Right here and now, nothing is needed. Nothing can be added, nothing can be lost. You ARE. You KNOW you are. YOU are self-evident. Yet WHAT you are is confused, taken to be the body, taken to be the "thinking process".
You KNOW you are because of what? Your existence cannot be denied. Why? Why is it that YOU cannot be denied? What is it about right HERE and NOW that makes YOU self-evident?
Is it the body? Does the appearance of body make you self-evident? Are you certain of your existence because of the presence of a body? No. That body is in constant change. It disappears and reappears. It's function is according to the genetics, the environment... Life is functioning that body.
What about the thinking process? This is a bit more difficult because identification with the mind is the strongest identification. Yet the solution is extremely simple. You are AWARE OF thoughts. You know thoughts. They come and go - and your existence cannot be dependent on something that is SO changeful. Your existence doesn't disappear when thoughts are paused. So thoughts are spontaneously appearing and disappearing. Yet the content of thought is strongly identified with, so much so that it is said "I AM THINKING".
Are you? Are you thinking, or simply aware of thoughts? Your true existence does not depend on thoughts. Thoughts depend on your aware presence to be known. Yes?
So what ARE you? You are CERTAIN of your existence, yet what-you-are cannot be found, via the normal way of looking, looking for a "thing", looking for another concept. The body and thoughts are dependent - only there because you are there first, to know the coming and going of thoughts and body. Yet YOU are not dependent - you are SELF-EVIDENT. Evident without proof, evident without dependence on something else. Even when the "waking state" was gone, you KNOW you existed.
So what-you-are must be something else, something evident yet not appearing. Something evident yet not dependent. Something present here and now, yet not findable as some "thing".
What-you-are MUST be obvious, already, not in need of finding, not in need of a spiritual search. What-you-are MUST be fully known already, only overlooked BECAUSE it's SO obvious, SO simple.
When we look for our true Self, we are forever looking for some "thing", in the form of objects, feelings, sensations, perceptions, ideas, concepts, more beliefs... Yet when we recognize that we MUST be looking FROM our true Self already, that what-you-are MUST be THAT which is looking, then the confusion vanishes, as does the search.
Can you SEE the SEEING? No. You can only BE the seeing. Being/Knowing.
29 comments:
Wonderfull Randall, thank you!
Love to you
So me is not aware of , i am the awareness it self and it is aware of me?? is this when Buddha sad emptiness is form and from is emptiness?
++Love++
Dennis,
"ME" is a belief - a thought. That thought comes as the subject in the subject/object equation. So if it is said "I am hearing a bird" - the ME that is doing the hearing is created along with the bird that is singing.
The interpretation of what IS creates the subject/object. What IS, is Nondual Reality. This, right here and now. Then the mind splits it up in this dualistic interpretation, and creates the idea of a separate ME this way.
Notice this.
There is no ME hearing a bird. There is only pure experiencing. The thought "I am hearing a bird" is also an experience. Where is the ME who experiences this ME?
love
randall
Dennis,
Emptiness is form, form is emptiness is another way of saying that what is SEEN isn't the ultimate reality of what IS.
If I show you a paper cup - what will you call it? "Cup". Cup is reality. But it isn't actually reality, is it?
If I tear the cup, then the shape and function is gone. It no longer holds water. Cup is gone. Now is only paper.
What happened to cup? Nothing happened to it. It did not exist. It was only name and form. Dependent reality. Vedanta calls it mithyA.
Yet the paper comes from various sources, maybe trees and chemicals. So the reducible essence is trees and chemicals. Remove the chemicals and it's raw wood. Remove the essence of tree and what is it? Atoms, protons, electrons, further reducible to quarks, strings...
If I have a quantum lens, what do I see? Do I see tree, paper, or cup? No - only emptiness is found. Nothing of formed substance. Moving energy. Intelligent functioning, which moves in a way as to form quarks, electrons, atoms, molecules, elements, chemicals, trees and cups.
So what IS is BOTH Form AND Emptiness. It is form from a frame of reference - you say it's cup, I say it's paper. It's essence is emptiness - ever reducible to no-thing, not a thing at all.
The underlying reality of ALL forms is nondual reality, what IS beyond all names and forms.
And that reality is just THIS right here and now, prior to any attempts to quantify it as either form or emptiness. THAT is pure indescribable being/awareness, self-evident as the world appears and disappears, as the body appears and disappears, as the mind appears and disappears, as the "waking state" of Consciousness appears and disappears, as the "dream state" of Consciousness appears and disappears...
