Saturday 14 November 2009

Time Hath, My Lord, a Wallet At His Back, Wherein He Puts Alms For Oblivion.

"I seem to come back," say some, confused. It seems so important that there is always that stillness of mind, that the mind and its thoughts - oneness, "thought-ing" - are "stilled". The seeker of enlightenment, it seems, has to have something to do. "Be quiet long enough to see this," or meditate, or go to a meeting or "gathering of friends together" or a satsang where oneness, somehow, is more obvious. Join a live webcast or a virtual meeting in Second Life, or a three day residential, or a have few one-on-one sessions with an Advaita teacher, paid for or not, neo- or traditional. Even the edict to give up, the insistence that there is no one already, the maxim that any sort of practice fuels separation by emphasizing there is indeed a seeker who can do any of this, gives the seeker something to ponder, to avoid, to do.

Yet there is nothing wrong with any of this. Oneness is, whether the "me" drops away or not; whether there are "glimpses", and the small self seems to return, or not. Comfort is not the goal - there is no goal - not even enlightenment. But maybe it's a comfort to realise that this is, whether it is seen, or not, by no one. There are no goals, for goals need time, and there is no time; time is a convenience, just as the separate individual is. Oneness is, no matter what. Giving up may seem to happen. Or it may not. There is nothing to do but what is done. And if what is done is seeking, and what is felt is longing, and what is experienced is suffering, perhaps it is a comfort to know that even separation is oneness, in a particularly tricky guise. And if you're hopelessly separate, suffering and alone, perhaps it's an idea to treat yourself as you would some other separate-but-not individual you found to be suffering; that is, with compassion. Perhaps, too, there is comfort in the fact that there is no need to suffer and wait; it's not gonna get any more "one" than it is right here, and right now.

13 comments:

Lune said...

A very clear and concise post,

When we are deep, deep in the middle of a 'seeking crisis' and can see no way out.....not that it need make it any better, but these are the words we need to hear.....

No One In Particular said...

The desire to relieve apparent suffering - yet another beautiful concept - is the underlying, even if unwritten goal of most nonduality/enlightenment writers/teachers, explicit in everything they seem to do. "I" am not immune.

lune said...

yes, these too are the words. It seems unfathomable, but I think there is a very right special place reserved for not being immune.

I have an invitation for you:

I have created a meme called 'The End, The Beginning: A Silent Post'.

I have tagged you because, I know this is slightly off-topic, but I would love to see 'your' thoughts about the End and the Beginning without using words.

Please follow this link to find the full instructions: http://blogwithoutaname.com/a-silent-post

Lune x

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”
- T.S. Eliot

No One In Particular said...

Wassa "meme"?

Julian said...

It is a great comfort to know that all our longings and feelings of separation happen in Oneness. You keep telling us. We stray away from the truth, but come back to find Oneness waiting for us as always - and your words pointing towards it. We like our flights of fancy, our poetry and our art. It arises and we eagerly leap to claim it as the truth. but it all happens within this Oneness that you point to.

Your message has not wavered. Thanks for that.

xx

No One In Particular said...

No prob Julian.

Fernando Rozas said...

“Wisdom tells me I am nothing [Jnana='Gilbert']. Love tells me I am everything [Bhakti='Suzanne']. Between the two my life flows.”– Quote from Nisargadatta
Parenthesis are mine.
Your posts are what I was needing...
Thank you !!

No One In Particular said...

Nothing...everything...same difference! Thanks Fernando.

Viv said...

Your writing is very uncompromising - no BS. (still don't know what a meme is though ;-)....)

No One In Particular said...

Thanks Viv. I think is meme is like a chain letter thingy.

lune said...

I love the 'fairground look' of the Artwork.

It's a fantasy world.

Bas said...

Right into my heart ,

I love it !

No One In Particular said...

Thanks Bas.