Pointers

When no thought is present, what is present?


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You are already established in that stateless state that is prior to all thoughts and knowledge. You don't have to do a thing, except see or understand what is being pointed to.


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What is it, right now, that exists without any doubts, questions, or suffering? That beingness is what you are.


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Pausing to see that there is no "me" or that there is a living presence before and within you (and is nothing but you), is not a conceptual endeavor. It is a direct inquiry into your natural state.


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Despite what immensely popular spiritual writers assert, there is no person to "accept" whatever arises; presence doesn't "hold" or "embrace" you--you are It; unhappiness ultimately occurs because you assume that there is a mind, not because of the mind's "conditioning"; an "alignment with Now" presupposes an individual that will be doing the aligning; and there is no need for you to "transcend" your thoughts--for not only is having thoughts part of your normal functioning, thoughts, by their inert nature, are automatically transcended by your ever-present, nonconceptual reality.


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How splendidly odd: To see and speak from this body, yet to unequivocally know that I am without name or form.


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The literal meaning of the Buddhist term nirvana is a lovely one: "A blowing out." But the ego cannot be extinguished, given that it--as a constant and defined entity--isn't there in the first place. What is present are self-centered thoughts and feelings, arising and falling in awareness. Even after self-realization, such thoughts and emotions continue to come up. It's just that their frequency is increasingly low; and when they do appear, they are immediately seen for what they are: Information and responses that aren't necessarily accurate.


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Awareness is seen by awareness, not by a thought or a sensation or a belief. That is why this understanding is so vivid, immediate, and clear when it happens. But when you meditate or engage in a process or practice, you (as an individual person) are attempting to attain some form of bliss or continual happiness, which is your idea of what you think "enlightenment" may be. But this is sheer folly. Why? Because it is simply one concept is chasing another. What truth can come from that? Yet, that is precisely what spiritual seekers are doing the world over. See the reality of this right now: Awareness is seen by awareness, not by a thought or a sensation or a belief. You cannot look or understand this with a thought or idea. Thus, only the seeing remains. And awareness can only be seen by awareness. Don't move from this. Allow it to resonate. It is your essence.