What you are is THAT which remains as all temporary appearances come and go. That being/awareness is what is functioning right this very moment - shining before the reading eyes, before the picture of Consciousness, before the idea of "Dennis" can appear.
What you are, in essence, is the "default state", the natural state, THAT UPON WHICH everything comes and goes, as name and form, as emptiness. All descriptions, all clinging to concepts, all ideas of "Dennis", all ideas of separation, come upon THAT which is inherently inseparable.
And YOU are THAT.
love
randall
Yes just when i read this a bird sings and you are right the me comes up but i could see the thought of me very strange experiences almost like i was not there. Wow here comes up all sorts of questions in me now. I guess i rest for today. Thanks Randall
You said "Even when the 'waking state' was gone, you KNOW you existed".
But you can only know you exist if you are awake, WHEN you wake up. Otherwise, if you didn't wake up, then there would only be a comatose body, with no awareness.
You have to be awake and conscious in order to be aware of anything.
If you're not awake and conscious, then you DON'T know you exist. And you only know you're asleep i.e. not awake, because you DO wake up. If you didn't wake up, there would be no awareness of anything ever again. You'd either be in a coma or dead. Not aware. Not existing.
If someone drops down dead in front of me, there's still a body there, but THE awareness is gone from THAT body, but I am still aware of that body. So the awake state is gone from THAT body, and they don't know they exist anymore.
Viv,
Hello my friend.
Yes, you only know "I AM" in Consciousness. When Consciousness subsides, there is no knowledge "I AM".
Yet what knows that Consciousness passed, that it came and went? What remained in essence to know the passing? What is present to receive the dream state? Does that "dream character" know of the dream? What knows the "state" called "dream"?
The "someone dropping dead", the "ME", the "body" - these are all appearances IN present awareness. The entire "state" in which these appearances come, itself comes and goes. Yet this is missed.
The being/awareness is THAT ON WHICH the "awake state", the Consciousness, the "I AM" comes and goes.
But conceptualized as "someone" who sleeps, then memory is bundled to create this false identity. No one sleeps, no one is comatose, no one is dead. What-you-are remains as these passing states appear and disappear.
It's very obvious yet passed over due to insistence on concepts.
You know you ARE. This is Consciousness. And when Consciousness disappears, you do not disappear with it. You know Consciousness passed. Awareness remained to know the passing. Awareness remained in the "deep sleep state" - if an alarm clock goes off or a knock on the door, Consciousness returns. What knew the knocking, even while you had no knowledge of "I AM"?
love
randall
brilliant!
thank you Randall.
S
Man, Randall, Ya can't GET ANY CLEARER that this> Peace, PD
Hi Randall
Thank you for replying.
Maybe why it's not clear is that I get confused with the words, 'concepts' - Awareness and Consciousness. To me they 'mean' something particular. A state. I appreciate that there is no name, because if it can be named then it's an object, something that is known.
To be honest, when I asked the question, I knew what answer you would give. And yet I still go on asking. D'ya think I'm in denial!?!
Do you never tire of answering the same questions over and over again?
Many thanks for doing so, for tirelessly pointing it out again and again and again.
Viv
Viv,
Knowing the answer before it is given is understanding. Ramesh calls it - being cut off horizontally, instead of running vertically. The question comes yet it's cut off by understanding. Of course the questions remain, yet they seem to dissolve on their own at some point until they stop coming at all.
When it is clear that you are already what you seek, that what you seek is already present, then the search ends of itself.
The concepts of awareness and consciousness are very confusing - they are used in a variety of ways across expressions. They are only words - they cannot contain or really describe reality - reality is beyond the descriptions attributed to consciousness or awareness. See to what they are pointing.
As used most often here, Consciousness is what we are very familiar with - are you presently Conscious? Yes. You are reading a website, sitting in a chair, thoughts are coming. Consciousness is present. The world appears to you. The body appears to you. Consciousness came this morning and it will leave later.
Consciousness will again return, accompanied by another world, another body, more thoughts. And this world is the same world, yet somehow different. It's the same body yet somehow different. Strange things can sometimes happen - we call this "state of Consciousness" the dream. Yet we laid our head down, Consciousness passed, we didn't get up and go anywhere. These pictures (dream) came about - the world appeared. This identical body appeared. These thought patterns appeared. The idea, the exact and strong identification as "Viv" appeared. Yet you didn't go anywhere.
