Aligning with What Is - Eckhart Tolle on Krishnamurti

Jiddu Krishnamurti spoke and traveled almost continuously all
over the world for more than fifty years attempting to convey 
through words - which are content - that which is beyond words,
beyond content.  At one of his talks in the later part of his life, he
surprised his audience by saying, "Do you want to know my secret?"
Everyone became very alert.  Many people in the audience had
 been coming to listen to him for twenty or thirty years and still
failed to grasp the essence of his teaching.  Finally, after all these
years, the master would give them the key to understanding.
"This is my secret," he said.  "I don't mind what happens."  He
did not elaborate, and so I suspect most of his audience were
even more perplexed than before.  The implications of this
simple statement, however, are profound.

When I don't mind what happens, what does that imply?  It 
implies that internally I am in alignment with what happens.
"What happens" of course, refers to the suchness of this moment,
which already is as it is.  It refers to content, the form that this
moment - the only moment there ever is - takes.  To be in
alignment with what is means to be in a relationship of
inner nonresistance with what happens. It means not to label
 it mentally as good or bad, but to let it be.  Does this mean you
 can no longer take action to bring about change in your life?  On
 the contrary.  When the basis for your actions is inner alignment
 with the present moment, your actions become empowered by
 the intelligence of Life itself.

Eckhart Tolle on J. Krishnamurti

From Simon Bartholome

with thanks to No Mind's Land

~

Photo Mystic Meandering

 

Under the Words - Eckhart Tolle

Underneath the surface appearances, everything is not only
connected with everything else, but also with the Source of all
life out of which it came.  Even a stone, and more easily a flower
or a bird, could show you the way back to God, to the Source, to
yourself.  When you look at it or hold it and let it be without
imposing a word or mental label on it, a sense of awe, of wonder,
arises within you.  Its essence silently communicates itself to you
and reflects your own essence back to you.  This is what great
artists sense and succeed in conveying in their art.  Van Gogh
didn't say: "That's just an old chair."  He looked, and looked,
and looked.  He sensed the Being-ness of the chair.  Then he sat
in front of the canvas and took up the brush.

When you don't cover up the world with words and labels, a
sense of the miraculous returns to your life that was lost a long
time ago when humanity, instead of using thought, became 
possessed by thought.  A depth returns to your life.  Things
regain their newness, their freshness.  And the greatest miracle
is the experiencing of your Essential Self as prior to any words,
thoughts, mental labels, and images.  For this to happen, you
need to disentangle your sense of I, of Being-ness, from all
the things it has become entangled with, or identified with...

The quicker you are in attaching verbal or mental labels to things,
people, or situations, the more shallow and lifeless your reality
becomes, and the more deadened you become to reality, the 
miracle of life that continuously unfolds within and around you.
In this way, cleverness may be gained, but wisdom is lost, and
so are joy, love, creativity, and aliveness.  They are concealed in
the still gap between the perception and the interpretation.  Of
course we have to use words and thoughts.  They have their own
beauty - but do we need to become imprisoned by them?

You easily lose yourself in them, become hypnotized into implicitly
believing that when you have attached a word to something, you
know what it is.  The fact is: You don't know what it is.  You have
only covered up the mystery with a label.  Everything has
unfathomable depth.  But all we can perceive, experience,
think about, is the surface layer of reality.

Do you think that combinations of words could ever explain
who you are, or the ultimate purpose of the universe, or even
what a tree or stone is in its depth?

Eckhart Tolle
From - A New Earth

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Beyond Death - Eckhart Tolle

The natural way of being after death of a loved one is suffering
at first, then there is a deepening.  In that deepening, you go to
a place where there is no death.  And the fact that you felt that
means you went deep enough, to the place where there is no
death.  Conditioned as your mind is by society, the contemporary
world that you live in, which knows nothing about that dimension
- your mind then tells you that there is something wrong with this.
Your mind says "I should not be feeling peace."

But that's a conditioned thought by the culture that you  live in.
So instead we can recognize when this happens, when that
thought comes - recognize it as a conditioned thought
that is not true.

It doesn't mean that the waves of sadness don't come back
from time to time.  But in between the waves of sadness, you
sense there is peace.

When you go deep enough to the formless, the dreadful is no
longer dreadful, it's sacred.

When somebody dies who is close to you, it [feels] dreadful
on the level of form.  It's sacred on the deeper level.
Death can enable you to find that dimension in yourself - the
sacred dimension of life, where life is indestructible.

