Saturday, April 18, 2009

You are a translation

Nonduality or Oneness or Wholeness already IS. THIS right HERE and NOW is One. One Substance. One Reality. Whole. Limitless. There is nothing to do or get, nowhere to go, nothing to find, nothing to gain. Not one single action, thought, question or answer, spiritual experience, clear seeing, can ever MAKE THIS Nondual. It already IS.

So we aren't trying to CREATE Nonduality - we are simply seeing Reality as it is.

There must be an incorrect template or filter or mechanism at work, so that Nondual Reality is "seen" as separate, containing infinite separate pieces or parts. This describes the basic equation of subject/object. "I AM seeing the world".

The assumed presence of a "ME" automatically assumes the presence of the opposite of "ME" - the "world". Then "I AM seeing the world". Yet this isn't actual experience.

We might try various types of investigation, meditation, chanting, inquiry... yet in these "paths" we are under the assumption that something new will be obtained, some new way of seeing, some different appearance, some special spiritual experience. This is missing the point.

We simply need to see the mechanism - realize how it works. Yet we can never see this because we are EMPLOYING that very same mechanism as we undergo the spiritual search. We can't "find the answers" using the filter which is ITSELF the problem, which is itself the "creation of duality".

Therefore we cannot place a condition on experience. We cannot say that a "special state" must come for Enlightenment. We cannot say that a certain experience is "better" than any other. We cannot continue to make distinctions between "good" experience and "bad" experience.

And in the spiritual search, we are trying to "create" experience. This is missing the point. We have an abundance of experience - any experience will do. It is TOTALLY irrelevant what the experience is.

ALL experience is dependent on Consciousness or Awareness to appear. No experience has EVER appeared without this immediacy of present Consciousness. THEN the mind comes in and translates experience. Whatever that translation ends up as, is irrelevant. We MUST see that it is the translation itself that creates Duality. This is the only part that matters.

So THIS is ALREADY Oneness. No matter what THIS IS, what it's translated AS, THIS is Oneness. The translations appear IN this Oneness. So the translations can never quantify Oneness - doing so IS Duality. But the translation or Duality NEVER separates Oneness.

You aren't LACKING Oneness. Every experience, no matter what it is, IS Oneness already. Simply SEE that the translation never separates what IS. And the "you" you've taken yourself to be, is nothing more than a translation.

Oneness is already found, already present, already THIS. Any experience is Oneness already. The translations ARE Oneness. The seeking and finding and confusion and clarity and "not getting it" and "getting it" and seekers and gurus and books and CD's - it simply does not matter WHAT appears - these are only AS SUCH - IN TRANSLATION of mind.

Translation can never modify, correct, alter, or in any way, separate this immediacy, this present Nonduality.

31 comments:

Diomedies said...

So should this tangled web of thoughts still aim for a clearer understanding?

Randall Friend said...

Diomedies,

Hello my friend. Love to you.

Can a tangled web of thoughts aim for understanding? Can thoughts create a separate entity?

Seeking may go on, in the appearance of things - or not. It is irrelevant - it's just another story playing out in the totality that you are.

Isn't it?


love
randall

amee said...

In other words there is only presence.Everything is present and even if nothing is present there is only ever presence.This presence doesn't depend on objects or no objects/experiences. It is prior to All, beyond coming and going.That which witnesses the coming and going must itself remain.Where can presence go, it can only BE.
Thank you for clear pointing Randall, Love amee.

Randall Friend said...

Amee,

Yes! Presence - THIS! This right here and now is it! There is nothing else.

And that knowing presence is your true nature - immediately and intimately known yet never describable, conceivable or perceivable. The instant a thought comes to describe, it's duality.

And there is nothing wrong with duality - it's simply the appearance of things. Yet when the mirage is seen for what it is, there may appear to be water, but we don't seek to quench our thirst.

You wrote - "That which witnesses the coming and going must itself remain. Where can presence go, it can only BE."

Very nice.


love to you
randall

Anonymous said...

What is "gained" out of Oneness?
++Love++

Anonymous said...

What is "gained" out of Oneness?
It's the difference between Life and the idea of Life.

Anonymous said...

Were is "Life" when i sleep then?

amee said...

" where is life when i sleep then"

Sleep is a thought which is believed to be a memory of a past experience. Its a thought happening now. Life isn't found in a past experience. Life is Now where the thought happens.

Randall Friend said...