Therefore, if we pay close attention, if we're open to reality, then what we've taken as real beyond question, even that sense of ME, is present also in the "dream". Sometimes, in the "waking state" of Consciousness, strange things also happen, so that we question "Am I dreaming"? If we can even have that question, the "waking" and "dream" states must be no different, otherwise we would never ask that question.
So Consciousness, used in this way, is a state. The very knowledge of Being. This is the "I AM". And Consciousness itself IS the content - it's the substance of the content.
Yet we talk about Consciousness being present or not, coming and going. We can only talk about it as a common experience because Consciousness itself IS an experience. But an experience to WHO? The "VIV" only appears in Consciousness and departs along with Consciousness.
So Awareness is THAT UPON WHICH Consciousness comes and goes - THAT which remains to be "aware of" the coming and going of these "states" of waking and dreaming.
This isn't some mystical revelation - it's obvious reality if we look. Yet we miss, in holding on tightly to the image of "Viv", that "Viv" is only passing content. Something prior to is aware of the passing of Consciousness.
And THAT is called "awareness." Pure awareness without content, without the presence of Consciousness, is what we call "deep sleep". Being/Awareness without content, without even knowing itself - yet it IS.
THAT is undescribable because Consciousness is necessary to describe anything. When Consciousness has subsided, even the "I AM" is not. Yet what-you-actually-are remains.
So Consciousness returns - the body appears - the world appears - thoughts appear. The "I AM" appears, then this is said to be "Viv woke up". It is only the idea of "viv" that woke up in Consciousness.
Being/Awareness is shining right this very moment - reflecting itself AS Consciousness - Consciousness is inseparable from any content. It IS the content, just as the dream world, body and thoughts are MADE OF Consciousness. The so-called objects known are inseparable from Consciousness. Consciousness is inseparable from Awareness/Being. Awareness/Being remains while the passing content comes and goes.
YOU remain. What-you-are.
So right this very moment - that pure Awareness of Being is present. Pure Presence/Awareness - shining prior to and necessary for all objective content. The objective content is an appearance OF YOU.
love
randall
Randall,
is what we conceptualise as "death" the same as "deep sleep"? two concepts for the same stateless state?
Hello Randall
Therefore "I am the NOW itself" speaking, writing, acknologing and sharing the knowing with "myself".
Awakenning From the other side of "myself" Portugal
Peace
Anonymous,
Yes... pure being/awareness - timeless, spaceless - not knowing even "I AM" or Consciousness. The absolute "state-less" state.
Whether it applies to the body-mind, coming to be known in "waking", or to the so-called "other" - family, friends.... when that appearance goes away (with the body-mind as "sleep" and with the "others" when they leave) - it's assumed that it/they will reappear. There is a tacit sense of overlooking the mystery and uncertainty and assuming there will be a reappearance. With so-called "death", there is absolute certainty of no-reappearance - therefore there is grief. Yet "death" happens every day - each time the body "sleeps" or Consciousness dissolves, there is "death" or the disappearance of Consciousness. They are only different in concept.
Therefore there comes an absolute standstill in this very moment - what was assumed to be certain to reappear is now absolutely not certain. The so-called "sleep" is not overlooked as "me sleeping" and the reappearance of "other" is not taken for granted. Life is lived solely for this moment, right here and now - because in reality that is all there ever is.
All else is a subtle lie to yourself.
love
randall
Vida,
Hello my friend. Good to hear from you.
Yes. You are THIS MOMENT. This one and only moment. THIS, right here and now, is all there ever is. THIS is Advaita (not-two) - whatever THIS might be taken as.
So Life is living itself, speaking to itself, writing to itself, seeking itself and finding itself.
If we take a walk outside, we look up at the trees, the sky, the birds... there is an idea that "I am seeing the trees". Yet this requires what-you-are to be separate from Life. How could you be?
You ARE Life itself. Life, looking at itself. The trees, the sky, the birds - all appearances OF YOU.
