|
|
Are you a subscriber, but do not receive the news letter? Click here for tips to avoid spam filters. |
|
|||
|
|||
Question: All there is is presence/oneness. This presence is all being, all knowing.
Oneness plays the game of two and the story of 'me' is born. Along with 'me' arises 'others', the world, history, time and space etc. This 'me' appears within (as) a specific localized perspective. The recognition arises that this 'me' is a fiction, a dream, all that can be found is presence. In the arising of this recognition that this 'me' is a story it might be expected that there would be a restoration (although it was never lost) of the original state of ALL knowing ALL being? You say that after awakening ³What is left is THAT which appears AS you and everything - your true Self, which is already awake to the dream of life. So, it looks as if Consciousness HAS to appear as something, and awakened or not the localized viewpoint has to remain? But yet the localized viewpoint seems to be a function of the mind and the mind has been seen to be a fiction. This seems to present a paradox. Response: When I say something like 'after awakening' we have to keep in mind that this is just a pointer appearing alongside the reminder that there is only 'Already Awakeness', that there is no personal awakening, nor a 'before' or 'after': Just 'Chopping wood and carrying water'. As seen here the mind seems more like a function than a fiction. The illusion of the localized viewpoint you mention seems not so much in its appearance, as in I-dentifying this viewpoint as an independent entity. If I understand you correctly you say that since/when the mind is recognized as an illusion it should disappear together with the localized perspective. Is this really so? A mirage, recognized as a mirage, still appears as long as the conditions for it to appear remain intact. Also, it will look pretty much the same whether or not it is recognized as a mirage. Likewise, as long as a body/mind appears, there will be the appearance of a unique perspective/experience particular to that organism. This may include a sense of separation as well as possible peak experiences where all sense of locality in space and time dissolves, but neither of those 'options' is more or less IT, as there is no-thing but IT. IT/Consciousness appears presently AS everything, but to say that "It HAS to appear AS something" is like saying that the sun HAS to give light, water HAS to be wet, and fire HAS to be hot. The sun IS the light, the water IS the wetness, and the fire IS the heat; they are inseparably one. Likewise, Consciousness does not have to appear as anything but it is 'its nature' to appear as everything. No restoration to an original state can occur as all 'restoration' would assume a 'not-already-so-ness.' IT is already the Timeless-Ever-Present-Original-Stateless-State appearing. To imagine an Original State to which IT/Consciousness could be restored is Consciousness appearing presently AS such imagination. If there seems to be a seeker trying to accomplish this, or a mind trying to grasp it, then it is again nothing but Consciousness appearing to It-Self as such attempts. All appearances are equal in and to Consciousness; much like different reflections are of 'equal impact' to the mirror. There is only Consciousness, presently appearing AS All. Or, as you said so well at the beginning of your letter, "All there is is presence/oneness. This presence is all being, all knowing." So if there seems to be a paradox, it can only be an appearance of -and nothing but- This All Being Presence.
If or when you have a question you'd like to see answered in this newsletter send it to:
author@awakeningtothedream.com Art by: Stone Riley Title: 'Chop Wood, Carry Water' Found at: http://www.yessy.com/stoneriley Fair Use Notice |
|
|||
This aliveness is nothing being everything. It's just life appearing. It's not happening to anyone. There's a whole set of experiences happening here and they are happening in emptiness….they're happening in freefall. They're just what is happening.
All there is is life. All there is is beingness. There isn't anyone that ever has or does not have it. There's nobody that has life and somebody else doesn't have life. There's just life being Life.
What appears is at the same time disappearing, the arising and the passing away, a single movement, without beginning or end. This is the preciousness of life, this amazing constellation of feelings, thoughts, sensations, and the mystery of wakefulness that illuminates them all, here and then gone in a flash.
And the extraordinary paradox is that this which is ever changing is, at the same time, changeless. A bird, a tear, a star- all the movement of a single life, one ocean dancing as a thousand different waves and yet always remaining itself.
From: This Is Always Enough by John Astin
Art by: Jill Segal Title: 'Ocean Surf' Found at: http://www.jillsegal.com/ Fair Use Notice |
|
|||
From: A Zen Harvest There seems, But there's never: Moon in the water. ------------- "There is", someone says, And we stick to that "there is." See there's nothing- Only the sound Of the pine wind from the beach. --------------- Since legendary times, Nothing has changed: Running water and the love Between woman and man. ------------- In the dark I lost sight of My shadow; I've found it again By the fire I lit. |
|
|||
You imposed limits to your true nature of infinite being, then, you get displeased to be only a limited creature, then you begin spiritual practices to transcend these nonexistent limits. But if your practice itself implies the existence of these limits, how could they allow you to transcend them? ~Ramana Maharshi~
|
|
|||
Sent to me by email. (Artist unknown.) Fair Use Notice |
|
|||
|
Questions, jokes, quotes or suggestions for the news letter? Please send them to news@awakeningtothedream.com. You are invited to use the Awakening Forum at: http://www.awakeningtothedream.com/forum1/ Here you can respond to the contents of this newsletter or start your own topic. To subscribe or unsubscribe click here. If you do not see a link go to: http://www.awakeningtothedream.com/ and click on the newsletter link. Awakening to the Dream web site: http://www.awakeningtothedream.com/ In legal terms: This news letter may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The material in this news letter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. On a more personal note: It has often been difficult to contact the artists or copyright owners of the art in the news letters in a timely manner. I hope you consider it a compliment that your work has been selected and that it pleases you to have an extra link (or free add) to your web site. If not, please contact me at news@awkeningtothedream.com and I'll replace your material. |