Knowledge and Religion

Where did the universe come from?

When reading a book on Modern Physics and Vedanta, I came upon this beautiful hymn from the Rig Veda. Did you ever wonder where this creation came from? From a state that existed before there was even one division between the seer and the objects seen; and now we have this multifarious universe. 

Without opposites, there is no way for us to conceive of the state that was before the universe came into being; or maybe there is a way for us to know what was before there was a was, and before the first second in universal time ticked by? How can we possibly conceive of such a state? Even now returning to our true identity as objectless Awareness, we become that which is free of the rising and falling of the universe. Now I will let these verses point to that which does not easily fit into words:

Nasadiya Sukta (Not the Non-existent)

1. At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing.
There was not air nor yet sky beyond.
What was its wrapping? Where? In whose protection?
Was Water there, unfathomable and deep?

2. There was no death then, nor yet deathlessness;
of night or day there was not any sign.
The One breathed without breath, by its own impulse.
Other than that was nothing else at all.

3. Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness,
and all was Water indiscriminate. Then
that which was hidden by the Void, that One, emerging,
stirring, through power of Ardor, came to be.

4. In the beginning Love arose,
which was the primal germ cell of the mind.
The Seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom,
discovered the connection of Being in Nonbeing.

5. A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing.
What was described above it, what below?
Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces,
thrust from below and forward move above.

6. Who really knows? Who shall declare it here?
Whence was it born? Whence issued this creation?
Even the Gods came after its emergence.
Then who can tell from whence it came to be?

7. None knows when creation has arisen;
Whether He made it or did not make it,
He who surveys it in the highest heaven,
Only He knows, or maybe even He knows not.

Now we can return to that state which was before the world was. It is known and unknown both at the same time. Standing here we can enjoy that which cannot be put into words.

For more detailed explanations and examples read through these blogs or get my book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. Also feel free to ask questions. Questioning is the key to your freedom. You’ll see that when you question limitation, it falls away.

Asking Question
As always feel free to ask questions. It is only when you don’t ask that you get to live in assumed limitations. When you can ask you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.

Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

Finding Peace in a Brutal World

Since I encourage curiosity, it is my joy to answer the questions that I get. When a person questions the circumstances that make up his or her life, things start to change for the better and freedom is just around the corner. Here are some more questions from Sabir:

Thanks Michael for your reply, As you encourage questions, I will ask because I am confused and seek clarity through the guidance of your wisdom.

How do you define Happiness? We live in this world and have to live under the circumstances that we face day by day. I am fortunate that I have some education and experience, and live my life in so much comfort, but in this part of the world where basic necessities are rare, people are dying due to floods, droughts, earthquakes and poverty. How can a person seek his or her self-nature when the reality, or as you called limitations are so brutal?  Living in extremely difficult circumstances, how can a person find happiness/self-nature or gain self-knowledge with an empty stomach, crying hungry children, and dying parents?

My point is that man is helpless; it was not his choice to come into the world.  Like the Sufi preachers, you use very simple words to encourage people to dig out and seek their inner nature. But how can people do that while living in this real world if it is REAL?

Another instance of a painful reality is a person facing a serious setback and break up of an intense relationship. This makes his life miserable. Every breath he takes is filled with sorrow and grief because his loved one left him alone. How can he escape this suffering? Can he get his normal life back? Should he consult with a doctor for a remedy? Can you suggest some meditation to overcome this misery? Michael, please help as this is really a matter of life or death for someone?

Regards,
Sabir 

At best these words can point to a state that is really beyond words. I know that when I use the word happiness people will think of a smile as they lie on their favorite beach sipping a cocktail. Moreover they will think of pain, misery and sadness as the opposite of this happiness. However I am using happiness in a different way. I am refering to the feeling of being at home or at peace. I am talking about a happiness that has no opposite.  What this means is that even in the midst of pain as you cry ouch! you can still abide in peace. Obviously this does not come from a state of mind. After all you are thinking and feeling ouch!

This happiness comes from standing as the silent witness, where the ups and downs of life are seen in their proper perspective. It means standing as the stillness that all of this motion points to. You should know that you cannot create this stillness; you can only abide in your original state.

The world is an unstable place for finding happiness _____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
___________________________________________________________________

From your question I can see that you know that life can be unpredictable. Even for someone as well off as you, you never know when there will be an earthquake, flood, or war. Quickly all of your possessions will disappear. And even if you manage to hang on to your possessions disease is unpredictable and can strike at any time.

