaxed, and I started having the most sublime experiences of unity with people, things, feelings, locations, you name it. I simply let go, relaxed, and went with the fact that there is no difference between me and anything else other than what my thoughts say. And they are not true. Ever.
I’ve had various discussions about thoughts with others on the path, and my experience at this retreat reinforced a viewpoint (or more appropriately, a knowingness) I have been taking more and more. And that is that all thoughts are untrue. Even the ones that have a semblance of truth, such as 2+2=4, are still not true. Oh, sure, 2+2=4 is useful, but even a “law” of nature could change tomorrow.
Everything in the world of form changes, or at the very least can change. If you ask me, “Will 2 plus 2 equal 4 tomorrow?” in all honesty I have to answer “I don’t know.” How can I know? The future is always The Unknown. As I begin to see things more clearly, it appears to me that there is only one Truth not many, and this one Truth is beyond all words (although it is a lot of fun to attempt to discuss it with words). All else is supposition, believe, mind stuff. And thoroughly untrue. Even this viewpoint (see, lots of fun!).
Of course, I could go on and on with my experiences, but I will leave you with one curious thing that happened that has been a joyous relief to me. I live in a part of the US that is not the hippest place to be. We are a middle class, Midwestern place with strong Christian values. Folks like me are not that common. We also lack a strong professional class, and since Missouri State University is here, we have tons of middle class college kids running around. I hope I’m painting a fair and accurate picture. You probably can envision the place, right?
Given all the above, and given that I work at home, it is not that easy to meet “like minded people” where I live. In California, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel, but here, it is more like trying to catch a fish in a toxic lake. That has frustrated me over the years. I have lots of friends whom I love dearly, but I have longed to meet “my people.”
Well, guess what? Everyone is my people. And I learned this fact from a very simple action: bowing. Adyashanti spent 15 years studying Zen before he experienced his final awakening, so he flavors his retreats with a bit of Zen. And one of those flavorings is bowing. At the beginning of each meditation, we are encouraged to bow to our chairs, partly as a way to break the attachment to the “guru” up front by humbling oneself before an inanimate object that is just as “holy” as the holy man up front. Also, bowing to our chair is paying respect to our seat, the place where we will be supported (literally) in our meditations. In addition, we bowed twice at the end of every meditation.
I really got into the bowing on this retreat, and the thought came to me to bow to people whenever I was experiencing any sort of dissonance in their presence. It is amazing the feelings and thoughts that get generated even when people say absolutely nothing to you. Their gestures, their clothes, their jewelry, their hair(!) you name it, all can provoke reactions. But when I bowed, all reaction evaporated. I simply fell silent from the humble action of bowing in humility to what outwardly appears to be another person, but who in truth is the same as what I am.
Inwardly I started to experience a sense of “and them, too” as I bowed. They rarely if ever noticed my little bow, but I did. The sense of oneness grew deeper and deeper from doing so. And now that I’m at home, I’m still bowing. Bowing to the cashier at the grocery store, the farmer driving his truck way too slowly, my son, my ex, everyone I meet. What a blessing! People are so amazingly beautiful when you bow to them.
So you can see that this retreat was Tom’s Oneness Retreat. How nice, wouldn’t you say? That was the essence of everything that occurred for and to me. And I keep on bowing.
I asked this question at the end of the the last retreat report because several people at that retreat had said that they “came to the retreat hoping to awaken.” I gave a nice little answer to the question in the previous report, which was a good one for me at that time. But now, I have a different one:
What a silly question!
A better answer than that will be forthcoming. I need a few more days to sit and reflect and, well, be silent some more. But now I am seeing the question as completely irrelevant and, in point of fact, misguided. That would explain why those who go to retreats such as these hoping to awaken are most often disappointed.
But fortunately for me, I was not disappointed. I’m glad I went. Exceptionally glad. Your thoughts and comments are most welcome.
Written on February 29, 2008 by Tom Stine / 43 Comments »
I attended a 5 day retreat with Adyashanti back in December, 2007, and I prepared the following report immediately afterwards. Reports like these about spiritual teachers and retreats are few and far between on the web, but since I find them to be quite helpful to me personally, I thought I would share my experience with a wider audience.
