The landscape of the mind.

Become familiar with the landscape of the mind.

The natural seeker

Until the seeker realises they are indeed a seeker there is no question and no answer.

The seeker has to arrive at the question in their own time other wise the answer is totally meaningless.

Once the question appears then there is a search for meaning and only then is the ‘answer’ liberating - mind blowing.

Q & A

Q.  There are people like Tony Parsons, who are constantly repeating there is non-one, there is nothing to do, no matter which questions are asked! 

You say he shows no compassion, that's what I thought too, but maybe he doesn't remember how painfull it was to be a seeker!

‘Roy’ Yes, that’s probably partly true too but it was a long time ago that things happened for me and I’m sure I’ve forgotten just how painful it was but still I can feel the pain in that interviewer.

Q.  All of these differences between the teachings, and all these little "wars" are very confusing for the seeker, because it's not non-dual. How can non-duality can be taught while denigrate others? (I saw it many times on "non-dual" sites). It puzzles me :)

‘Roy’ Once the truth of our nature is seen then that is the same for everyone but as people are different then the expression in trying to teach that is different – they are all pointing at the same insight.  And as you say it’s not non-dual; true, but we are dealing in paradox here and not absolute facts.  So, as I’ve said before this isn’t a teaching like we learnt in school – 1+1 = 2.  Although you probably feel that you are one being your experience of the world is dual – up/down, hot/cold etc.  In the non-dual experience of the true self it is known as one with no opposites so there is no separation, no conflicts and no other.  Again, this isn’t a teaching to learn and believe; it is a search for the true self and then all is understood.  The experience of self is satisfying and non-dual – and – the earthly human experience continues, in a dualistic world – and this is where the apparent differences are.

Q.  Who's really telling the truth?

‘Roy’ So again, it’s not about telling the truth of knowledge, it’s about finding the truth of your true nature.  There are many different personalities; some of the teachers understand and others think they understand some seekers are only satisfied with the truth while others are happy to learn something and think they know, some are confused and others just want fame and money and will do anything to con you.  Unfortunately there are charlatans who will take advantage of you and it’s a bit of a mine field but I guess it’s all ‘grist for the mill’ – if you know the term.  I met an old friend a few years ago who I knew while doing my seeking and he seemed rather happy with himself so I asked him “are you enlightened” and he said “yes, I think I am”.  I immediately knew that it hadn’t happened for him but of course couldn’t tell him as it would have sounded like I was putting him down or playing one upmanship.  If a person says they are enlightened they are most probably not as that shows they still think there is someone to become enlightened.  The true enlightened couldn’t answer with a yes or no to that question as they know there isn’t actually anyone here who could possibly become enlightened in the first place.  Once enlightenment happens first we know who we really are and then know that the person we thought we were doesn’t exist – he (in my case) is an illusion only.  By saying I am an illusion I don’t mean this body/mind, I mean the ‘me’ I thought was in control of this body/mind.  There isn’t anyone in control of this body, it’s programmed to look after itself.

(Previose comment by Roy).  The main difficulty for you is that you can only view from a ‘me’ perspective

Q.  Yes of course, the whole problem boils down to that :)

‘Roy’  So find this ‘me’ you think you are.

(previous statement by Roy).  The real you is the absolute who is looking for someone else

Q.  If my real you is the absolute, how can it be that yours knows it's the absolute, and mine doesn't, since the real me and the real you are the same "thing"? :)

‘Roy’  Yes the real me and you are the same – no separation.

The real you & me is quiet, compassionate & patient, it has nothing to prove.

Once the brain develops to be able to understand in a conceptual form then the ego is created – it’s a false identity and thinks it’s real and in control.  The true you isn’t in any kind of competition to be in control since it’s been around for ever, is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.  The ego tries to make out it’s powerful and important simply because it is not and as you’ve seen causes all sorts of problems.  The search undermines the ego and gradually weakens it – that’s why it’s so important to look for the ‘me’ that claims to be in control and to practice thought awareness.  There comes a point where it is seen what you really are and the ego then takes its rightful place as a servant instead of thinking it’s the master.

Simply thinking about the question is part of the search.

 

 

Recently I allowed the 'beyondseeking' website to lapse as it was costing me money with no direct rewards except for the occassional seeker asking questions.  I'm still open to recieve questions or even visits to Albany Western Australia - just phone to get details.  0898444750 or 0434721117.  I still have my first CD for sale if you would like some more direct speaking.

Good morning to you all.  A busy time it has been indeed.  Firstly I researched and visited Mumbai (India for the first time).  Mumbai is a modern cosmopolitan city (around the tourist parts).  I want to see the more earthy out of the way parts.

Then on to England for some family visiting.

Our house had been up for sale and after six weeks we were successful so more packing.  We moved to a rented houes and started looking for our new home while trying to live with the minimal amount of items and finding our way about in the new city.  'We found it' and then the long six week wait to move in.  Nice to be settled again although the place is still a bit of a mess.  The climate here is great and people very friendly.  The computers are once more active.  The only temporary device was the ipad that Tania bought; it kept us connected to the world.