There is always the window into the formless.  It's not through
an explanation that says, well, he or she will move on or
reincarnate, or go to some place of rest.  That can be comforting,
but you can go to a deeper place than that, where you don't need
any explanations, because what opens up when the form
dissolves is life beyond form.  That is the sacred dimension.

Eckhart Tolle

via The Beauty We Love

~

Photo taken by my husband
at the Butterfly Pavilion

Personal Note:  While I understand and have experienced what Eckhart says here, I have also experienced that grief is a very organic process and sometimes we just have to sit with the feelings of sadness and sorrow, embrace them while we go through the grief, and not try to "spiritualize it, but allow the feelings to be what they are...

Your Original Depth - Eckhart Tolle

Partly as a result of the spiritual teachings that have arisen outside
the established religions, but also due to an influx of the ancient
Eastern wisdom teachings, a growing number of followers of
traditional religions are able to let go of identification with form,
dogma, and rigid belief systems and discover the original depth
that is hidden within themselves.  They realize that how 'spiritual'
you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to
do with your state of consciousness.  This, in turn, determines how
you act in the world and interact with others.

Many people are already aware of the difference between spirituality
and religion.  They realize that having a belief system - a set of
thoughts that you regard as absolute truth - does not make you
spiritual no matter what the nature of those beliefs is.  In fact,
the more you make your thoughts [beliefs] into your identity,
the more cut off you are from the spiritual dimension within yourself. 
Many 'religious' people are stuck at that level.  They equate truth
with  thought, and as they are completely identified with thought
 [their mind], they claim to be in sole possession of the truth in an
unconscious attempt to protect their identity.

What is arising now is not a new belief system, a new religion,
spiritual ideology, or mythology.  We are coming to an end,
not only of mythologies but also ideologies and belief systems.
The change goes deeper than the content of your mind,
deeper than your thoughts... to your Original Depth...

Eckhart Tolle
From - A New Earth
2005

~

Photo - from the internet

Cosmic Meditating Monks Mandala...

“We are afloat in a sea of immensity.
The mind has no hope of working
it’s little tricks here.
It is faced with an emptiness
that never began,
and it shrivels in the face of
such grand nonchalance.

And yet inside this egg,
this shell of me-ness,
the immensity continues,
unburdened,
untroubled:
never born,
never dying,
sailing into
luminous night…”

Author Unknown
via: Wonder, Silence, Gratitude

"You are not IN the universe,
you ARE the universe.
You are a focal point
where the universe is
becoming conscious of itself…”

Eckhart Tolle

~*~

This mandala was made with compass, ruler and a template.
I had the vision of this one dancing in my head for some time.
I made the meditating monk template from a photo
in a catalogue of a meditating monk statue…
The piece of black paper came with little white dots on it,
looking like little stars in space, giving the piece a cosmic look .
I just enhanced the dots inside the little meditating figures,
giving them the affect of impermanence,
of formlessness within form;
of *being* the Universe...

Simply Now-ing...

I’ve been basking in this “new” (and not so new) revelation that life is a story being lived by Life/Beingness ItSelf; that we *are* the living story of Life. And I’ve come down from my manic moment of joy at the revelation that Life lives this story of “me” that I’ve identified with all these years – and believed, for a while at least, needed to be “enlightened” – and have returned to a sense of simply living…

It occurred to me, during this “revelation”, that there is no “present moment” to be *in.* There is only the “Now-ing” of simply living life (not to sound too Tolle-ish :). That is – there is only the immediacy of our current experience, whatever that experience/story happens to be – just living that experience, however it unfolds; which may take several “moments”: hours, days, weeks, months, years. In Pure Awareness/Beingness, there is no awareness of past, present or future moments. There is only and ever Now-ing unfolding itself. You cannot *bring* your *self* into the “present moment.” “Present Moment” is a concept, a conceptual reality, a framework and structure of time – as is the individual sense of a separate self needing to be present, or *do* anything to improve itself, or become “enlightened.”

Therefore, NOW does not refer to time and space, but timeless Awareness, timeless Beingness – and the experience that is occurring *in* that timeless space *as* life. Beingness has no concept of “moment” or “presence” or “time” – or “self.”

“You”/Beingness just experiences, awares, lives whatever is happening without the framework or reference point of calling it “present moment,” or past, or future. (Did I already say that?:) It’s just Life being life. It is Beingness experiencing ItSelf as a “me” or “you” – as an experience within ItSelf... Simply Now-ing.

Time/thought/”self”/life is a “wrinkle” in the spaciousness of timelessness – like ripples on a pond… This is not new information – although I am seeing it as “new.”

