Whenever we resist something, we suffer. Resistance is the ego judging the present moment. It always has its idea of what it would like life to be. When it is otherwise, it resists the form that the present moment is presently taking. Some may not realize that it is actually our own thinking that causes resistance and therefore causes our negative emotions. The ego believes that it is other people and circumstances that cause its emotions to change and it is not so. But don't take my word for it. Observe directly to see how the ego operates and generates or perpetuates negative emotion. When thinking is unobserved and we misidentify with its judgments, it is self-inflicted suffering.
When you are feeling unhappy, turn your attention to your thoughts and notice how they are using you. The intensity of your unhappiness will always depend upon the degree of resistance that you are having against what is. This just is not that wise. The present moment is already as it is. Can you accept it just as it is? Is it possible to actually love the mystery of the appearance and truly be free to welcome all that is appearing, free of judgment?
Since the ego needs time in order to function, it will always resist the now. The now is the space within which the present moment is appearing. The more you are able to be the Now rather than the personal reference point of the ego, the less you will suffer. You will suffer less since you have not misidentified the dreaming "I" and its wants and needs. Free of the misidentification, you are also free of all the ego's thinking that causes you to suffer.
Since the ego is always under some sense of threat, it will attempt to control and manipulate whatever is. Of course, that is impossible since it is. That control and manipulation only causes you and others to suffer. We create more pain which will soon become more pain of the past that will be stored in the body for release.
If you observe the ego, you will notice how it is constantly fixated on the past or future, which obscures the Now that is the source of all true happiness and peace. Whatever past pain that you perceive that you have, it will appear as present conditioning, which is why we do not need to heal the past. It will appear in the present moment as your reaction to the present moment. Likewise, the ego is always attempting to use the present moment to get something in the future. This creates anxiety, worry and other negative emotions. Those desires are also based on past conditioning.
If you are interested in creating no more pain for yourself and others, stand free of time and you will see that you do not accumulate more time and therefore more suffering. The present moment is virtually all that you have. Are you missing it? It is the only true representation of Life as it truly is and the only doorway to presence.
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008
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9 comments:
Dear katie davis,
Absolute reality is mere being which never does anything.All action(doing)
involves change and change requires time.All doing is resistance to "what is",so resistance is time.In the precise moment we cannot do anything,we can just "be".We can experience action or doing only in the flow of time from the past to future and not in the precise present moment.Thought is a movement and movement requires time,so thought i.e ego is time.When there is no ego there is no resistance to anything and there is no time.Anything that changes is transient,so unreal,who ever performs that action is equally unreal.All doing or action is imaginary and whatever is imaginary cannot be real.The act of imagining is unreal.Imagination can be known by who imagines it i.e ego.So world,time, does not exist outside the dimension of imagination of ego which itself is a product of resistance.Ego is a process of becoming which requires time and in the process of becoming resistance will be there.So ego,doing,resistance,time are all synonymous.
Hello DRPVSSNRAJU ~
Thank you for your intelligent post. Absolute Reality is Pure Awareness ... that is pure being-consciousness-bliss.
There is never a doer of action. Reality is not a doer and neither is what some call the ego (dreaming "I"). There simply is no doer.
Action is the dynamism of Self or the power of Self. It happens by itself.
"I" cannot be separate from "my" power. However, "my" power cannot stand alone. It requires "me." Likewise as the Self. Its dynamism cannot stand alone.
At one level, we would say that therefore action is unreal. However ultimately, it will be realized as only the power of Self ... still free of a doer, but ever present as its power ... potential action or no action.
When an action occurs, it happens spontaneously and "causelessly" so. The ego imagines that it is the doer. The mind is interpreting an action from its separate reference point and then falsely tries to possess it. It imagines that it is a doer.
The ego does not make the sun rise, the tides change or move the body to action. That is the power of Self and the action is not a separate thing. World dependent on mind-body which is dependent on pure consciousness.
We could call this pure action and it is free of resistance. I have heard a famous teacher speak of the Ultimate Subject. This is a false idea. After 22 years, I can tell you that the subject-witness does surrender. Until that perception of a subject surrenders, full integration is not a possibility. There is neither subject nor object. The perception of a subject indicates that a reference point still remains and it will be eliminated.
The "inside" and the "outside" that we speak of in awakening is a mental construct. Nonetheless, on the way "in," all that is not-Self is spontaneously surrendered for Self-realization.
