real freedom

Immutable freedom can't be lost though we can forget to notice its presence. How do we not see the vast freedom that is at the core of who we are? Simply stated, we lose sight of what is nearest and dearest when we attach to some particular view, or to some 'special' person or thing.

How do we avoid the suffering that comes with the habit of attaching? Ultimately the only way to stand free of attachment is to accept whatever is happening in this present moment. When we accept what is happening (whether 'good' or 'bad') we lose individual definition; then freedom dawns immediately.

There is nothing to do and nothing to achieve There is no need to even stop doing. Just notice what is happening right now and see that it is already free of 'you'.

so simple,
bob

wholeness

The idea that there is a separate 'you' is just that ... an idea. Where actually do 'you' begin and end? When you cut off 'your' fingernail, is it still yours after it is in the wastebasket? If you were to lose 'your' arm, would you still be you? When you embrace a new idea, is it 'yours'? If we are honest and look in the present moment, we have to admit that we don't know who or where we are.

Searching for ourselves, the truth, or happiness in the world of ideas or things never yields fruit. The fruit that I'm alluding to is that fruit whose nature is immutable, eternal, and whole. Thoughts divide. How can we find wholeness through the process of division?

During meditation just acknowledge how mysterious this present arising is ... it is not in parts! Give up searching and so much dividing. Give up all your words. Give up even giving up and SEE!

ok?
bob

what more can one say?

In the gap between what we think ought to be happening and the way it is right now lies the grand expanse of human suffering.

bob

are there two of you?

Many of us involved in "spiritual practice" take the view that there is an ego-based-self and a higher self. And that these two are fighting each other somehow. Isn't this just silly? For if that were true, there would have to be a third self that is judging the battle and would declare a winner. So now we are up to three selves. Oh my!

The question that meditation poses if we sit in silence for even a little while is: "Who am I?" ... sometimes we are happy, or sad, or mad, or angry, or pleased, or fulfilled, or bored, or in pain. Are you these experiences? Everyone notices that all experiences just come and go despite our efforts to control them (the big insight that almost no one is willing to face).

What if you were NOT! What if life is just unfolding all by itself without a 'you'. Could it be that the reason you have not been able to find happiness and truth is that there is no one to find them?

hmmmmm,

bob

nothing lasts

Dear Friends,

During meditation we notice that whatever arises in awareness does not last ... sorrows, burdens, great feelings of freedom, thoughts, no thoughts, sounds, silence, or whatever. Everything is transient!

This is the 'big insight' that confronts you every second. The ego (merely a bundle of thoughts about the past) is completely unwilling to accept what is so obvious to anyone who has sat on his or her meditation cushion for even a few hours.

If the ego were to accept the fact that nothing lasts it would have to accept that it too is temporary ... ouch! This would undermine its whole foundation that it actually persists and exists and is 'you'.

Change, change, and change and all that changes is absolutely impersonal.

ok,
bob