Saturday 13 February 2010

To Seek The Light Of Truth; While Truth The While Doth Falsely Blind The Eyesight Of His Look.

Memory and speculation happen now. Pain and separation happen now. Bliss and the quiet mind is happening now. The paradox, hated by the mind, that we are both all one yet seemingly alone, happens now. You are what you are now. Not in some nonexistent future; the future never is; all is now. There is much habitual delving back into the story, taken seriously by the mind which only sees itself. There is much lauding of practice, of readiness, in the mind for "enlightenment" to happen. It can certainly seem to be a practice, a practice that can be realised in many ways. All practice has the goal of stripping the ego of its importance, allowing what is to be more readily apprehended. Yet no matter what the apparent state of mind now, no matter what is perceived and how that perception is interpreted, you are what you are now.

What is - the wall, the keyboard, the faint hum of traffic, the feeling of the body on the chair, the thoughts that note these things - is often dismissed. The story that the mind tells itself about what is happening is similarly discredited. The feelings that arise as a part of it all cry out to the mind to be explained; the"why" of it is craved, the sense of it all being purposeful and orderly is demanded by an ego frightened of its own demise. All these thoughts and judgements and feelings are said to be nothing, meaningless, unworthy. Yet the paradox that the mind dislikes perhaps most of all is that those thoughts, sensations, and feelings are boundless, timeless existence, despite their seeming solidity and logic and narrowly defined importance. You are what takes note.

The practice of peeling away at the ego is laudable. It unfolds choicelessly. Whether it be at the foot of a guru, with the nose buried in a book or two or twenty, face to face with a sympathetic therapist, or in self-help groups, empathy and tolerance can convince the mind of the possibility of oneness and the unimportance (and beauty) of the ego. However, it must be said (by who?) that whatever you are, you are now, "before" the ego is "ready". The message that there is no teacher and no one to teach may paradoxically be the teaching that forces the ego to realise that there is nowhere to go, no blissful state to seek, nothing other than what is, now, because now is all there is, and whatever it is that is noted, it is the noting that never changes.

And now, for all you frustrated seekers. From The Wizard of Oz, the clearest parable of seeking, its lesson being that we always have the power to go home, and, in fact, are always home since the journey is but a dream. Here is the best reaction when the guru says you were always home in the first place.

32 comments:

Mariana Soffer said...

Excelent post! I loved it, so much things to say, but I will be brief in my first comment.
-A simulation can never be the truth. The truth is what hides that there is no truth ineed.
-Besides the ego what kills us is the delusion of being separated from the rest of the world. That a real separation exist, with clear boundaries.
Regarding the story the mind tells itself check http://singyourownlullaby.blogspot.com/2009/12/narrated-self.html

Hope you found my stuff interesting, really

No One In Particular said...

Hi Mariana, well, don't sweat that truth/untruth stuff too much. It's all untruth, and fleeting. What is aware contains, and is, all beliefs, all truths, all possibilities...and they are as ephemeral as everything else, except what is aware of it (and is it). The separation isn't real...but it is fascinating and thrilling, and gives us something to do in our illusory spare time!

Your stuff is interesting...truthfully!

No Longer Blogging said...

Fabulous, Suzanne. Where in the world do you find these moments of comic relief? I'll be laughing for the rest of the day!

No One In Particular said...

Hi Sandi...from our rich and varied, though often derided, popular culture.

tom sullivan said...

I especially like these bits,"the story, taken seriously by the mind which only sees itself" and,"whatever it is that is noted, it is the noting that never changes."

Barry said...

Trungpa Rinpoche said, "We ask students to meditate until they get so bored that they'll awaken." (That's not an exact quote. My leaky memory no longer permits exactness.)

Trungpa always worked to undercut people's expectations about spiritual work.

Still, it *is* work, just as it's also play. And it's boring, dreadful, thrilling, and ordinary.

As you say, it's something to do in our (illusory) spare time!

Thanks, Suzanne!

Admin said...

When is your book going to be out Suzy? Still editing it?

No One In Particular said...

Hi Nicholas, yes, still editing, going steadily, perfectionism arises, but it's getting there...despite it having nowhere to go!

claudia said...