The main events on a more spiritual level have been to simply watch emotions that surface, don't judge, risist or fight with them; they are just passing flotsome & jetsom.  Remember 'this too will pass'.  Now I'm adapting to retirement although I do want to retain some sort of part time work.

Me:-  Stilling the mind will slow its intensive activity and bring some peace with it.
Seeker:-  “It stops when I observe it carefully, it's strange, why is it that it stops when being observed?”

Me:-  Yes strange isn’t it?  Be thankful as it gives you a way in.  It’s the same with pain; it reduces with observation especially psychological pain.  An old friend used to say that when we resist (psychological) pain it’s like putting our finger on the pause button (on a cassette or DVD player) of life.  We don’t get rid of it but simply pause it thereby insuring that it will be there bothering us, in the background, again and again for much longer – until we confront it fully.  Bhagwan used to say "the difference between you and I is that I’ve felt all of my pain".

Frustrating isn’t it – what Harry (http://www.harryliantziris.blogspot.com.au/) said – but absolutely true.  It’s just an example of knowing from a non-dualistic point of view.  I remember how it was.  It’s a bit like dreaming; in my dreams I totally believe it – until I wake up.  This is the same – until awakening.

Yes a paradox indeed; there is nothing to do but doing nothing produces nothing and doing something will stop it happening but nothing happens unless we do something.  Ramesh Balsekar described it as we all have so many steps to climb but don’t know how many – i.e. you might have 2937 steps towards enlightenment; also you don’t know how many you’ve already climbed.  You just keep climbing up and up because you have no choice.  Every step is another insight and then reveals the next challenge; we just keep on climbing and it’s gradual.  Then one day we take the last step, and it’s sudden – you’re there!  The process is gradual but the arrival is sudden.

Seeker:-  “I've read a lot of enlightenment stories, every one of them had a teacher, went to satsangs, and all these things, or listened to John Wheeler, or something, none of them awakened then spontaneously all of a sudden one morning without having thought about it before it happened”.

 Me:-  The effort to understand is of the ego (and something much deeper) and the ego can’t come to know.  Not thinking about it brings the chance of the truth (that as always there) to surface all on its own.  I read the same story about The Buddha; he went to the best teachers in the land for years, almost killed himself renouncing food but it was only when he gave up and relaxed under a Bodhi tree that it all happened for him.  In my case I was reading John Wheeler’s website when it happened.

The mind will tell you some interesting stuff; it’s just doing it’s best to help.

Seeker:-  Maybe I'll understand later, but for the moment, from where I am at, it's totally impossible.

Me:-  Yes, it is.  That’s why you need some-one outside your mind, to guide you.  The mind can’t work it out by itself.

Seeker:-  It makes me wonder if watching the mind isn't a bit dangerous, in the sense of that it could lead to have two fragmented personalities?

Me:-

Yes, it is dangerous – to the mind.  The mind says fragmented personalities but it’s not fragmented it becomes integrated.  There will be two understandings – the dual and the non-dual.  But there will be no problems in there being two and there will be no conflict.  It’s strange how gaining a second understanding brings non-duality.

I believe my dreams because that’s all there is at the time and so the mind’s (daily) creation is the same.  Watching closely slows it down and allows the space between thoughts to be experienced.  That puts thoughts into perspective.  When you can sit in the stillness first there is nothing happening although a closer look at that reveals a rippling effect in consciousness – like on a pond in a very light breeze – the surface isn’t entirely still.  Later this settles down and becomes like looking in a mirror with no movement at all – just pure reflection.  This is the ‘state’ of awareness and yet full self knowledge, a full sense of presence and detachment from the daily mind stuff.  This is how I see the difference between consciousness and awareness.  Consciousness is more human while awareness is what we are – the absolute.  Being aware(ness) with the sense of presence – knowing the ‘I AM’ without the mind’s interference.

Be still and know that I AM.

Seeker:- I'm doing it, I watch the mind, sometimes I can see all the stories it builds. Mine is very good at that, especially when it goes into fear. Maybe this comes from a survival instinct, I don't know.
My mind is continuously telling me that I'm not going to succeed, that it is hopeless. Why is that? Why can't it be helpfull? Why does it seem to be my enemy?
But I have to use it, because I have things to do, and it's keeping it functionning in its usual chaotic way.
Yet sometimes I can still it, for a very little while.
The positive thing is that I have stopped to wonder about the meaning of life and all this, I don't care if there's a meaning or not, I just want to be free.

Me:- Wonderful!

It’s a fascinating thing – to see what it comes up with and the games it plays.

The mind’s job is to solve problems and for that it is very good – I still need mine – to get through the day.  And yes, the mind is very chaotic – not the organised functioning that we assume and thoughts aren’t usually linked but just jump from subject to subject.