Nothing can be gained or lost - there is nothing but THIS, right here and now. THIS is Oneness. "On top" of that, the mind translates THIS into subject/object - then something is needed, something is lacking, something must be better than THIS.

"Sleep" is another translation - who sleeps? "I sleep" is a concept, a mistaken perception. No one sleeps.

The appearance comes and goes - disappears and then reappears. Is this not actual experience? What you are remains to witness this passing of experience.

This experience is then translated as "I slept" - this expression requires the "I" as a separate body-mind which sleeps. Yet this is a translation built on top of a translation. Layers of concepts.

When all concepts or interpretations fall away, who sleeps? Where can Life go? What is necessary to add to Life? Who will do this? Are you separate of Life?

Yes - Amee - "sleep" is another thought/concept. "Life is Now where the thought happens".... very nice.


love
randall

Anonymous said...

Amnee are you enlightened? you seam to know what is what? How did you do to get to the truth "life"? I listen to Randalf podcasts and someting resonate in me when he speak is this truth?
++Love++

Anonymous said...

Thank Randall and yes it seams like i am separate of Life. I can see the thought ME and the space that the ME is arising in and if i am that i am nothing? What is the point of be nothing? I'm so confused
++Love++

Randall Friend said...

Dennis,

Needing to "get to the Truth" is STILL missing the point. There can be no Truth outside of THIS, this very moment. If it's True, Reality, it MUST be right HERE and NOW.

Take a look, right this very moment. THIS, whatever THIS might be - is One. Nondual. Reality. You ARE. You KNOW you are. That is certain, beyond question. THAT is Reality. Yet what you ARE is mixed up in concept. You take yourself to be the body you SEE, the thoughts you SEE. You take yourself to be OBJECTS. So it is simply a mistake of interpretation of Reality.

What you are is invisible - it does not appear. This subjective knowing or awareness is fully evident right NOW. IN THIS the body-mind appears. Objects appearing TO YOU.

If YOU appeared, then there would have to be another YOU to witness YOU. Yet this isn't actual experience - there is only One Self.

And YOU are that Self. The knowing Self in which the world, body and mind appear.

So to seek enlightenment for this dennis-body-mind is to miss the point. Enlightenment is knowing Reality - that's it. Presence/existence/YOU - seeing/knowing/aware of itself AS everything.

It is clearly SEEING that what you've taken yourself to be is not Reality, only a translation or interpretation of Reality. And in this interpretation there is separation.

Therefore the instant that this "story of Dennis" is SEEN to be a story, it's done. Like walking up to a mirage that was believed to be (translated) water. When it's known to be an illusion, we no longer seek to quench our thirst. The illusion can never be translated that way again.

No one "gets" enlightenment. There is no one apart from THIS. The translations or concepts collapse of their own false weight, leaving Reality as it IS. Right here and now.

Even enlightenment is then clearly a concept.


love
randall

Randall Friend said...

Dennis,

YES - what you are is NO-THING. No-thing, aware of itself as everything.

This isn't some spiritual "state" - this is direct evidence - actual experience. Right here and now, you are no-thing.

Take a look - when has any experience happened outside of this pure, invisible but obvious knowing or awareness or Consciousness? The experience is dependent on experiencing. This experiencing is what you are. And the experiencing can only be separate from experience in CONCEPT, as a translation.

Therefore this separation is simply an interpretation of immediate Reality. "I AM seeing the world" is a TRANSLATION. "I AM reading a blog" is a translation. There is no separate "dennis" reading a blog. There is only this nondual THIS, this IS-ness. All else requires time - time is mind - more translation.

THIS is all there is. And THIS is Consciousness - knowing. You are intimately familiar with this knowing - only it's attributed, in translation, as belonging to the body-mind-dennis - it is layers of concepts.

THIS right HERE and NOW requires NO CONCEPTS to BE. When they all fall away, or even if the pause, THIS remains as Oneness. Nonduality. There is nowhere to go and nothing to get. There is nothing "dennis" must do. There is nothing "dennis" is doing wrong. "Dennis" is part of the translation.


love
randall

Anonymous said...

Ohh, Ok,!
I have to read this several time.
Thanks Randall.
++Love++

Randall Friend said...

Dennis,

With what will you read it? By what means of knowledge will this come? There must be a means of knowledge for any experience to come.

This is interpreted as "I AM reading, through vision" - yet that vision, even that "I" who reads is OBTAINED via some means of knowledge.

Even the concepts of awareness or Consciousness or knowing are obtained via some means of knowledge.