The purpose of the retreat was to deepen one’s experience of Truth, to experience a true opening or moment of pure awareness, and to possibly experience a true awakening. Adyashanti is a big proponent of “awakening in this lifetime, if not now.”
I’ve been quite excited about Adya and his teachings since last April. He has had a huge impact upon me. After this retreat, I can say that beyond question I have found someone that I would call my teacher if I actually wanted a spiritual teacher. He is completely my cup of tea. He is a regular guy, very down to earth, somewhat flippant, a bit radical, honest, incredibly personable. He speaks my language. He talks like a middle class guy who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s (he is 45). In fact, he is a middle class guy! His spiritual beginnings were in Zen, so there is a bit of a Zen flair to him: funky Buddhist shirts, stubble haircut, sits cross-legged in bare feet. But he speaks normally, more like he’s jawing with a couple of buddies on a Saturday afternoon, although he does quote a lot of Zen masters.
For my money, yes, he is. There is nothing I can tell that is fake or phony about him. He feels very, very clean to me. Even cleaner than Hale Dwoskin (Sedona Method, for those not familiar) and Eckhart Tolle, both of whom are very genuine and real. I got the same message from others at the retreat (of course, we were all fairly biased). Nothing sticky about him that I can tell. I had come out to see him 3 weeks prior, and after arriving in California, the weekend intensive I was attending was cancelled (he was ill). That forced me to do a lot of letting go around my expectations of seeing him, etc., which was very good. So when the retreat started, I felt very open and available to whatever happened. Very few expectations.
We had an orientation the first night by the retreat leader, a few minutes of silent sitting, then Adya walked into the room. When he entered and started walking to the front, I felt like someone had turned on a 10,000 watt light bulb inside my head. I felt a tremendous surge of energy, of awareness, of LIGHT. It was incredible. I was buzzing for a few hours after that…. no, really a few days. The guy is transmitting some serious spiritual mojo. Something shifted in me for certain. I could really sense his presence the whole time. My personal intuition is that awake and enlightened are words that could be attached to him. Tricky words to use, yes, but I think he would deserve them.
This was a silent retreat. From the opening of meditation on Sunday to 11:00 am on Friday, no one spoke except to dialogue with Adya. We ate in silence, we experienced sharing a room in silence. Contrary to what most of my friends had predicted, I had a very easy time with it. I had to break silence a few times because of issues that arose, but I never just blew it. It was always a conscious choice at unavoidable times. Truly, keeping silence was amazing. I loved it. The opportunity to hear the chatter in my head, to get familiar with it, to experience it, and to see how thoroughly it wasn’t me, was perfect, an excellent practice in and of itself. Another benefit of silence was it eliminated any concerns of socializing. I would enter the dining hall, take the next available seat at the 10 person tables, and begin the dining process. I didn’t care who I sat by, who was at my table, anything. No pressures. Fantastic. Silence was a blessing, something to be cherished. It was a vital part of the experience.
I loved the people at the retreat. I got to speak with my roommate for a few hours before the retreat began. There were odd and funny parallels between us. I spoke with people on the shuttle to and from the airport, and at lunch on the last day. Great people. When they dialogued with Adya, they were so genuine and real. Very much like a Sedona Method retreat, and yet different. What a gift to be with 350 people who all are seeking to awaken. Yes, 350 people. We filled a very large hall for satsangs and meditation. I recognized at least 5 people from Sedona Method retreats, which was good.
Meditate for 40 minutes at 7:30 a.m., breakfast, satsang with Adya from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., lunch, 3 meditations of 40 minutes each with 30 minute breaks in the afternoon, rest period, dinner, satsang with Adya from 7-8:45 p.m., final meditation, lights out at 10:00 p.m. We had 5 meditations for a total of over 3 hours of sitting each day. My spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. I often bagged 2 of the afternoon meditations because my back was killing me sitting in the meditation hall (yes, we even had chairs to sit on). I would go sit in one of the many funky old buildings, in a comfy chair, and meditate, or watch the trees sway in the wind, or take a walk. Those times were amazing, lots of great moments sitting in silence watching the processes of my mind.