If you think that pain and suffering are just for the poor, you should remember what happened in my part of the world. We live in California near where Steve Jobs passed away from pancreatic cancer. While he could afford the best care, he only lived for eight years, even with his painful treatments.

But life provides an incredible opportunity
However you should know one thing: despite all of the pain and suffering that you see, life is still an incredible opportunity. While experiencing suffering in the human form, you can discover that which is free from suffering and even death. And once you discover this, you will suffer no more. This is the promise of all sages springing from before eternity, and this is my promise to you. If you just look to the place where these words point you will find a joy that is unaffected by the ups and downs in life. You will find oneness, which is the reality and harmony behind the whole universe. This is the wish fulfilling gem that everyone seeks in various forms.

Although suffering seems intense, when you discover the secret of this teaching in an instant your suffering disappears. Like a magic trick, suffering seems intense when it is present, but once it is gone it will feel like it never came into being. Suffering disappears for good when the person, bombarded by changing circumstances, disappears. Then as if rising out of the ashes of limitation, you will become the changeless Self that you always were. It is here that you will rest in peace.

Finding peace after a painful breakup
Now for the person facing a breakup of an intense relationship: Like death, this person is grieving the loss of a loved one and that is natural. This person does not have to change his mind. The grieving process will naturally run its course. Meditation is the best remedy for grief. Here are two pointers that you can give to that person to help with his meditation:

First it is unfair to ask another person to provide you with the happiness and love that she just can’t provide. That’s because happiness and love comes right from your heart and not from another person. This means love comes from the place where you actually experience it, and not from the things that you see. Notice this and in future relationships you will be able to experience a deep connection in oneness, without the fear of loss.

You are the seer of limitation, not the one trapped in it
Second, notice that your identity is really the Awareness that sees the person who appears caught in his problems. The seer is like a steady flame. As the seer, you are not the one trapped by your problems. You can tell this person that Awareness is not a state of mind. Rather it is your original identity. Knowing this you don’t have to change your mind. Doctors and medications can only help you to change your mind for a short period of time; these are temporary fixes. On the other hand in meditation you can shift the place where you stand, out of the mind and into your innate Awareness. That will help you resolve this problem for good. In my book you will find many more gems to help with relationships.

Use your circumstance as an opportunity to practice
One last thing: In my spiritual practice the world around me was fairly stable. I had enough to eat, and there were no wars or natural disasters. This made it easier for me to find the things that were bothering me and keeping me stuck in limitation so that I could resolve them and wake up. While you can practice under any circumstance, I would recommend taking advantage of the fact that your world is stable right now. Practice with an open minded intensity so no matter how your world changes, you will never suffer again. Please tell me if this answered your questions or if you have any further concerns.

Asking Question
As always feel free to ask questions. It is only when you don’t ask that you get to live in assumed limitations. When you can ask you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.

Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

The secret technique for finding your self

Here is an important question from Sabir:

Hello Michael,
How are you?
Remember me!
This is Sabir, your old student. I still read your book but unfortunately do not often meditate according to the teaching in the book. But whenever I try to see my mind and my problems from the eyes of myself, I really get some amazing feelings which I can't explain in words.

I was busy in this materialistic world. I immigrated to Australia, but am back in Pakistan because my mother is quiet sick and she needs me. Michael, I read your book countless times, but still I seriously think I am lacking the essence of your suggested meditation. Can you advise me on a new meditation technique to get to this essence?

Can I get the revised version of your book?
Regards,
Sabir

Here is our reply:

Hi Sabir,

I can see that you have had glimpses into your Self-Nature as some amazing feelings that you can’t put into words. This shows how in an instant you can be lifted out of your problems and limitations, and into the freedom of your real identity.  These experiences are great. To further your experiences you may want to explore this: when you come back into limitation, what are you coming back to? The thing that you come back to is the place you are taking to be your home. Although you can have a nice foray into the reality behind the universe, in the end you will come back to the place that you call me.

Perhaps you are coming back to the one who pursues happiness in the world.  In that case meditate on where you actually experience happiness. Notice I didn’t say give up something or try to get the right things. When you feel happiness, notice where it comes from. Does it come from the things that you see, or does happiness come right from the place where you experience it? Discovering this, when happiness seems to disappear you will know where to find it again.