Even just one moment between two thoughts is proof that there is space there.  With time those spaces get longer – even a few seconds is a very long time in experience.  When those spaces happen notice that you haven’t disappeared – I mean that you aren’t unconscious, in fact in some ways you are more conscious, more present, more alert.  That shows that you aren’t dependent on thoughts for your identity – that in fact you are the space between thoughts.

Keep it up, keep up thought awareness.  It can be done at any time, not just at specific times in the day.  Some of my best times where when I was driving (out in the country when there was nothing to do). 

Seeker:- But... Who is observing the mind? Who is analyzing that the mind is analyzing?

Me:- This question is from the mind, it is an intellectual question.

See how the mind is working and frustrating you.  These are the games it plays.

You see, I didn’t say to analyse the mind – just watch and you‘ll find who is the watcher.

Seeker:- You're right, this question came from the mind.
I'll try to remember to watch only, I need to focus on one thing.
You told me this before, but I forgot, because I regularly fall into intensive seeking again. It's difficult to keep the steps straight. There's always the temptation to go and look right or left or behind :)

Thank you for your patience :)

Me:- Ah, Grasshopper (did you see that old tv series?) you are doing well.

You’ll fall into that trap often so don’t despair.

To clarify my mention of an intellectual question as apposed to an experiential one (although I think you understand) – an intellectual one (as I’d said before) is ‘Who created the world – God did – then who created God’.  Intellectual questions get an answer and more questions and really never help while giving the impression of being helpful.  While an experiential question is – ‘I feel like getting more involved but I can’t make up my mind whether I should join a tradition religious group or a New Age group’.  This can be a block since we don’t want to go down a wrong road and get even more lost.

Stilling the mind will slow its intensive activity and bring some peace with it.  Freedom from its intensity will come once you realize who you are.  The intensity pain & frustration is actually your friend (you will realise later).

Don’t get disheartened by my directions and don’t take them personally; they are not criticisms of you just reminders of what the mind will do to keep you locked into its circular patterns.

Seeker:- OK, thank you for the answer. It's difficult to grasp. Sometimes I am convinced that I need a method to go towards enlightement, sometimes I feel every method is just another mental entertainment, 

Me:- And don’t the mind love entertainment so it can think it’s getting somewhere.

Seeker:-   and that I must find my own way. 

Me:-  Partly true – you do have to make the journey and it is alone but some-one who’s successfully found the way through can guide you.  Try as I say, watching the mind and when you come to a block I can help you through.  The mind will go through all the theories and methods it can find until it is clear that it can’t find it’s way out.  The mind is the wrong tool because it’s just another part of the appearance - it’s part of the illusion and the real you is what the illusion appears in.  I'm not here to tell you what to experience but to guide through the maze to your own experience.
 

Seeker:- I'm loosing interest in almost everything, except trying to understand, and taking care of my animals and of those who are in the animal shelter where I'm a volunteer.
I don't know where all this is leading me, it's really confusing, but it's too late to go backwards, alea jacta est :)

---

Hi Roy,

Please tell me about the Dream. How does it work? If the dream is that of Awareness, and if Awareness is One, why so many different views? How is it that if someone can see the illusion, another can't, if we are all part of the same dream? What is your view about that?

Thank you,

The dream seems real because it is real in that we are experiencing it.  If I am depressed and life seems hopeless then depression is experienced and real (for me) and I consider suicide – it seems the best option.  UFOs are real to those who believe in them.  LSD produces an experience that is real for the person under the influence and when I dream at night they are absolutely real to me (and I love them) – until I wake up.  It’s the same with the dream you refer to - until we wake up (to the truth).  We share the dream – more or less.  It seems real because that’s all we know but when we get to see something truthful, some other view, then we realize that this world is nothing more than a dream. 

Ah, awareness is one but the world (the dream) seems to be many because those views are through the senses and brains of many people who have forgotten who they are and have taken on the belief they are the person and the person’s experience.  If we only ever sat in a cinema and watched an ongoing movie non-stop then pretty soon we would think that it was real – we would believe in it, we would get bored with remembering the silver screen.  I see and apparently live in duality – I the person, that is.  This brain generates a dualistic view and a marvellous one it is.  It seems very real and I play it out to the fullest but having seen the greater truth I know that ultimately this is not real and that the world actually appears in me (awareness).  We all see the illusion but some have come to remember who (or what) they actually are and have seen the truth (again), to see that the world is an illusion.

The difficulty you have is that you are trying to understand from a dualistic perspective because that’s what you’ve become accustomed to.  Once you have the non-dual view as well then it’s easy to understand.  Seen from Cory’s dualistic view the world seems real but remember that even Cory is part of the dream too.  You are the awareness that the dream appears in.  You are the omnipresent’ness viewing through Cory’s experience.

From the omnipresent perspective there is only awareness and so there is nothing else, no other, nothing different and no world, no time or space.  Everything that seems other than awareness is an illusion.  Since all there is is awareness then awareness must be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent and so again all there is is awareness.