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#1873 - Thursday, July 29, 2004 - Editor: Jerry
from http://www.advaita.org.uk/reading.htm: The Spiritual Path of Advaita, compiled and edited by Dennis Waite.
The Hypnotic Dream of Separation Tony Parsons
Tony's book, The Open Secret, is currently out of print. His latest, 'All there is' may be purchased via his website: http://www.theopensecret.com. The US version, 'Invitation to awaken' may be purchased from Amazon.com.
There is no me or you, no seeker, no enlightenment, no
disciple and
no guru. There is no better or worse, no path or purpose, and
nothing
that has to be achieved.
All appearance is source. All that apparently manifests in the
hypnotic dream of separation – the world, the life story,
the search
for home, is one appearing as two, the nothing appearing as
everything, the absolute appearing as the particular.
There is no separate intelligence weaving a destiny and no
choice
functioning at any level. Nothing is happening but this, as it
is,
invites the apparent seeker to rediscover that which is . . . the
abiding, uncaused, unchanging, impersonal silence from which
unconditional love overflows and celebrates. It is the wonderful
mystery.
Seeing or Not Seeing:
The nature of oneness is incomprehensible and so any
communication
about it can only be an interpretation of the ideas that surround
it.
Those ideas can either be generated from confusion or clarity.
However, to suggest that one idea is better than the other and
that
the telling or the hearing of those ideas are a personal choice,
would be a contradiction of the very essence of the Advaita
perception.
The communication of confusion is just as much an expression
of
oneness as the clarity which exposes it.
It seems that there is an idea that the apparent separate
individual
can choose to make an effort to approach something called
non-dualism
through the application of practice, process, purification, the
cultivation of understanding or whatever else can be taught or
learnt.
The concept of reaching a level of understanding wherein the
so-called sage can accept the dualism of life and live in peace
with
himself and others, seems to be the perceived aim. And yet this
kind
of perception could not be less relevant to the liberation which
brings with it the realisation that there is nothing and no-one
that
becomes liberated.
The kind of teaching that is based on personal endeavour is a
teaching of imprisonment simply because it reinforces the idea of
the
sage, the seeker and the sought. The very idea of there being
“various approaches” to Advaita comes out of a basic
ignorance of its
essence.
So what is the fundamental difference between the personal and
the
impersonal perception?
The word Advaita means not two and expresses as nearly as
possible in
words the perception that all and everything is already only
oneness,
and that there is nothing else but that.
When this is clearly seen by no-one, it completely exposes the
idea
of subject and object merely as an illusory concept held within
the
hypnotic dream of separation. Consequently, the idea that an
apparent
separate individual (subject) can choose to attain enlightenment
(object) becomes completely irrelevant. It also becomes clear
that
all practices or effort to follow a path leading to a future goal
continuously reinforces the sense of personal seeking and is a
direct
denial of abiding unicity.
The idea that presumes the possibility that dualistic
practices can
lead the apparent seeker to the non-dualistic perception, is
similar
to the idea that with sufficient effort and determination you can
teach a blind man to see. To quote:
“Doctrines, processes and progressive paths which
seek enlightenment
only exacerbate the problem they address by reinforcing the idea
that
the apparent self can find something it presumes it has lost. It
is
that very effort, that investment in self-identity, that
continuously
recreates the illusion of separation from oneness. This is the
veil
which we believe exists. It is the dream of individuality.”
(The Open
Secret)
Out of all the many awakenings that have been described to me,
it is
continuously confirmed that one of the first realisations that
arises
is the seeing that no-one awakens. And yet we see that the
majority
of teachings, both traditional and contemporary, are constantly
speaking to an apparent separate seeker (subject) and
recommending
that in order to attain enlightenment (object) they should choose
to
meditate, self-enquire, purify, cultivate understanding, still
the
mind and the ego, surrender, be honest, seek earnestly, give up
seeking, do therapy, do nothing, be here now, and so on . . . the
ideas are as endless and as complicated as the mind from where
they
are generated.
These recommendations arise from the belief that the
“enlightenment”
of the “teacher” has been attained or earned through
the application
of choice, effort, acceptance or surrender, and that other
seekers
can be taught to do the same.
Of course there can be nothing right or wrong with earnest
seeking,
meditation, self-enquiry, understanding and so on. They are
simply
what they appear to be. But who is it that is going to choose to
make
the effort? Where is the effort going to take the apparent
chooser
to? – where is there to go if there is only oneness? If
there is no
separate individual there is no volition, and so how can an
illusion
dispel itself?
The concept of personal enlightenment arises within the mind
which
sets up a false structure consisting of a “spiritual
ego” or
so-called “higher self” which has adopted or been
attracted to a set
of taught ideals about the need for self-purification, for
instance,
which it believes will eventually bring about the prize of
enlightenment. It then attempts to discipline the so-called
“lower
self” to carry out tasks which appear to the “lower
self” to be
contrary to its nature. Here is the source of the struggle,
confusion
and sense of inadequacy and disillusionment that abounds in the
search. It is also the main reason that, until recently, apparent
liberation has seemed to be a rare occurrence. But when
liberation
apparently arises it is seen that there is no difference between
being asleep and being awake.