We rely on worldy knowledge, which is nothing but concepts or organized translations. But Self-knowledge is Realization - realizing that the ultimate means of knowledge encompasses and transcends all other forms of knowledge, seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling. These all are dependent on the concept of "dennis".

Find out by what means of knowledge this "dennis" comes - it is prior to "dennis". It remains still and silent while the intellect translates and identifies with this shadow concept called "dennis".

Therefore nothing needs to be done, no reading, no meditation is ultimately fruitful because they all take place via some dependent means of knowledge.

What you are is fully present NOW - before any blogs are read several times. THIS right HERE and NOW is fullness, wholeness, Oneness. Already.


love
randall

Walter said...

Randall,
I was thinking of an example of trading stock on the computer.
It is like playing a game and trying to win the game - it is like trying to get 'enlighten'.
What assumption must be there for the question of 'how can I win this game' to arise?
There has to be an assumption of separation where there is a 'me' and the game on computer and I am trying to win a game which is set up to make me loose.
But there is no separation (only in thoughts) -there is no me, game and computer as separate objects -only Consciousness.This experience of playing the game cannot be separate from this present Consciousness.
Me,computer and the 'game' appear in present awareness-are not apart from present awareness and cannot be separate from present Consciousness!
So in a way you can say that Consciousness is 'playing a game' ,is the game-there is no separation!
The very individual that I have taken myself to be is mind's translation. Walter is an interpretation of the Presence of Consciousness AS a separate SUBJECT, in the world of separate OBJECT -trading, computer, stock market-chasing something that he beliefs is separate from him.
When this 'Walter' is seen as just another translation or story, then who remains to seek to win the 'game'?
Those are two separate objects chasing each other in the world of appearances-the me and the 'game' of trading.
Once you realize that there is no 'you' playing the separate game -just consciousness knowing it self as Walter,stock market,trading,computer then you can enjoy trading because there is no 'you' in it to get anything.
Life experiencing it self as everything.
What a cruel joke this is when you don't know who you are! I have to get a job,I have to make money,I have to become somebody,I have to survive,I have to,I have to.......and in the end there is no 'me' in it.
So now I can go about 'my' day in a relax way - Consciousness know what to do and it will DO IT no matter what I want or what I resist.
Have You Randall completely relaxed in this realization in your every day affairs?
Thanks, Walter

Anonymous said...

Walter yes it is a cruel joke but how do one know one don't exist can one test it in a real dangerous situation?
And what mean do society use to strength the illusion?
++love++

Randall Friend said...

Walter,

Hello my friend. Good to hear from you.

Yes - exactly correct - the individual is a translation of this immediacy - this present activity of knowing which does not appear as an object.

So watch as this story or translation in mind comes up - all the desire and fear, all the suffering and happiness, all the subjects and objects are all due to this translation.

When this is clear, there is nothing remaining to be done. Self remains as it is - untouched, unmodified, unaltered, uncorrected - unchanged by the translation.

Therefore Advaita means not-two - this is a direct realization of THIS MOMENT, prior to, during and after all translations.


love
randall

Randall Friend said...

Dennis,

Of what society do you speak? This nondual IS-ness is translated as "dennis" seeing a world. There is nothing of the kind going on in actual, direct experience.

The pure Self is present in ALL experiences. YOU have been there to witness a lifetime of experiences. So can we ever say the experience is separate from the experiencing?

Experiencing IS experience. So Advaita is HERE NOW. What concept is necessary to BE? A concept IS required to BE "DENNIS".


love
randall

Anonymous said...

Ok so Experiencing IS experience and there is no free will, then its all an projection? So life is a hapining?
++Love++

Randall Friend said...

Dennis,

THIS Nondual immediacy - right this very moment - is ineffable, indescribable - no conditions can be placed on this here now.

The instant a thought comes it's duality - trying to break up THIS into parts - starting with "dennis". This initial thought is the verbalization of the obviousness of subjectivity - "I AM". This "I AM" is beyond question yet when an attempt is made to quantify "I AM" it becomes "Dennis". "Dennis" is then some "thing" and by the nature of duality or interpretation there must be an opposite - "the world in which Dennis lives".

So what you are is obvious and ever-present yet when the mind tries to place a label the entire world comes into being.

Such is Life - Life is the essence of the totality of appearance - the totality of all interpretations - the living energy which is the form and function of THIS. So this interpretation is a function also. Yet when this interpretation collapses upon itself, the Real is revealed.