While I was translating the Wizard scene to my buddy Fernando, I realized how full of subtle (and not so subtle) hints (pointers) it is - oh, how great it is to laugh till the walls tremble. Truly a fantastic find, Suze. Thanks for this!

Unknown said...

Suzanne, I find your writings so good that I could not resist typing this comment for the first time in a blog in my life so far. It is just not the writing, the pictures with them, but the way you describe the indescribability of nothing in so many profound ways yet in no one particular way. All I would like to say is - Thank You.
- Siva

No One In Particular said...

Hi Tom, thanks so much for the feedback...I like the "mind seeing only itself" too...difficult to come up with new ways to say it...but it's fun trying.

No One In Particular said...

Hi Claudia, I love the game of revealing the obvious, or trying to, as well. And glad you got a laugh! I've not seen Mad TV being an expat, and it's on Fox in America...looking into it, they're a talented bunch with some very sharply observed satire. I love "you psycho glitter bitch!"

No One In Particular said...

Hi Barry, thanks for using a bit of your illusory spare time to comment! Always nice to hear from you.

No One In Particular said...

Hi Siva, I'm honoured you got your first experience in interactive cyberspace here!

unhappyalways said...

Hey Suzanne,
I have been enjoying all your posts and Youtube clips since we last talked. I am so very touched by this post and video and saw clearly how tenacious the ego is, insisting that "going home" is a complicated matter...
Thank you, thank you and thank you!
Happy Valentine's Day :o)
Lots of Love,
Annie

No One In Particular said...

Hi Annie, hope your Valentine's was happy...and that tenaciousness of the ego...just another story that needs time. No time, no story, no tenacity!

Wellness Education Institute said...

Now THAT, my friend, is hiarious!

i Love the wizaaaahhhhd of ahhhhs, but now See it withIn a Whole, new Light.
:)
thanks, sue!
smiles,
len

Wellness Education Institute said...

i think that i mis-spelled hilarious, in reference to the video.

oooooooooooops. ahhhhhhhhs.
:)
len

Bernard said...

"Are you what takes note" ????
Hmmm, not even that.
Can anyone find what takes note ?
Is there any ultimate subject ?
This question is worth being noted.

Scratching my empty forehead.

B.

No One In Particular said...

Hi Bernard, "what takes note" is just another way to put it...and all the ways to put it are conceptual...so it's not what takes note, exactly...but it's fun to play around with it!

No One In Particular said...

Hey Len, misspell away. And thanks for visiting!

Anonymous said...

Oh poo :^)
XOXO

Louisa said...

well, that's says it all for ingratitude doesn't it? I prefer the original OZ ending myself. After all, what is life without the dream?

loving it......

Lou x x x x

Bernard said...

Right Suzanne, let's have fun playing around with "it" :-) .
It cannot be said that we are what takes note, for what we are just is, and does not care taking note.Taking note is just an activity of the mind. What is sometimes clumsily called "consciousness" can bear no relevant name. Because a name always carries a meaning or two on his back, when this is beyond meaning or, otherwise said, is the one absolute and only meaning.

B.

No One In Particular said...

Hey Bernard, sure. Good writing gets in the way of good pointing!

Lightning Brother said...

"the future never is"...how I giggled...long time...!

Constance Casey said...

Suzanne,
I love this post! LOL! I can so relate it what you've written here. The video is so funny. I always wanted that ending, ...and it all unfolds, however it is it is ~
Thanks,

Constance

Rachael said...

In realising the truth of this, i could not stop laughing hahahaha. Thank you for your 'centeredness'

No One In Particular said...

Hey Rachael...you're welcome.

Anonymous said...

great to see you on the eckhart tolle forum.

i am very happy to have come across your blog.

apart from ecky of course, i seem to get a deeper sense from female teachers or awakeners (if that is a word lol)

great to catch you, much love

Rachael (livingdeeply)

No One In Particular said...

Hey Rachael, thanks, and whatever ya think of Tolle, you must admit - he brought nonduality to Oprah!

rachaelstack said...

hey there suzanne, rachael here again. I am travelling overseas and will be in london. I am wondering if you have any events are groups that are available? i would much appreciate any information. thanks suzanne, ive signed in from my blog, my email is on there. please forgive the eratic posts on my blog, they are only thoughts at this stage, they have no form as yet, thats all my blog is for at the moment. talk to you soon