Guest guest Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 I chose the term " Natural State " because this true nature that we are is effortlessly present, spontaneously available, requiring no pursuit or acquisition. To me, " natural " implies something outside the influence of or not a product of conceptual thought. Jusy easy and natural. This terminology is by no means original. I just happen to like it. " Natural " is also the meaning of the term " nisarga " as in Nisargdatta, so there is for a me a rememberance of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, who I admire and who was Bob Adamson's teacher. The term " natural state " also pops up in other traditions, so it seems like a good non-denominational term. It is also free of overtly religious, traditional connotations. Whenever you use words, you have to pick something, so in this instance " natural state " seems as good as any. There are lots of good ones: Presence awareness Cognizing emptiness Clear Light The Self Consciousness The One Mind God Reality All pointers. As Bob Adamson says, " The word is not the thing, so don't get hung up on the words " . Right now you exist, you are aware. Without taking a thought, you are absolutely sure of your being. That is IT. All of the Buddhas and sages of all times are fully present at the core of the one who is reading these words. You will never attain this, never find it, never know it as some object of thought because the very awareness that you are and have always been is FULLY completely that NOW. We never become " enlightened " tomorrow because tomorrow is imagined in the mind. You ARE prior to the mind. At some point, you will turn back and notice the fact of your own being, and you will be home, even though you never left home. This is not a result of some fantastic ability or spiritual prowess. Just simple looking. The way it seemed to unfold for me was via the following insights. 1. Bob pointed out to me the truth of our nature as presence-awareness or cognizing emptiness. Somehow that clicked for me. It was not so much the words, which I had read a million times before. It was the energy or vitality coming through the words that was potent. I sensed he was not only saying the words, but also living from that realization. This enabled a resonance to occur. To meet Nisargadatta Maharaj in person and partake of his living energy would likely have been several orders of magnitude higher than reading " I am That " . This may not be necessary for everyone, but for me there was a huge difference between reading the words " You are awareness " and having a direct disciple of Nisargdatta Maharaj tell me " YOU ARE AWARENESS " . 2. After having seen this, and feeling some sense of freedom, I still seemed to lose it when contradictory thoughts arose. Bob pointed out this is, in fact, not possible. You cannot lose your true nature because it is the substratum of any thinking and perceiving. When I saw this (finally) it clicked, and I realized you can NEVER leave this. Even if the thought " I lost it " arises, the awareness is there knowing that thought, so it is patently false. 3. The knock out blow was what I decribed in talking about seeing the absence of a person. There is no such entity in the machine, just thoughts, experiences, and objects arising and subsiding in awareness. No one controlling them, no one affected by them. Everything happening just as before, but the imagine person removed from the film. The film goes on but there is no person starring in it. As they say, there are thoughts, but no thinker. Actions, but no actor. Choices, but no choice maker. Basically, there is no difference from before, except in experience the sense of separation is gone along with the psychological suffering, confusion, and doubt that normally attends the presence of a separate " I " . 4. As a final tying up of loose ends, it is helpful to see the fact that all experiences are just movements in awareness. They are like waves arising and falling in the awareness that you are. It is all one substance. There is only only energy, one substance, one taste. Pzst, future, there, here, I, you, this, that, are all just conceptual distinctions and even concepts are that -- so you can't win. 5. One more thing. There is no one at the controls. Life is happening, thoughts are arising, actions are occuring spontaneously. You, as a separate person, are not " doing " these things. You don't choose your thoughts, feelings, sensations. As Bob says, " You are being lived. " So what is the result? One writer said: " The only problem is that 99.9% of everything you think, say, and do is based on the idea of a separate person -- and there isn't one! " Coming into alignment with the true state of affairs means the that usual strife, struggle, and suffering based on wrong understanding vanishes. Life goes on. It is like a dislocated limb popping back into place. You can hardly say what happened but suddenly everything feels a lot better!! Nisargadatta Maharaj said something the effect, " You can only put it negatively: There is nothing wrong anymore. " One other aspect. There is a distinct recognition that the searching is over. You may read books or visit spiritual teachers but you have the experience that they are saying what you already know. In actual practice, the seeker is bound to be plagued by vestigal doubts, questions, and concerns, in spite of however advanced the intellectual understanding may be. I have seen many (including myself) able to converse on all this with the most incredible precision and verbal acumen. The only test is in day to day direct experience at the gut, emotional level. Is there any sense of suffering, separation, anxiety, fear? Am I feeling doubt or metaphysical uncertainty? Is the knowledge of my true nature unshakeable? If not, the understanding is not complete. The best recourse, it seems to me is to find a living teacher and get your doubts resolved directly. Nisargadatta Maharaj used to say " I am not interested in what you know, but what you are still holding onto. " For me this understanding was triggered by my association with Bob Adamson, who in turn had realized this through contact with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in 1976. Bob is one of the best kept " open secrets " in the world of contemporary spirituality. Now you know! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 28, 2004 Report Share Posted February 28, 2004 John It sounds good to me. I think you got it. Go with it. Thanks for the cool posts. Danananda Nisargadatta , " johnwh111 " <johnwh@c...