I got up, meditated, ate, walked, sat, lied down in the late afternoon, listened to Adya, slept at night. We did nothing else. No computer, no phone, no conversation. Just hours and hours of meditating and contemplating and sitting. The primary meditation instruction was to be still, to allow everything to simply be: every thought, feeling, experience, perception, everything. Just be. My mind would chatter like a squirrel at times. But I would sit. Rarely did I get bored.
photo credit: juicylucymamma
Asilomar, a wonderful retreat and conference center near Monterey, California, with frontage on the ocean. Beautiful grounds, walkways among the sand dunes, wonderful old buildings to sit in and watch a fire in the many fireplaces. Huge dining hall, excellent, basic food (meat and veggie options), I really enjoyed the dining. We couldn’t talk, so we basically just sat and ate what we were fed. It was nice. I had a plate of food, I ate it, sat and drank tea, and allowed it to be enough. I never was hungry. I probably lost a few pounds of fat. I felt great.
Incredible. My understanding of my spirituality got deeper. I had some amazing experiences like the light on the first night. A few times I felt myself go to the very edge of my mind, really sitting and staring at the nothingness, feeling around the edges of my experience. Adya triggered some great insights into myself, understandings about what I’m about. I can’t wait to go back.
In the conventional sense of the word, no, I didn’t. There was no bang!, you are now awake experience. While I have had experiences in the past that were more of a bang nature, the impact of this retreat has been much more lasting. One thing that Adya discusses a lot is that he has met far more people that slowly get their awakening than people who go bang!. He describes it as they get to a place where they just go, “well I’ll be damned!” From this retreat, I can say I’m at “well I’ll be d….” I’m on the edges of it. I can just feel it. Sense it. It is there, right there.
And here is the kicker: there is nothing I can really do to get “there”. Because the question isn’t really “did you awaken?”, the question is really “did that in you which is awake realize itself?” Who awakens, you see, is the most important question. Tom doesn’t. What Tom truly is does. But then again, it doesn’t either. It is already awake. I know, it is a seemingly big paradox. What we are, consciousness, awareness, presence, is already there. It is constantly moving toward a fuller understanding of itself, and that is what awakening really is: a fuller realization of itself through you and me. The little self, the ego, the mind, whatever you want to call it, isn’t real in the first place, so how can it wake up? And that only leaves the absolute reality, consciousness, but it is already awake. Paradox!! So, what I am is already awake. So is what you are. And awakening is just recognizing that it is so. Nisagardatta Maharaj said that his guru told him that he was the Supreme Reality, and he then just sat with that until he realized it completely to be True. That’s it.
Okay, so in a conventional sense, Tom didn’t awaken, but he is waking up. But so are you. We go together, you and I.
Written on February 3, 2008 by Tom Stine / Leave a comment;
Adyashanti is a wonderful spiritual teacher from near San Jose, California. He is “an awakening guy” as he likes to say, and his teacher is focused exclusively on spiritual awakening. For my money, he is the real deal.
All of our thoughts are conditioned. We all are thinking exactly along the lines we are conditioned to think. Programmed like a computer. Anybody who thinks they are actually choosing of their own free will the line of thinking that they have is completely deluded by their thinking.
Behind most spiritual practices is the belief that you have to get someplace you’re not- a destination called realization or enlightenment. But realization isn’t someplace else; it’s the naturally occurring human state. It doesn’t belong to anybody. It’s who we all are. Spiritual practices also set up many pictures of what this state looks like. For example, when I described how much fear was present, people told me the fear meant that something must be wrong, because fear was an indication that I wasn’t in the proper state. But fear is just what it is, and it’s there too in the vastness of who we are.
In spiritual life there is no room for compromise. Awakening is not negotiable; we cannot bargain to hold on to things that please us while relinquishing things that do not matter to us. A lukewarm yearning for awakening is not enough to sustain us through the difficulties involved in letting go. It is important to understand that anything that can be lost was never truly ours, anything that we deeply cling to only imprisons us.
Those who awaken never rest in one place.
Like swans, they rise and leave the lake.
On the air they rise and fly an invisible course.
Their food is knowledge.
They live on emptiness.
They have seen how to break free.
Who can follow them?
We always want someone else to change so that we will feel good. But has it ever struck you that even if your wife changes or your husband changes, what does that do to you? You’re just as vulnerable as before; you’re just as idiotic as before; you’re just as asleep as before. You are the one who needs to change, who needs to take medicine. You keep insisting, “I feel good because the world is right.” Wrong! The world is right because I feel good. That’s what all the mystics are saying.