“Now” is continually occurring, unfolding fluidly and seamlessly. Yet, still a ripple, a construct, *if* held onto too tightly by a belief in a “self” that can hold onto Now. This Now is not now, as in time or place. “Now” is eternally unending, constantly reverberating through the *concept* of past, present, future… Now is what the “wrinkles of time” happen *in* - Timelessness; no “present moment” – just whatever is occurring is the experience of “Now.”

And so the “awakening” seems to be that we simply recognize Life living life – seeing the Luminous in everything – recognizing and *knowing* that we ARE that Luminosity of Life living ItSelf –simply living; allowing the experience of living to take us “Home” – to the Heart of Being – which is Now. :)

“If you have no idea of self…
you are free from the idea of
past, present and future.”

Shunryu Suzuki

~

“By ‘Here’ I don’t mean this present space.
Here is within.
Presence is always here,
and you are always That.
This here is not the opposite of “there.”
This here, it is your Heart.
All the cosmos is but a speck in your Heart.

Enlightenment is always here.”

Papji
The Truth Is

~

"How can divine Oneness be seen?
In beautiful forms,
breathtaking wonders,
awe-inspiring miracles?

The Tao is not obliged to present
itself in this way.

If you are willing to be lived by it,
you will see it everywhere,
even in the most ordinary things."

Lao Tzu

~

"Now is not a moment in time,
but is truly timelessness – eternal."

Rupert Spira


~

Photo: The first rose of summer – gone now.

The Primordial Womb of Stillness

It has occurred to me that not everyone may understand what I mean when I talk about being “in the Stillness,” or Silence. In my previous blog post I referred to “The Primordial Womb of Stillness” – and write about it in other blogs as well.. Recently I heard someone from a “spiritual community” comment that “stillness” was not for him – as if Stillness meant that he had to sit still, like an impatient two year old who just wants to run and play. This is not the kind of Stillness that I am referring to. Neither is this “being in Stillness” an esoteric idea that we just float around in the empty ethers of Nothingness.

For me Stillness, or Silence, is the Primordial womb of Being from which all things are birthed. It is equivalent to the words Awareness, Presence, Being, Consciousness, Spaciousness, the Vastness, the Formless, Existence, Isness, Knowing Awareness, Emptiness, Self, Source, Love – The Mystery. It’s not about being quiet, or sitting still, or sitting in stillness, or even meditating, although that is a part of it – for me. When I refer to the Stillness I am speaking of the deep, internal river of Stillness – awake, aware, dynamic, alive Stillness - that courses through us – the original Source of all being. THAT, that is the Stillness.

Stillness is not about being “quiet” – it IS Quietness Itself – the deep, internal, vibrant, full space of Quiet – Pure Awareness, Pure Consciousness that just IS. For me there is a movement to this Stillness – like the aurora borealis. It is not a dead zone, empty of life – but is the ground of all life. It IS Life…

It is the “Inner Being” that Eckhart Tolle talks about that one can feel experientially. And the voice of Stillness speaks when we listen internally – which, yes, may require a bit of the surface stillness as well. It is the Space of deep inward listening. It is a felt experience of our very Beingness. It is a dynamic flow. Ramana Maharshi refers to it as “the current.” I have recently referred to it as “The Rhythm.” Scott Kiloby refers to it as non-conceptual awareness. Adyashanti and Jean Klein call it – Silence. But it is the Silence that isn’t silent – the Stillness that isn’t still. You can feel it even when you are not “still” – even when you are surrounded by noise and chaos – even while doing mundane chores. It’s like tapping in to some internal channel, or flow that is always running, always humming - palpable. It is what sees through your eyes – the “stepping back into the Looking itself” in Zen. It’s called by many names. I just happen to call it Stillness because that resonates with me. And when I’m aware and listening, it draws me to it, beyond all the mind clutter, everyday chaos and the contractions of whatever experience I’m in at the moment. And it’s there even when I’m not particularly aware.

It is not surface tranquility. It is a deep place of rest. And all that’s needed is an internal gaze to see what’s really there underneath the surface. All it really “requires” is awareness – not sitting still. Although, I find that being still allows me to become more acutely *aware* of this Primordial Stillness within – the ever present Presence; as does creativity, and a myriad other activities. There are many ways of “entering”/experiencing the Stillness. Although technically we do not “enter” IT, it’s more of a relaxing in your natural state, *as* IT.