Here you happily remain in your Self-Nature
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
___________________________________________________________________

When meditating on Self-Knowledge you want to see what you take to be you. This will help you to notice when you are taking assumed limitations to be reality. Remember, noticing limitation is the doorway to freedom. When without judgment you see limitation, you are automatically standing in the freedom of your real identity. In the end you will notice that you are the thing that you are seeking. That’s when the last assumption disappears and  there is no place left to come crashing down into suffering. Yes it is true; self-knowledge does put an end to suffering.

New techniques are only interesting when you are centered in your thought process. Not realizing that they are naturally free of the thoughts in their mind, people are always looking for new techniques to improve their thinking. But as always the most fascinating meditation is the ancient technique of returning to the Consciousness and Bliss that you really are. Although this place is always the same, you will find that standing here life becomes fresh and new. Always the same yet fresh and new, the only way to reconcile these seemingly opposite states is to stand here in your Self-Nature and see this for yourself.

Use old age and death as a motivation
I am sorry to hear about your mother. I wish her the best. As you take care of her, use this as a reminder. Bodies get old, sick and in the end they die. The only thing that doesn’t die is the thing that was never born. That is your Self-Nature. If you can answer this one question in your lifetime: “Who am I,” you too will never die.

In the revised edition of my book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive, I talk more about meditation, specifically how we meditate. But you will see that the meditation techniques are rather flexible.  That’s because whether sitting, standing or walking; eyes open or closed you are always the Self. But I do recommend spending a little time each day contemplating the truth of your own being, until it is natural to stand as you are.

Asking Question
As always feel free to ask questions. It is only when you don’t ask that you get to live in assumed limitations. When you can ask you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.

Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

 

The why of Self-Knowledge

At first this thing called Self-Knowledge might seem confusing or at least nebulous. After all we are ourselves already, aren’t we? So what’s there to know? You may wonder why when Socrates asked the Oracle of Delphi, what’s the most important thing to know she replied, Know thyself. And Moses found out that God’s name was, I am that I am. It seems like there is some reason to know yourself.  But what could that reason possibly be.

I pull up to the 76 gas station on Los Gatos Avenue and ask: Can you tell me how to get to the town of Los Gatos? The attendant answers, What, you are already in Los Gatos.  With that knowledge I arrived in Los Gatos, right? No, I was already in Los Gatos but being ignorant of Los Gatos I was running all over desperate to find Los Gatos so that I could go to my meeting.

Knowledge is the cure for Ignorance
The problem was not a matter of doing something; after all I was already in Los Gatos.  The problem was ignorance. Since my problem came from ignorance the only solution was knowledge. Self-Knowledge is returning to the place where we stand anyway. 

With this as an introduction, we are ready to tackle the why of Self-Knowledge. I think you will see that Self-Knowledge is like the parting of the red sea so that you can easily walk from assumed limitation to the freedom that you are. However you will find one difference. You are already on the right side of this vast ocean. 

Like a Diamond your Self-Nature is Clear _____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
___________________________________________________________________
What happens is that we take this diamond like clear Awareness, our self-nature, and mix it up with the limitations that we see. This is like assuming that the diamonds are green because the walls of the room are green. Mixing up our identity with limitation is like putting on a shoe that doesn’t fit; it’s just plain irritating.

So what are the limitations that we see? After all I don’t take my identity to be the things that I see, do I? That’s why I don’t take myself to be the tree growing outside my office window. If I did you could tell me, No you are not that tree; that tree is just an object that you see. Did you know that your body is also an object that you see? That means that its limitations are not your limitations.

The Limitations of the Body are not your Limitations
For instance, this body is five foot nine 170 pounds. When I say that I’m a doctor, writer or policeman, father or son, young or old, sick or well I am referring to the body, and that’s not me. The problem is that while I can see the body the body can’t see me. The same applies to the mind. I see the thoughts in my mind including the nefarious “I” thought, and while I see my mind, my mind doesn’t see me.

This diagram illustrates what I am saying:

 

Notice that there is no box around Awareness. That’s because Awareness is like space; since Awareness has no location, the mind can’t grasp it or think awareness like we think a thoughts. The I concept is the I that we often take to be the subject. For example I might think: I am writing this blog. The I in that sentence is just another thing that I see; it's not really me.

So the way you know yourself is by standing in the place that you are anyway. As you don’t need a flashlight to find the sun, you don’t need a separate light to find the Awareness that lights up the mind and body.

