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#3831 - Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - Editor: Jerry Katz
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
Colin Drake responds to a question from a reader of his book, Beyond the 'Separate Self': The End of Anxiety and Mental Suffering.
Direct Investigation of Reality
'By observing mental states you also become
aware of the seven factors of enlightenment. These are: awareness
of awareness, investigation of the Way, vigour, joy, serenity,
concentration and equanimity.' (The Buddha, Maha Sattipatthana
Sutta 14-16) The first two are paramount and the last five
are outcomes of these. This is what my book Beyond the
Separate Self is all about, becoming 'aware of
awareness' through direct investigation and then continuing with
further 'investigation of the Way' (the Tao, the nature of
reality). Once one is 'aware of awareness' then one can undertake
further investigations not needing to relying on any 'teachings',
although these may be useful for confirming what one has
discovered. I recently received the following query, from
someone who had bought my book, a week after it had been
purchased:
I have been reading your book with great interest but from my
Course in Miracles study I understand that the ultimate being
,YOU, is love. It tells us that "God is but love and
therefore so are you". In the introduction we are told that
we cannot learn what LOVE is but we can be taught to remove the
blocks to the "awareness" of Love's Presence. "
This is the Jesus teaching . I may be making a play on words here
but it is probably only a different approach to the same ultimate
Oneness which we all are.
Being hungry ,and tired, at the time I dashed off:
Love is 'no separation' and in consciousness, at rest as pure
awareness, and in motion as the manifest universe there is no
separation. This consciousness in all modes is God, Allah,
Brahman, The Void, The Tao ... call it what you will, Love, Colin
During lunch I realised that my reply was somewhat unhelpful so
after a short rest I wrote the following:
I apologise for my somewhat brief, and unhelpful reply (although
true), but I was tired and hungry. Now that I am replete
and refreshed I will attempt to be more helpful.
To say that 'all is consciousness' or that 'God is Love' , both
of which are true, is useless unless one has realised, and
experienced, the truth of these statements. That is they mean
nothing until self-realization, or God-realization has taken
place.
My book is not about teachings but hopes to provide a framework
in which one can investigate directly the nature of Reality,
through considering one's moment-to-moment experience. To
this end it seems to me that you have not approached the content
in the way in which it was intended. To accomplish this one needs
to take note of the following directions, which appear in Chapter
1:
1:This is not a question of belief or imagination but of
discovery by direct investigation, and for this to be effective
we need to put aside all belief systems and acquired knowledge
concerning who we are at the underlying level beyond thoughts and
sensations. The only knowledge of this that is valid is that
which is revealed to each one of us by direct experience. The
easiest way for this direct experience to occur is by enquiring
into the nature of experience itself, and for this enquiry to be
effective we need to start from the position of believing and
knowing nothing.
2:The chapters that follow are aids to this enquiry, and as
such should not just be read and intellectually considered but
need to be taken slowly, step by step, not moving onto the next
step until one fully 'sees' the step that is being considered.
This does not mean to say that one needs to agree with each
statement, as any investigation is personal, but one needs to
understand what is being said. They map the author's own
investigations, over a twelve-year period, and are given in the
order in which they occurred. They each stem directly from a
prolonged period of meditation and contemplation, and chart a
growing understanding, through experiencing and seeing, of the
nature of reality and our place within it. As such they need to
be taken in the order given, as each one builds on what has been
'seen' in the preceding chapters. Also to get the most out of
each chapter one needs to spend some time contemplating it until
one 'feels' what it is pointing to; if a chapter is
just read without due attention then its significance
may well be missed.
By your comments about the 'Course in Miracles' it seems that you
have ignored the first, and the fact that you have 'read' the
book so quickly means that you have not followed the second.
Direct investigation can reveal that 'all is
consciousness':
Thus there is no dichotomy or duality between the physical world
and 'awareness' for they are both manifestations of the same
essence. The physical universe is just cosmic energy
(consciousness in motion) when it is manifest into physical form,
and awareness (consciousness at rest) contains this same energy
in latent form as potential energy. p.43-44
and that 'God is Love' :
The word God means consciousness having two states: at rest (pure
awareness), and in motion (manifestation). In this there is truly
no separation as the essence and ground of all that exists is
consciousness, and true love is only present where there is no
separation; true love is 'no separation'. The Christian idea that
'God is Love' points to this, and love of one's fellow man
naturally follows from the realization of no separation. p.95
However for these statements to mean anything you need to have
undertaken the investigation yourself and come to these
realizations. In the final analysis we all have to be a
'light unto ourselves' as the Buddha says, and others can only
provide pointers along the way, Love, Colin
We have all been 'taught' so much, and received so many
'teachings' but in this field of self-inquiry (or direct
investigation into the nature of reality) they are useless. In
fact they only act as blockages colouring our attempts at
inquiry, or investigation, rendering these attempts impotent. We
all need to follow Descartes in 'believing nothing' and 'doubting
everything' that we have learned; taking this as the starting
point for our inquiry, or investigation. It may well be that our
investigations discover that which we had previously been taught,
but then we will know it by our direct experience requiring no
outside authority. In this case no faith or belief is necessary
and any doubts can always be dispelled by our own direct
investigation. What's more this investigation continually leads
to further discoveries, as what is being investigated is
boundless; which means that one can go beyond any external
teachings and truly discover the satguru within. Then such quotes
as the one that started this article are enjoyed as confirmation
of what has been directly discovered, rather than needing to be
'believed' as a teaching. ~ ~ ~
Beyond the 'Separate Self': The End
of Anxiety and Mental Suffering
by Colin Drake
the e-book is $8 and may be purchased and downloaded at once at