Pointers

Spaciousness does not suffer. It is the self-image that we have of ourselves that causes us pain, heartache, and tension. Recognize the truth of what you are. Then any thought or reaction that comes up is seen as merely that: A temporary and impersonal appearance in awareness.


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Nonduality is not about higher states, self-improvement, choiceless awareness, some future enlightenment, or exploring any kind of spiritual mystery. If any of these actions or kinds of thinking are going on, they will be of no help to you.


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You are already "at" where you need to be. Nothing is required of you, other than seeing or understanding the proceeding sentence.


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An idealist is someone who continues to hold a conceptual understanding of reality, however grand and humanistic his or her thinking may be.


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Thoughts are not the problem. It is your mis-understanding of them that is the issue. Thoughts are conceptual responses to your environment. They help you to survive, function, and commu-nicate. But they cannot know presence (and neither can the mind, which--essentially--is all a thought is anyway). You are that subtle, translu-cent Beingness that is present before any thought arises. You are That which is already there.


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To my mind, a sage is someone who--in addition to being self-realized--has considerable skill or experience at pointing to the immediacy of presence. True sages can do this through talks, writing, gazes, or even silence. And more often than not, they lead seemingly ordinary lives. Indeed, Sri Atmananda (Krishna Menon) once referred to sages as "good citizens."


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What is it that is present, but is not your body, your thoughts, your sensations, or your state of consciousness? Reflect upon this with ease and gentleness. Come back to it at some later time, if necessary, when your seeing may be clearer.


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The body, its actions, and its senses are all objects. They are not what you are. You are the presence that recognizes these objects. See that you are only the seeing. You are that which knows that objects are present, not the objects themselves.


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Moral, societal, and philosophical issues hold zero interest for this particular body/mind. There are plenty of teachers who will happily engage you on those topics, and that's perfectly fine. In fact, the diversity of nondual expression today is incredible and to be applauded. My penchant, for whatever reason, is for writing and speaking about aware-ness itself. This happens to have been the per-spective that Nisargadatta took during his final talks (e.g., Consciousness and the Absolute). During this period, he playfully (and not so play-fully) told seekers that they were now in "graduate school." Though the dialogues during these years tended to be terse and abrupt, they were also spot-on, original, and exquisite. But rest assured, there is nothing difficult about this understanding. Though subtle, your natural state is utterly obvious. Take a non-moment to see this for yourself.