If a phone speaks does that make it alive?
Last week at apple several things happened. They are relevant to this blog on the why of self-knowledge. First the iPhone 4S came out. One of the unique features of this phone is that you can talk to it and it will answer or do what you want. So when they asked the phone, Who are you, it answered, I am your humble personal assistant.

So if the phone can tell you who it is the phone alive? Of course not! There are three important differences between the iPhone and us:

First, we are aware of our thoughts; the phone isn’t.

Second, when the phone turns off nothing is there. In contrast, when our mind turns off we are still completely there. Although we can’t remember a thing, we know if we had a good night’s sleep or not, don’t we?

And third, when we go to sleep we don’t think, Oh no reality is starting to disappear! The world disappears as if it never came to be, but our sense of reality remains the same as it always is, doesn’t it? That’s why when we are dreaming, the dream world seems real.

When the body passes away, do you die?
This leads to the other thing that happened last week at Apple: Steve Jobs passed away. Obviously the thing that we recognize as Steve Jobs is gone. But the bright Awareness that lights up the mind and body, and makes them come alive, that didn’t go anywhere. That remained as it always is and that is what we are. Awareness is the thing that we really experience; but words and thoughts are too limited to describe it. . .  Even God could only stammer, I am that I am.   

Asking Question
Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

           

 

When your meditations become stale

I would like to take a break from our Buddhist text: Verses on The Faith Mind and answer a question from Dee. You know how much I love questions. Questions not only sharpen your understanding, they bring your meditations and your life into one continuous whole.

So here is the question from Dee:

Hi Michael,
Once again, thank you for getting back to me. Yes please, I would appreciate your sending me a link to your e-book as a PDF file.

You asked me what I am having a problem with re my spiritual practices!
My husband and I live in the bush in a nature reserve – we spend the majority of our time alone and I have not found anyone like-minded to interact with. My main problem is that I seem to be lacking the motivation I used to have when it comes to doing my meditation twice daily like I used to in the past – I went through years of deep self-analysis and studied with a wonderful Swami who taught me so much – what more is there to say?- lack of motivation……………………
Many thanks,
Dee

Hi Dee,

I think you will really enjoy Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. I wrote it for two audiences: beginners as an introduction, and spiritual aspirants whose practice is becoming stale. Often times in spiritual practice, we define our goal as way over there. Then we think, If I can just continue with my practice, I will somehow drill though a wall lined with obstacles and get there.

Eventually you start to feel as if you will never arrive at the thing you conceive to be the goal. That's when the motivation goes away. Self-knowledge will easily help you to overcome this problem. You will see clearly that the goal you are trying to reach is here and not way over there.

You are looking for a state of being _____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
___________________________________________________________________

Furthermore you will recognize that you are not looking for a state of mind, you are looking for a state of being, which is the real you. Many things can affect the mind such as certain drugs, chemical imbalances in the body, diseases, and old age. But fortunately you are the seer of your mind, not the one caught in it.

When your path is Self-Knowledge, even if you get caught by an old mental pattern, you will have a strong sense that you can find your way free of it. You will feel that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's when your energy comes back.

Freedom is so free that you are free of environments
As for your environment, do what's best for your practice. Sages throughout history have recommended having Sat Sang (meetings for spiritual support) with other aspirants. But did you ever notice how people who live in the city long to live in the country, and people who live in the beauty of the country long to live in the city.

Somehow we are always defining happiness as being over there. Thus we never notice the place where we actually experience happiness. This place is not in the city, nor is it in the country; it is in your own heart. When you do feel joy, notice the place where it comes from. Then with this simple meditation, you will be on your way to turning your practice around.

I hope that this helps. Please feel free to continue asking questions. After all Self-Knowledge is the path for the curious. 

Asking Question
Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

What's the Ultimate Purpose of Life?

Now to continue with stanzas from Verses on The Faith Mind, by The 3rd Chinese Zen Patriarch, Sengstau:

Consider movement stationary and the stationary in motion, both movement and rest disappear.

When such dualities cease to exist Oneness itself cannot exist.

To this ultimate finality no law or description applies.

For the unified mind in accord with the Way all self-centered striving ceases.

Here I started with a verse that we talked about in the last blog. On the level of thoughts, mind defines things in terms of opposites. Have you ever seen an extremely large mosquito or a small mountain?  It is true; we know objects by their opposite. Small or large, good or bad, we sometimes forget that we are intrinsically free of the opposites and comparisons that our mind throws up for us to see; that's because we are the seer of our mind, not the one caught in it.

