Thank you Ralph!

Herbert Spencer:

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation”.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:

“Learn to live without self concern. For this you must know your own true being as indomitable, fearless, ever victorious. Once you know with absolute certainty that nothing can trouble you but your own imagination, you come to disregard your desires and fears, concepts and ideas, and live by truth alone”.

‘Sailor’ Bob:

“Truth or Reality cannot be stored, cannot be amassed – it does not accumulate.

The value of any insight, understanding, or realisation can only be in the ever-fresh presence of the moment.

Yesterday’s realisation is not a bit of good. Now it is dead. Now it has lost it’s vitality.

It is useless to try and cling to or hold onto an insight, an understanding, or a realisation, for only in it’s movement can there be the enabling of ever-fresh and new insights of Truth or Reality to appear.

The idea of enlightenment or self-realisation as a onetime event or a lasting and permanent state or experience is an erroneous concept.

Understand-ING or know-ING is alive in the immediacy which can never be negated. The emphasis is on the activity of know-ING which is going on as the immediacy now – not the dead concept ‘I understand’ or ‘I know’”.

“Subject-object thinking seems to cover the natural state (awareness). But without awareness, thinking could not take place. Because thinking appears in awareness (like a cloud appears in the sky), realise that thinking in essence is awareness. Understanding this, thinking cannot obscure awareness”.

“Emptiness, suffused with intelligence (knowing), can be a useful pointer or description, but remember – the description can never be the described. It is a valuable pointer only if in looking or seeing there is a recognising of the actuality of this natural emptiness.

Every thing comes from, appears in, and returns to this natural emptiness. The coming and going of things is transience, but the cognising emptiness, being empty, does not come and go. Being empty, it is of itself no thing. It can never be filled or emptied of things, for things appearing in emptiness have no independent nature of themselves, and so in reality things are the same emptiness – appearing as other. Every thing perceived is emptiness.

There can only be a problem if things – including the so called ‘seer’ – are believed to be other than this natural emptiness”.

“Because awareness is self existing there is no effort needed or anyone who can make an effort to get it or lose it.

The natural state is never lost. It is not an appearance, and therefore it can never disappear. It is always the same. It is not an entity.

Realise that the conceptual thinker and conceptual thoughts seemingly obscure the non-conceptual natural state. Pause a thought even for an instant and the natural state is fully evident. STOP and SEE. In the seeing, pure awareness gets used to itself”.

“If the self-center, ego, or reference point is seen to have no substance or independent nature, it will be understood or known that whatever mental concept or image comes up naturally happens by itself, and instead of any need to discard or get rid of it, it can be a useful happening for the protection, assistance, or defense of the organism – like with an insect, animal, bird, or reptile not thinking about protection can naturally change color or grow patterns in the skin or fur to blend in with the environment around it… a natural camouflage comes about, without any attempt to change the appearance.

Likewise with humans: without belief in a self-center, anything, including mental concepts, change or action can come about naturally to suit whatever situation arises.

However, if the self-center, ego, or reference point is believed to be something substantial with an independent nature of it’s own – an existing ‘me’ or an ‘I’ – then whatever arises is referred to this ‘me’ and, instead of being a natural functioning, it occurs as a contrived state, such as fear, anxiety, stress, etc., because that entity, being non-existent, cannot live up to what is imagined. And even when hearing about non-conceptual natural functioning, still believing in a reference point, useless and contrived attempts continue to be made to live up to or recreate some concept of that.

Thus, there appears to be a great difference between natural functioning without any belief in a reference point, and the imagined, conceptual, acquired mental habits caused by the old belief in a separate entity”.

“It’s an illusion that ‘you’ exist – the entity ‘you’ is imagined. The imagination that ‘you’ exist as something or someone separate is the cause of acceptance or rejection of something known. It is illusion telling the story of its own deception. The knower and the known are just concepts seemingly dividing natural non-conceptual knowing. Believing in the thought ‘I am’ gives seeming reality to the objective world which is constantly changing, yet everything in essence is that changeless natural knowing – nothing else”.

“Re-call, re-cognize, or re-mind. I am That I am. That is awareness. To whom could it matter what activity, thought, event, or happening occurs. Knowing That, events and activities occur like the grass growing by itself, with nothing superior or inferior which could possibly be anything other than That. Self activated intelligence-energy – just this, nothing else”.

“Self shining presence-awareness is not the result of effort. There is no need to try to do something with the expectation that suddenly awareness will be there. Presence-awareness is always here and now whether it is recognized or seemingly lost. It is not something that can be created or destroyed. Conceptual thinking is like the cloud that seemingly blocks the sun. Being at ease in non-conceptual naturalness is presence awareness already here and now. Re-cognize again, and again, and again, and the knowing it is always so is constant in spite of what appears and disappears. Self-knowing, self-shining – just this, nothing else”.

“The reflection is not in the mirror but of the mirror”.

“We are That, ‘That’ meaning the seeming place in awareness where awareness shines out. But in ignorance of the true nature, That we are, that seeming place in awareness is called me or I”.

“In that moment of seeing that mind essence is no ‘thing’ to see, in that very instant the duality of something seen and someone that sees is no longer needed”.

“Whatever is translated or conceptualised as other than presence awareness need not be resisted but recognised as it is – pure presence awareness appearing as other – always only and ever That. Knowing that, conceptualising falls away and bare awareness remains unconcerned with thought (effortless being). Just this”.

“Belief in dualistic thinking is the problem. In non-dual awareness, dualism can only appear to be so. How can there ever be any duality in non-duality?”

“In recognising presence awareness, there is no ‘thing’ to see, just natural non-conceptual seeing, actually as it is without subject or object. See this and the realisation is immediate that what is labled as awareness or consciousness or mind can never be formulated as either a subject or an object. Being empty of a subject or object, it is emptiness seeing (cognising emptiness). Emptiness can never be emptied of emptiness, nor can it be filled by emptiness. With that concept cancelled out, only the wordless thoughtless indescribable emptiness remains. Not a vacuum or a void, but a vivid self-shining, self-knowing, self-aware emptiness, like a clear sky full of light. See for yourself. No one or other can do it for you. Immediate simplicity. Continue to see that the seeing is continuous. Any doubt, question, or argument, and the conceptual seeker has appeared again. See that and non-conceptual emptiness remains undisturbed”.

“Recognise the naturalness that you are – pure, all pervasive, space like, ever expressing, spontaneous presence-awareness, with no reference point (self nature) having any substance or independent existence. Failing to recognise naturalness (the unity of appearance and emptiness, space and its content), delusion happens and there is a grasping of or fixation on appearance – me and the other – a seeming duality. Without that fixation there is freedom as naturalness, delusion dissolves and evenness (non-duality) remains – the natural state – simply this, nothing else. Naturally remaining as naturalness (equanimity) is the natural (effortless) meditation of no one to meditate and nothing to meditate on – no trying to get or trying to avoid, just effortless being which is always already so. Recognise this again and again”.

Photo by Javi Hoffens on Unsplash