> wrote: > I chose the term " Natural State " because this true > nature that we are is effortlessly present, spontaneously > available, requiring no pursuit or acquisition. To > me, " natural " implies something outside the influence of or > not a product of conceptual thought. Jusy easy and natural. > This terminology is by no means original. I just happen > to like it. > > " Natural " is also the meaning of the term " nisarga " as > in Nisargdatta, so there is for a me a rememberance > of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, who I admire and who > was Bob Adamson's teacher. The term " natural state " > also pops up in other traditions, so it seems like > a good non-denominational term. It is also free of > overtly religious, traditional connotations. > > Whenever you use words, you have to pick something, > so in this instance " natural state " seems as good as any. > > There are lots of good ones: > > Presence awareness > Cognizing emptiness > Clear Light > The Self > Consciousness > The One Mind > God > Reality > > All pointers. As Bob Adamson says, " The word is not > the thing, so don't get hung up on the words " . > > Right now you exist, you are aware. Without > taking a thought, you are absolutely sure > of your being. That is IT. All of the Buddhas > and sages of all times are fully present at > the core of the one who is reading these words. > You will never attain this, never find it, > never know it as some object of thought because > the very awareness that you are and have always > been is FULLY completely that NOW. > > We never become " enlightened " tomorrow because > tomorrow is imagined in the mind. You ARE prior > to the mind. At some point, you will turn > back and notice the fact of your own being, > and you will be home, even though you never left > home. This is not a result of some fantastic > ability or spiritual prowess. Just simple looking. > > The way it seemed to unfold for me was via the > following insights. > > 1. Bob pointed out to me the truth of our nature > as presence-awareness or cognizing emptiness. > Somehow that clicked for me. It was not so much > the words, which I had read a million times before. > It was the energy or vitality coming through the > words that was potent. I sensed he was not only > saying the words, but also living from that realization. > This enabled a resonance to occur. To meet > Nisargadatta Maharaj in person and partake of his > living energy would likely have been several orders > of magnitude higher than reading " I am That " . This > may not be necessary for everyone, but for me > there was a huge difference between reading the words > " You are awareness " and having a direct disciple > of Nisargdatta Maharaj tell me " YOU ARE AWARENESS " . > > 2. After having seen this, and feeling some sense > of freedom, I still seemed to lose it when > contradictory thoughts arose. Bob pointed out > this is, in fact, not possible. You cannot lose > your true nature because it is the substratum > of any thinking and perceiving. When I saw > this (finally) it clicked, and I realized you > can NEVER leave this. Even if the thought " I lost > it " arises, the awareness is there knowing that > thought, so it is patently false. > > 3. The knock out blow was what I decribed in talking > about seeing the absence of a person. There is no > such entity in the machine, just thoughts, experiences, > and objects arising and subsiding in awareness. No > one controlling them, no one affected by them. Everything > happening just as before, but the imagine person > removed from the film. The film goes on but there > is no person starring in it. As they say, there are > thoughts, but no thinker. Actions, but no actor. > Choices, but no choice maker. Basically, there is > no difference from before, except in experience > the sense of separation is gone along with the > psychological suffering, confusion, and doubt that > normally attends the presence of a separate " I " . > > > 4. As a final tying up of loose ends, it is helpful > to see the fact that all experiences are just > movements in awareness. They are like waves > arising and falling in the awareness that you > are. It is all one substance. There is only > only energy, one substance, one taste. Pzst, > future, there, here, I, you, this, that, are > all just conceptual distinctions and even > concepts are that -- so you can't win. > > 5. One more thing. There is no one at the controls. > Life is happening, thoughts are arising, actions > are occuring spontaneously. You, as a separate > person, are not " doing " these things. You don't > choose your thoughts, feelings, sensations. As > Bob says, " You are being lived. " > > So what is the result? One writer said: > > " The only problem is that 99.9% of everything you > think, say, and do is based on the idea of > a separate person -- and there isn't one! " > > Coming into alignment with the true state of > affairs means the that usual strife, struggle, > and suffering based on wrong understanding vanishes. > Life goes on. It is like a dislocated limb > popping back into place. You can hardly say > what happened but suddenly everything feels > a lot better!! > > Nisargadatta Maharaj said something the effect, > " You can only put it negatively: There is nothing > wrong anymore. " > > One other aspect. There is a distinct recognition > that the searching is over. You may read books > or visit spiritual teachers but you have the experience > that they are saying what you already know. > > In actual practice, the seeker is bound to be plagued > by vestigal doubts, questions, and concerns, in spite > of however advanced the intellectual understanding may > be. I have seen many (including myself) able to > converse on all this with the most incredible precision > and verbal acumen. The only test is in day to day > direct experience at the gut, emotional level. Is there > any sense of suffering, separation, anxiety, fear? > Am I feeling doubt or metaphysical uncertainty? Is the > knowledge of my true nature unshakeable? If > not, the understanding is not complete. The best recourse, > it seems to me is to find a living teacher and get > your doubts resolved directly. > > Nisargadatta Maharaj used to say " I am not interested > in what you know, but what you are still holding > onto. " > > For me this understanding was triggered by my association with > Bob Adamson, who in turn had realized this through contact > with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in 1976. Bob is one of the > best kept " open secrets " in the world of contemporary > spirituality. > > Now you know! > > John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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