We then have the opportunity of full embodiment (not speaking of the body here), but rather of the Totality.
Form is Essence AND Essence is Form.
Upon full embodiment (integration), no thing is not-Self ... no-thing is ex-IS. It is Absolute Self and its power.
Ramana Maharshi's translation of Forty Verses, based on the teachings of Shankaracharya, is a beautiful representation of what I am sharing. If I recall correctly, it was updated by Alan Jacobs and that is the copy that I have here somewhere!
Yes, time and space in an illusion. Time cannot not know that which is timeless, however timelessness does not have an issue with the appearance of time.
The dynamism of Self (action) appears only in the formless now which contains the appearance of the present moment. (I realize the argument that even the present moment is already past. :-) However, when you are totally free of reference point and you are the Forever Now what is appearing as the present moment is only my power and inseparable from me.
It is impossible for action to take place in the past or the future. It is all appearing in the formless now.
Yes, ego's becoming process is resistance.
It all depends who is looking. Without a reference point, without a doer, without time and without resistance ... there is only the Self and its dynamism (pure action).
Perhaps what you were referring to here is reaction. Reaction is always based on past conditioning and it is always in resistance to what is.
Dear Katie Davis,
What a beautiful feedback to my post.You have understood alpha and omega of Advaita because you have experienced the self.As you said
we are attributing the action of self dynamism on us thus forming a referance point which distorts the observation.The concept of inside and outside exist only when there is a referance point.I feel that the essence of form is nothingness and all forms arise from and merge into nothingness.Ufcource nothingness cannot be separated from infinite conscious being because it is his infinite shadow.As you rightly said action happens in the formless "now".So all action is due to self dynamism.Because of self-ignorance we are attributing that action of self dynamism on us and creating trouble for us.
If you have updated forty verses of Ramana Maharshi(ulladu narpadu)by Alan Jacobs kindly email me a copy of it.
Once again i thank you for your post,i am enriched by it.
Good morning DRPVSSNRAJU ~
Thank you for your posts today. I enjoyed them.
Just a note about the "infinite shadow." Just as the darkness of night effortlessly surrenders in the morning sunrise,the darkness of unconsciousness does not survive the pure light of consciousness. This is the opportunity of Self-realization. There is no shadow ...
Regarding Forty Versus, the title is "Ramana, Shankara and the Forty Verses: The Essential Teachings of Advaita." I cannot file it by email since I only have it in book form. So, here is a link:
http://www.amazon.com/Ramana-Shankara-Forty-Verses-Maharshi/dp/1842930427/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228078386&sr=1-4
Have a lovely day ... ~ Katie
Dear Katie,
I agree with you that in the self effulgence of the infinite ultimate reality the existence of it's shadow and it's manifestation with the name and is not possible.Mentioning about the shadow is for explaining the things so that it is easy for the
aspirant to understand what we wanted to convey.
Thank you so much for giving the link on forty verses.I commented on Upadea Saram written by Bhagawan Sr Ramana Maharshi in English.Have you gone through any commentary on that book.I feel that it is one of the best book written by Ramana Maharshi.
Dear DRPVSSNRAJU ~
Are you Dr. Raju?? Yes! I see that now. I am so grateful that you are here.
I sensed that it was so amazing to encounter two extraordinary people ... and alas ... there is only you. :-) I so welcome this presence.
I have read Upadea Saram along with probably 50 or more books/pamphlets offered on Ramana's teachings. That was very long ago. To be honest, while I know I have this on the mainland U.S., I do not presently associate the name with the book.
If you have a commentary on Upadea Saram such as the Art of Self-Inquiry that you sent, I would be so grateful to let me know where I could find it.
I am totally open to receiving anything that offers more clarity for the aspirant and that might enrich this presentation.
Blessings ~ Katie
Dear Katie,
You are an open minded individual.I will send you my
commentary on Upadesa Saram to you by email.I want sometime because i wrote in my native language Telugu and i am translating into English and i will file it and send it to you.I think you will express the
essence of Upadesa Saram better
to the people who are intersted,in your circle.~Dr.Raju.
Good morning, Dr. Raju ~
Thank you, I would appreciate that very much. Today, I will finish The Art of Self-Inquiry as well.
All Love ~ Katie
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