Written on June 3, 2008 by Tom Stine
It has taken me a few days longer than I expected to finish a video post as my response to the question “What am I?” I hope it was worth the wait. Unlike prior videos I’ve done, this one is short, to the point, and of much better quality. I’m having fun with some new lighting and video editing software. I hope you enjoy the video. As always, be sure to leave your responses in the 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.
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.
on June 4th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Thanks for the video, Tom! I’ve been thinking about these issues recently, and I thought I’d share something with you. I just finished reading James Arthur Ray’s newest book, Harmonic Wealth, and I had to share this concept he has that I think makes so much sense: LIVING FROM THE OUTCOME (Page 322). James says that most people live toward the outcome, meaning you are living like you don’t have it yet. He says you should shift your thinking so that you are LIVING FROM THE OUTCOME and thus sending out the energy to the world that you already have it. Think, feel, and act like you’ve already made it and the universe will say “Your wish is my command.”
For me, that meant acting like I was more valuable as an individual – acting like a $500 a day earner instead of a $150 a day earner (no more reality TV marathons!) and acting like a thin and fit woman instead of a slightly overweight and sometimes lazy woman (goodbye Ranch Doritos!). Honestly, in the two weeks since I put down the book, things have started changing. And I think it really comes down to that one concept.
Check out the Harmonic Wealth site and link to the book: harmonicwealth.com/read
- A James Ray Fan
on June 4th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
@James Ray Fan Thanks for you comments about James Ray. Sounds to me like you’ve found something valuable to you.
on June 5th, 2008 at 11:31 am
This is timely for me Tom as I have just got back from seeing family in the UK and whilst there read books by Deepak Chopra and Thich Nhat Hanh. It was interesting to hear takes from different perspectives sound so similar.
We have so much to learn from Eastern Philosophies imho it takes my breath away at times.
on June 5th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
@Tim Hey there, nice to have your comments! Isn’t it amazing how so many really in touch spiritual teachings tend to agree. Ramana Maharshi, whom I reference in the video, is from India, Advaita is what he is usually aligned with. But Thich Nhat Hanh can sound like him. As do some of the old Zen patriarchs. So much wisdom. I enjoy it.
But guess what? Deepak just did a metaphysical look at Jesus in his latest book, The Third Jesus. Nicely done. I’ve read other interpretations of Jesus through the lens of something more Eastern or metaphysical, but Deepak did well. And sure enough, once you open to this way of seeing the world, what do you find in the Gospels? You find a very Buddhist Jesus. Especially if you toss in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas. Very cool stuff. I need to write about this, don’t I? That should get some wild comments going!
on June 5th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Tom you handsome devil you! This question, as you know, is something that interests me tremendously.
What do you think of this possibility - that the question simply cannot be answered. All this asking is simply a way to make the mind give up trying, a way to go beyond the mind. Many teachers have said that who/what we are is something that the mind simply cannot grasp, and we have to go beyond the mind. This question might be a way of doing that, instead of actually wanting an answer.
Love the production values on this vid, too. Your hands look like they’re floating in black sometimes, which is a cool trick
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net’s last blog post..Separating the Spiritual Wheat from the Chaff
on June 5th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
@Albert I would agree that the question cannot really be answered. It is a pointer beyond our minds to what truly is. However, it is still fun to play with answers. All of them are attempts to describe what can’t be described. Cool, huh?
I wish I could claim the “floating hands” to be intentional. I wore a black shirt against a black background. I will need to where a different color next time. I don’t want to float. However, the quality of the video, by using my own flash encoding, better software, lights, editing, etc, was much better. I had fun. I’m going to do more.
on June 5th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Hi Tom
Love your approach to this. And loved your response.
I would say the question can be answered, but not with words.(laughs) Just being with someone who is very clear on the “answer” can help us find our own.
Davidya’s last blog post..The evolving Scribe
on June 6th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
For me the silence has a quality. So my answer: bubbly is what I am.
Evan’s last blog post..Lung Cancer and Fruit and Vegetables
on June 6th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Evan - love the comment. At its root, silence has 2 qualities. A principle alertness and a principle of liveliness. Alertness becomes lively leading to awareness. Awareness becomes aware of its liveliness, leading to all expression.
Being aware of your bubbly self is thus being aware of of how it all comes to be. Well done
Davidya’s last blog post..The evolving Scribe
on June 6th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
@Davidya Thanks. I’m glad you liked the answer. And I agree: it can be answered, but experientially.
@Evan I love it! Bubbly. Silence does have qualities in a sense. I love the way Adyashanti describes the Void: it is the fullest nothingness you’ll ever find.
on June 11th, 2008 at 9:15 am
What am I?
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
Borrowed from Lennon/McCartney
on June 11th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
@John That is perfect! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it. I am the Walrus! Thanks John.
on June 12th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Hi Tom,
I too liked the video and would vote that you don’t change the color of your tshirt next time. The talking head and hands effect was very cool.
As for the answer to “What am I?” I prefer the “can not be answered” answer. I like being with the mystery of the Universe.
Thanks!
Loraleigh Vance’s last blog post..7 Surefire Ways to Ignite your Passion
on June 12th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
@Loraleigh Glad you enjoyed the video. So black shirt and black background? I was actually thinking of wearing a white shirt next time. Or blue. Or using a white background. You will understand if I experiment a touch? As for the subject, yes, “no answer” is a good one. As I mentioned in the video, it really is the only one that is even remotely accurate, at least as I see it. But, still fun to give verbal answers, too.
on June 29th, 2008 at 7:26 am
I am one.
I am one with peace.
I am one with love.
I am one with Tom Stine’s floating head!
MonkMojo’s last blog post..Deep Meditation Happens
on June 29th, 2008 at 9:34 am
@MonkMojo You put a HUGE smile on my face! My floating face, that is. I didn’t realize that my black shirt would make my body disappear! Yes, I’m still a novice at video. But learning quickly.
on June 30th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Indeed you are learning quickly and it appears you are getting more comfortable. Looking forward to more, I want my Zen TV!
MonkMojo’s last blog post..Deep Meditation Happens
on July 5th, 2008 at 9:02 am
@MonkMojo More Zen TV coming in a few weeks. I’ll record some more videos probably 2 weekends from now. To do them the way I want to do them, I have to set up the lights and backdrop. A bit of work, but lots of fun!