As far as can be seen, the radical, clear and uncompromising
expression of absolute non-dualism is very rarely communicated.
However, to imply that one kind of message is truer than another
would be as dualistic as thinking that there is a divide between
the
absolute and the relative. There is no such thing as the truth,
there
is only what is, as it is.
Nevertheless, should the apparent seeker request
“guidance”, then
there would be a direct response out of impersonal clarity which
will
constantly and uncompromisingly destroy illusion and leave
nothing
but the possibility of liberation. This response arises without
the
slightest regard for tradition, belief, understanding, personal
consideration, aesthetics or anything else that arises out of the
dreaming mind.
What is longed for and feared most is absence . . . the
absence of
the “me” that feels separate. In that absence another
possibility
arises which is absolutely beyond the idea of understanding,
teaching, becoming, destiny, karma and personal attainment. It
appears that there is a considerable readiness to listen to this
rare, simple and incredible message. It will either be heard or
not
heard, and that is all there is.
To quote again from The Open Secret . . .
“And from wherever and whenever this insight is
communicated, it has
no connection with end-gaining, belief, path or process. It
cannot be
taught but is continuously shared. Because it is our inheritance,
no-one can lay claim to it. It needs not to be argued, proven or
embellished, for it stands alone simply as it is, and can only
remain
unrecognised and rejected, or realised and lived.”
from Fingers Pointing Towards the Moon, by
Wei Wu Wei
http://www.sentientpublications.com/catalog/fingers_pointing.php
The Suddenness of Satori
There exists an elementary confusion about the "sudden" character of satori -- the so-called "sudden" as opposed to "gradual" schools of Zen (those of Hui Neng and of Shen-hsiu).
But there is not, never was and never could be, anything sudden about satori except the event itself, i.e. the "turning-over" (paravritti) of the mind -- and that is necessarily instantaneous -- a seizure of the present. Its preparation may be considered to require untold millions of our years. Regarded within the framework of our lifetime that preparation may be short or long, may be fulfilled in youth or old age -- on the rare occasions on which it is fulfilled at all. There is nothing sudden about the preparation of satori, but the event itself appears to be both unexpected and immediate.
Suddeness is a function of Time. Satori is an intemporal state. The time-factor (our notion of time) is quite inapplicable to it.
Preparation for Satori
There is no path to Satori. It cannot be attained. As we have seen, all the Masters tell us that we cannot seize Reality: it is Reality that seizes us. And we must not strive for it, because the Mind cannot be reached through the mind.
But we can prepare ourselves for it. This preparation consists in attaining -- attainment is on the plane of phenomena -- a state of consciousness in which as many hindrances as possible are removed, a state of relative depouillement, so that we shall be en disponibilite, so that Reality may be able to seize us if It will.
Let me put it like this. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church there is only one Pope among many million members, and he is chosen from among many dozens of cardinals. There is no path to papacy, direct or indirect, but there is a path to the condition of cardinalcy. Arrived at the state of member of the Sacred College a man is no surer of the papal state than he was on the day he was born, but he is papabile -- he could be chosen.
Nothing he himself can "do" will lead him to the papal state: that depends on factors outside his control, largely imponderable and innate factors. And, to make the parable more exact, there have been rare instances when the Pope has been selected from outside the cardinalcy and even from outside the priesthood.
But is not the status of a cardinal an end in itself? Is it not already much? Is it not to a great extent its own reward? Neither the papal state nor the realisation of the state of satori is generally our lot, though both are available to all men. We do not strive to become Pope, we must not strive to become Jivan Muktas. But we may attain the state of disponibilite by striving -- and that state is its own reward (even if such reward does not include the ego-affirmation of wearing a nice red hat).
I have said that the state of "papability," of disponibilite, may be striven for. What is it, and how?
Surely it is just understanding, intellectual at first, transmuted into intuitional knowledge. When we have sufficiently disposed of ignorance, knowledge may take its place, and when we have knowledge the artificial ego evaporates, dies of inanition, and our relative Reality is ready for integration with Reality Itself. Then we are at the disposal of the Absolute.
You can "will" any state, higher or lower, and bring things into manifestation. You can will the highest state of consciousness. You cannot will what lies beyond, or the atmosphere in which all the willing is done and in which all willing and manifestion make less than a scratch.
You know what it means to will a new level of consciousness and you can do it. Yet if you think any of the activity brings you closer to what lies beyond, then you think the message of a sky writer has any bearing at all on the sky. It has none. It's gone. It doesn't merge with the sky. To the sky, it's not even there in the first place.
Feeling your apparent confinement bodily, socially and culturally, what do you do about it? What do you do about your writing in the sky? To the sky it's nothing, so you need do nothing for that. Yet you keep shaping the vapor in the sky. The sky has no words for you on what shapes to make or what words to spell. So now what?
--Jerry Katz