How do you define yourself? _____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
_____________________________________________________________________

If you start to feel claustrophobic like the walls of life are caving in on you, take a look at how you are defining yourself. Is it poor as opposed to rich, or dull as opposed to bright? People forget to ask, How do I know these things about myself? The answer — you know if your mind is bright or dull because you stand as the bright, ever-shining Awareness. In these verses we call this awareness the One Mind.

But in case you stop with just naming the One Mind, and don’t actually experience what the name points to, the next verse says:

When such dualities cease to exist Oneness itself cannot exist.

This means that oneness is not another concept that you memorize. This oneness is so inclusive that it includes duality too. As the screen is the real substance of a movie, the One Mind is the real substance of this universe. And most important, this oneness includes you too. Oneness is not a concept that you learn and think about; it is what you are. In other words you experience oneness because you are oneness; you are not a separate being trying to get to this oneness.

Freedom comes by Standing as you Really Are
This leads into the next verse:

To this ultimate finality no law or description applies.

Since the ultimate finality is what you are, you cannot stand apart from it to know it as a thing. That’s why no description or law applies. But one thing you will know for sure. The walls of the prison made by your thoughts' attempt to define reality will come tumbling down, and you will get to see things as they really are right from your innate freedom. Standing here you will know what the sages meant when they said, Those who know cannot say.

Finding the happiness that you want

For the unified mind in accord with the Way all self-centered striving ceases.

Striving comes from a feeling of lack. How can I possibly get the happiness that I deserve? So you strive for wealth, power, recognition, acceptance or leisure. All so that I can get the “Happiness that I think that I deserve.” There is a problem with this . . . you never quite get the peace and happiness that you are looking for. That’s because objects can’t give what they don’t have. You have to find happiness in the place where you lost it, which is your own self-nature. Once you discover the source of happiness you can act in any way that you want. But there’s one thing you will not be striving for — the peace and happiness that you already have.

This verse also has an important significance for our society. We have to ask: Is the purpose of life to accumulate more things and wealth or is it to find the actual source of our happiness? I think the fact that we are running out of material indicates that we are using material in the wrong way. The purpose of material is to support us as we search for the real meaning of life. Without finding the source of happiness, material is worthless. The proof, although we may have more things, we are not happier.

The feeling of self-centered striving comes from separation. When you find the meaning of oneness you will not need a thing.

Asking Question
Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

Rest and Unrest; You are Free from Opposites

Now we can continue with some more verses from Verses on The Faith Mind, by The 3rd Chinese Zen Patriarch, Sengstau:

Rest and unrest derive from illusion;

When all things are seen equally the timeless Self-essence is reached.

No comparisons or analogies are possible in this causeless, relationless state.

Consider movement stationary and the stationary in motion, both movement and rest disappears.

Did you ever see someone who is spiritual, attempting to appear at peace? Although it’s a good act, you start to have a feeling that something is missing. But no, it isn’t that something missing; it’s just that he or she forgot about, the One Mind, the thing the supports the person. Assuming a limited self, the person then tried to impersonate the one mind, which he or she already is.

You don't need an act when you are the real thing
I hope you can learn a lesson from this. Nothing is missing; so in spiritual practice you can just be yourself. When you are yourself life gets very relaxing, and you become very free. It is also easier to see when you bump against limitation; remember seeing without judgment is the first step to freedom. This includes seeing the idea that you have to stand separate and then act spiritual — the feeling that something is missing. It is only when you see things in terms of opposites that you have to put on such an act. Otherwise, when you are tired you can just sleep.

When all things are seen equally the timeless Self-essence is reached.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
_____________________________________________________________________

It is only an illusion that time winds like the hands of a clock. What you measure with a clock isn’t a good indicator of what you actually experience. When you are having a good time with your friends, time seems to speed by. On the other hand when you are in a boring class time slows to a crawl. And then you start to day dream and a whole new world appears. When you ask the people in your dream if they just arrived there, they would reply, “No we’ve been here for centuries. We can tell you about our parents and grandparents etc.”  At that moment the teacher slaps you on the face and you wake up. . . You look at the clock and ten minutes passed by.