But it's not some future "spiritual state" - it's only ever THIS Here Now. Only the interpretation in mind is seen for what it is.


love
randall

Anonymous said...

Hi Randall! I think this Advita is very interesting and i wonder if some here can recommend some god book for a beginner.
++Love++

Randall Friend said...

Dennis,

Reading more books or blogs is still trying to get something which is always already present. Yet reading happens.

There is a book coming out in early May called "You Are No Thing" from Non-Duality Press - written by some guy named Randall - it is an exploration of this world and body-mind we've taken ourselves to be. It's called "Self-knowledge". Might be helpful.

If you haven't read "Sailor" Bob's book "What's Wrong with Right Now", also from Non-Duality Press - it is highly recommended.

Leo Hartong's book - "Awakening to the Dream" might also be a good one.


love to you
randall

Anonymous said...

Thanks!I go for "You Are No Thing"
++Love++

benjamin said...

Hello Randall,

thanks for sharing all this. Some years ago all this would have been crystal clear. "To be" was the only law, this was everything and nothing etc. But after some events and strong emotions, the good old Benjamin came back. And since 2 years i am trying to figure out what happened, why i know myself as separate, why i fear, desire, hurt. In the first place, realisation came through an attempt at emancipation, to decrease dependencies and needs, regain self-esteem until one day it was clear i was always everything and perfect. Today i am looking at new dimensions and investigate into what 'i' is, or what 'to be' means.
Two points are like obsessions though, questions i find myself dumbfounded with:
1-if there is only 'i' then how come is there a sense of particularity? If space and time are in 'i' then my 'i' and your 'i' so to speak are in one same spot ever. How come i feel particular and not pervading?
2-how about survival versus wisdom? If everything is what it is only, if Nature only operates, if awareness does not affect the nature of action, then how does the mind conciliate survival questions with wisdom questions? e.g. if i have realised there is no 'i' and come home and see some sick man trying to rape my wife: how do i react? What path will the mind chose? Why is the mind at all concerned with those questions?

I don't know if i made myself clear, i am confused at the moment, obviously, since i am 'me' ;)

Anonymous said...

hi benjamin,

this might help -

http://www.theendofseeking.net/OW%20-%20Randall%20Friend%202.html

cheers
S

Anonymous said...

Randall y sad So can we ever say the experience is separate from the experiencing?

Experiencing IS experience. So Advaita is HERE NOW. What concept is necessary to BE? A concept IS required to BE "DENNIS".
I see that there is no experiencer only experience and Dennis can`trust This IS-ness only when he forget him self the IS-ness take over and time is no more.This is scary and i get depress t after this glimpse is this normal?
++Love++

Randall Friend said...

Benjamin,

Good to hear from you, my friend.

If "benjamin" can depart and return, how real is it? And what remained to witness the passing and return?

In reality the belief called "benjamin" returned.

The sense of particularity or individuality is due to the translation - once the body-mind is identified with, then the world must appear as it's opposite. Then the sense of individuality can oppose the sense of unity.

See the translation is nothing but translation. That is all that needs to be done. Thought never divides the wholeness in which it appears.

WHO survives? It is due to the false assumptions and interpretations that the one who must survive appears.

"I" as a word is only a concept tied to the body-mind called "benjamin". Yet the nonconceptual "I", the simple sense of Being, is ever-present and the necessary ground or basis for a lifetime of experience. That subjectivity contains the body-mind and the world. Loosen the bonds of concept and look to where you are looking from. The Self is present in all experience.


love to you
randall

Randall Friend said...

Dennis,

"Forgetting Dennis" is another translation, my friend. Who is to forget or remember?

IS-ness doesn't take over - IS-ness is THIS, right here and now.

What IS, IS. On top of that the mind comes in and translates THIS as "this and that", "me and other". Yet it can only do this by using memories and imagination. So it's creating a story, constantly, ABOUT THIS. Yet the story is presently THIS also. Therefore nothing needs to be done except see the falseness of all translations. THIS remains as it is.


love
randall

Anonymous said...

Thank Randall!
I live in Sweden and i find a movement that calls "Great Freedom"
and they talk about "Resting" and not translate (point of vie) is this some thing you recomend?
++Love++

Randall Friend said...

Dennis,

Many paths may be taken in the search for what you are. Resonance will be the light and earnestness will be the vehicle. All this activity takes place in searching FOR what you are.

When it is realized that you are seeing FROM your true nature already, the paths will be unnecessary.


love
randall