Like Awareness, Consciousness or Beingness – however one refers to it - Stillness is the container, or context, for all that is. Everything that we experience arises and falls back into this Embrace of Stillness. It holds and cradles all that is, as well as permeates all that is. It’s what invites us Home - to Itself. It IS Home. We ARE the deep Stillness, even if we’re not aware of it.... In good moods and bad moods, in contractions, fixations, in tragedies or in peace – it’s there underneath it all, inviting us to its embrace…

“To be aware of the embrace in which Existence holds us

is the greatest gift.”

Deva Premal

Embrace

After Awakening - Keep Dancing

Many of us on a “spiritual path” have had many moments of “awakening" – little openings that allow us to *see* the Truth of Existence. I wrote the insights, that eventually became this blog, on scratch paper last December as I sat in a doctor’s office waiting for my appointment. Insights, or “awakenings” can come anywhere at any time. As I waited in the waiting room I reflected on how it seemed that I had been very *invested* in my spiritual search for “enlightenment” – for many, many years. It had been my life’s work, so-to-speak. In a sense I gave up “my life” (or what I call “my life”) for the search – *believing* the search for finding “awakening” was all that mattered.

There is an abundance of Non-Duality teachers and teachings out there, and what appears to be a lot of wrangling over semantics. Last Fall I was drawn to read Scott Kiloby and Jeff Foster – two of the top Non-Duality teachers. In doing so yet another door opened in this life-long search for Truth, except that it wasn’t what I expected. They revealed what I had heard from other spiritual teachers, like Adyashanti, Ganagaji, Eckhart Tolle, and Jack Kornfield – that there is just ‘This’ – Life living Itself in this present moment as it is. That there is no need to seek for“enlightenment” because it’s all just ‘This’ (Consciousness, Presence, Awareness, the One) *in* everything. And yet - we seek - until we don't need to seek anymore.

When I heard it this time I felt the full realization of it, as if for the first time. Something opened up and let it in. And, at the same time, I felt like a child that had been told there is no Santa Claus – well not quite as devastated, but certainly there was an impact that is difficult to articulate. I became unsettled, unnerved because the illusion had been shattered. If there is just ‘This’ and if I’m not *searching* for “It”, I thought, what will I *do*? My *mind* wanted to stay in search mode, after all that had been its “job” for quite some time. It had *identified* with the role and story of a “me” searching for "It."

In the past when I had heard spiritual teachers say – It’s just ‘This’ – I internally responded with: You’ve got to be kidding! That can’t be true! There has to be more than This! This can’t be it! I thought for sure that “enlightenment” had to be a big deal with Light shining everywhere, blinding me. But when I *heard* Scott and Jeff say, it’s just ‘This’ – Life living Itself, on some level I knew it was the Truth. It was taken in and absorbed like a healing elixir. Something inside awakened.

The word “ubiquitous” arose while I was sitting there in my seat, waiting, jotting notes. I didn’t know what it meant, so I made a note to look it up when I got home. (For those like me who don’t know, it means being everywhere at the same time; omnipresent). After reading the definition I realized that what I had been searching for is ubiquitous – always there, everywhere – right here. ‘It’ was never anywhere *else* needing to be found. ‘It’ just needed to be *seen.*

And so it appears that “awakening” is in some sense very ordinary, especially when one *expects* there to be some kind of transcendence into Light – ascension into an ideal Divine state of another worldly nature - a future arrival at an end reward for all the searching. It also seems that we can have many wonderful “awakening” *experiences* and still not realize the Truth. I know. :) The “final realization” (if there is one) it seems, is more like a discovery of something we already know. Oh – ‘This’! There’s a realization that the search doesn’t matter anymore. All the wrangling over concepts like “self or no-self”, “path or no-path”, “duality or non-duality”, “enlightenment or no enlightenment” just doesn’t matter. I realized that the “spiritual search”, which had started as a longing in my heart, had become a delusion of the dream mind. And, that the ‘This’ that I was searching for *is* revealing Itself *in* the dream of existence everyday… It was like a subtle awareness – a quiet knowing awareness that the dream continues even after “awakening.” Eventually there was a peace in realizing this – a deep serenity.

While writing my notes I remembered the words to an old Peggy Lee song (well that dates me doesn’t it!): “Is that all there is? If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing.” But I wasn’t feeling a sense of resignation. It was more of a sense of rest, a resting in this new awareness.

I realized that when we really *see* that ‘This’ is all there is – the ever-present Presence living in form *as us*, we keep dancing - maybe to a slightly different tune, but we keep dancing in the dream - *aware* that it is the dream of Existence, dreaming Itself, playing the song. Life living Itself.

Just keep dancing with Life!

Heart Smiles - MeANderi
www.ASerenitySanctuary.com