Your actual experience is Timeless
But taking this deeper, the reality behind the universe is the One Mind; still, unchanging and timeless. It is from stillness that you become aware of the passage of time. Yes that’s right; if you look deeply into the thing that you really experience you find that it is timeless. In the day dream you were the timeless reality behind the dream. Similarly here in the waking state when you see all things equally, you notice that you are the reality behind all things.

No comparisons or analogies are possible in this causeless, relationless state.

You do not comprehend the One Mind with your thoughts. You know this with the essence of your being — your own self-nature. The One Mind is a name for your actual direct and immediate experience. If you think that self-knowledge is a matter of thinking the right thoughts, you will draw a blank. That’s because you are a constant causeless relationless light sometimes called the One Mind. If there is no change, there is nothing for the mind to grasp. From another angle you know your mind but your mind doesn’t know you.

You Shine by Your Own Light
But if you need a distinction, here’s one that points right to you. You do not know yourself in the same way that you know an object. Self knowledge is direct experience. You do not have to search for the sun with a flashlight. That’s because the sun is light. A separate light isn’t necessary. In the same way, you are consciousness and do not need a separate light called thoughts to know this consciousness.

The only way to have an adequate introduction to your self is by standing as the self. Pretending to be less than you are will feel limited and fall short. That’s why all of my little comparisons and analogies fall short. At the most they can point to what you are. Then you have to stand there and graze on reality directly. The one taste will reveal itself by itself.

And now for the forth verse:

Consider movement stationary and the stationary in motion, both movement and rest disappear.

This Freedom comes from Your Being; not your Thoughts
Do you consider this verse confusing? It certainly doesn’t fit into your mind as it plods along thought after thought. But do you know that you actually stand outside this thinking process? That’s how you know about your thoughts. You’ll find that this points to a natural place. It is free of the opposites that the mind thinks up. So let the mind be confused as you stand in your natural state where confusion and clarity don’t even exist. The stillness of your being has no opposite, and therefore words cannot adequately describe it.

Asking Question
Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

You are what you seek

Now we can continue with the next three verses from Verses on The Faith Mind,by The 3rd Chinese Zen Patriarch, Sengstau.

The wise man strives to no goals but the foolish man fetters himself.

There is one Dharma, not many; distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant.

To seek Mind with the mind is the greatest of all mistakes.

Goals mean defining happiness as connected with your goals and then striving for them. All the while you don’t recognize that happiness comes from you, the place where you actually experience happiness, not from reaching your objectives. When you give up striving for happiness in the things that you see, you notice what’s actually here right now. Some people call this being present.

Find happiness where it really exists _____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
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Of course you can still write a book or attempt to accomplish things in the world. But when you demand that these things give you happiness and fulfillment, you get bound by the things you want. The reason you fetter yourself to your goals is because you are asking things to give you the happiness that they just don’t have. You are running after an illusion that just can’t deliver what it promises. So the more you run towards your goals, the more the fulfillment that you expect seems to recede and run away.

However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t find happiness. You are not eternally damned to suffering.  But you have to look in the place where happiness comes from. Otherwise you will have the feeling that you never quite arrive. When people first recognize that things are not going to deliver on their promise, they can get frustrated or depressed; they sometimes feel as if life loses its meaning. If these people would only notice that they are the thing that they want, life would take on greater meaning than they could ever imagine. And they would never feel bound by their goals again.

The second verse here follows this up:

There is one Dharma, not many; distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant.

Originally dharma was a Sanskrit word that meant your duties or obligations to society. To get a sense of what this means fill in the blank: I’m a__________. Is it a doctor, lawyer, carpenter, minister or rabbi? Is it husband, wife, son or daughter? In the traditional sense whatever you fill in here, that’s your dharma.

But if you notice I write this dharma with a small “d”. The real purpose of life is the same for everyone. That is to find the source of happiness and fulfillment. Ignorance is being unaware of this source and striving to find happiness in the objects that you see. If you strive to find happiness in goals and objects, you will soon find that objects are too confining and limited; that’s why they cause suffering. But if you can learn from this wisdom, you will keep from running into dead ends.

You are not an Object
If you wonder what too limited means, the only thing that isn’t an object is what you are. That is the real subject, the you that’s really you. Even your body and mind are just things that you see; bodies get old, sick and die. Minds are in constant motion and can also be affected by old age, disease, and death. Finding the nameless Consciousness and Being that you really are is the real aim of life – your real Dharma.  This is the source of happiness. In reality you are the One Mind. Although you can’t see the One Mind you know it as your very essence.