There can be no condition or expectation placed on experience. Any experience will do. The Self or Life is present in any and ALL experiences, already. In each experiences, you are only ever experiencing yourSelf. Life experiencing itself.
love
randall
neither the words or the message can Ever touch This. The "You" comprehending is just another appearance. experiential education... journey of a verb... from here to here<>
"Therefore there comes an absolute standstill in this very moment - what was assumed to be certain to reappear is now absolutely not certain. The so-called "sleep" is not overlooked as "me sleeping" and the reappearance of "other" is not taken for granted. Life is lived solely for this moment, right here and now - because in reality that is all there ever is"
Reading this, there is so much emotion i cant describe it. Excitement? Fear? exhilleration? Joy? Wonder!!!! The immensity of this mystery leaves me in awe.... there is a feeling of wanting to hug the world because it is so amazing and miraculous! Every moment is, every atom is, every being is... magic!
If the "me" centric glasses are taken off, then i can see the world not as a place where *I* suffer, not an illuson/dream i need to escape or transcend or block, but as an incredible gift of sheer inexplicable magic, a Dream of possibility, to see THIS in so many shapes and forms, and to be speechlessly amazed and awestuck at the wonder of it all!
THIS is incredible! Why would I run from this? WHERE would I run to!!? All there is IS THIS! What is there to trasncend? What is there to be free of? What is there to be enlightened FROM?!
:)
thank you Randall!
S
Mark,
Yes, absolutely. Nicely said.
love
randall
S,
Yes - you cannot get out of THIS, right here and now. And that's ALL the search is about - trying to get somewhere else - trying to find the Peace that is only available elsewhere, some other time, some other place, some other experience.
Peace is THIS - the stormy waves of thought can NOT separate THAT ON WHICH they appear.
love
randall
Tis both the blessing and the curse, so to speak,,, Yes, the Bliss, waves of Joy and then...... RAGE, Anger and... ALL of it Real and Valid AS it arises Now. None more or less Spiritual than the "other". What am I looking From? Yes, Randall, the buzzers, bells and whistles went off on that one<>
The wonderful writings of you all one again leave me speechless.
You truly are an amazing Being and an amazing communicator.
However I just have a couple of thoughts I wonder if you would be so gracious as to indulge me. The thing i just dont get is since there is Only God - how can that same consiocunsess be so stupid as to divorce itself? i mean you say "you are dreaming" but who is dreaming? what contracts?
and lastly from your 'point of view' what will happen to the 'you' when your body dies. i am afraid of death but the self position from my naive viewpoint doesnt seem to be free of the sadness of bodily death and so i dont feel overwhelmgly moved to it. what will be your experience when the locus of your human body dies?
Thank you friend
David
David,
Hello my friend. Love to you.
This is a projection of duality - there is no such thing as an amazing Being in direct experience - all you know is your Self. You are all of what appears. Then the concepts come and seem to divide up this immediacy, THIS, right here and now, into a ME and a Randall, who is some such nonsense.
All you know, is your Self. Impersonal Self, the Self that is aware of the passing dream, the dream in which "david" comes and goes, the dream in which the world, body and mind come and go.
This "state" obviously comes and goes - yet this obviousness is overlooked due to identification with it, due to the illusion that YOU are IN IT. This is not the case, in direct experience.
The world, body, mind, and sense "I AM" appears IN YOU. It comes and goes IN YOU. It comes upon you and you say "I slept". The concept of "david" is applied, when actually the idea of "david" came upon YOU.
Therefore the Consciousness comes and passes. There is an assumption "I am the body" - because this Consciousness is already known to pass, the conceptual becomes "I will die". This is patently false.
What was not born cannot die. You see Consciousness appear and disappear each "day". How is death different than sleep?
love
randall
Love the pristine clarity. No-non-sense pointing to what we have been seeking but never found. We cannot find it because it was never lost. It is here now. Simple This. Just This. Do not over the fact of your changless Being. Do not lose it.
Can't wait to read the book. I will get my library to order it.
So... am I life.. or that which knows life?
Is there life?
If I exist but I can't be anything which is known, but only the knowing how do I know that I exist?
What asks the questions?
What?
v
Bryan,
Love to you my friend.
randall
V,
Are you separate from Life? Take a walk outside - look at the trees. By what intelligence is that form and functioning happening? That very same intelligence is the form and function of that body.
Therefore the SEEING of Life is LIFE - SEEING itself.
Only the idea of ME obscures this obviousness, this aliveness which can never be contained by an "image of ME" created entirely in thought.
love
randall
Been a secret fan for a while. Haven't seen a post in a few days, so I wondered if you were still around. By the dates on the comments, I see you are. You are, I am... funny. How easily amused I am. Anyway, just wanted to say that I've enjoyed reading what you've had to say, and look forward to the next installment.
Mike,
Hello again my friend.
Love to you.
randall
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