You are more than a thought
This leads nicely into the third verse of this trilogy:

To seek Mind with the mind is the greatest of all mistakes.

If you think that you are limited to the thoughts in your mind , you should know that you are much more than a thought. The thing that really makes your mind come alive is the light that shines on your thoughts.

Even the imposture called “I” is not the real you; it is just another thought. The proof: even though this thought comes and goes, it doesn’t feel as if you are coming and going, does it? The stable light behind the shifting mind is the real you. You do not find this light by banishing your thoughts or by doing anything else with them. The “I” thought, attempting to arrange other thoughts is a fruitless practice that will never come to an end. Only by noticing where you stand even now, can you find the real nature of your mind. You will then find that your mind is the One Mind, the source of our real connection and joy.

Asking Question
Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

 

Your Experience is Richer than Words can Convey

Now we can continue with the next three verses from Verses on The Faith Mind, by The 3rd Chinese Zen Patriarch, Sengstau:

To deny the reality of things is to miss their reality; to assert the emptiness of things is to miss their reality.

The more you talk and think about it, the further astray you wander from the truth.

Stop talking and thinking, and there is nothing you will not be able to know.

Where does reality come from?  When you start looking into what you actually experience as opposed to what you are supposed to experience this becomes an interesting question.  For most of us, we use the evidence of our senses and declare that the objects are real. After all our senses are designed to sense and respond to the objects in the world. If you strike a hard object your hand will hurt; if you touch a hot stove you will pull your hand back and yell ouch! Objects and our senses seem inextricably connected.

But when you look a little deeper like we did in the blog: “Oneness is Your Natural State” you begin to recognize that, like in a dream, you actually experience the world in your mind. At this point you may feel that the world is unreal.  But wouldn’t this deny the sense of reality that the world seems to have?

Experience is much richer than words can convey _____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
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Here’s the reason that this may seem confusing: your actual experience is much richer than words and thoughts can convey.  When you take your experience to be limited to words and thoughts, you miss the subtle richness of your actual experience.  This means that you have more choices than just real and unreal.

Another way of looking at this is that your sense of reality comes from you, not from the things that you see. That’s why if while reading this blog you begin to day dream, a whole new world appears; but you don’t feel as if reality went away. And then when the waking world comes back you don’t feel as if reality just returned.

Be centered in your natural state of reality

There is no need to put your Thoughts in Order

Now let’s continue with Faith Mind, by Sengstau, the third Buddhist Patriarch in China:

When you try to stop activity to achieve passivity your very effort fills you with activity.

As long as you remain in one extreme or the other you will never know Oneness.

Those who do not live in the single Way fail in both activity and passivity, assertion and denial.

We can now take a look and see what these verses mean. Along with limitation comes the person who attempts to get out of limitation. That’s because limitation never feels right. But if you look closely at the criteria for oneness, it has to be free from the limitation of separate objects, and it has to last. After all oneness that comes and goes is not oneness at all. It is just separate objects that occasionally morph into oneness and then separate again. What we are saying here is that oneness is freedom from the limitations of space and time. This is a fair description of infinity, isn’t it?

But there is one problem: a limited person doing a limited action will never get to infinity. This means that when you posit yourself as limited, the fulfillment that you are looking for will be just around the corner, but you will never quite arrive. You may think, Maybe it will come when I graduate from school; perhaps when I get the right job and get married. Maybe when our children grow up and leave the house. Will I finally find fulfillment when we retire? And then you pass away with the disappointment that you never quite arrived.

Activity or no activity, still no oneness
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Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
_____________________________________________________________________

Eventually you realize that activity will not lead to oneness. You may think, So I’ll just stop my activity and sit all day in meditation. But you will quickly find that even if you can eliminate thoughts and abide in emptiness for a short time, in the end thoughts will come back. And do you know which thoughts will fly in? Just the thoughts that you wanted to get rid of. So you will quickly find out that a limited person refraining from activity will not get to infinity either.

And so you might try following the second verse:

As long as you remain in one extreme or the other you will never know Oneness.

You attempt to establish the right percentages: 50% activity and 50% meditation. And then what happens? When you are active you will be thinking about sitting down in meditation, and when you are meditating you will be anxious to get up and be active again. It seems like finding oneness is an impossible task, doesn’t it?

What is the single way?