The Great Search

[Guest guest]

Hi there everyone,

 

Hope the shaktipat time is going well for you all. I came across this writing by

one of my favorite teachers, and thought that if anyone is interested in

enlightenment, they may find it useful..

 

Chrism.. I know you arent into labels and stuff like that, but would you

classify yourself as a nondual teacher?

 

enjoy

love and freedom

Bruce

 

The Great Search

 

The Realization of the Nondual traditions is uncompromising: there is only

Spirit, there is only God, there is only Emptiness in all its radiant wonder.

All the good and all the evil, the very best and the very worst, the upright and

the degenerate-each and all are radically perfect manifestations of Spirit

precisely as they are. There is nothing but God, nothing but the Goddess,

nothing but Spirit in all directions, and not a grain of sand, not a speck of

dust, is more or less Spirit than any other.

This realization undoes the Great Search that is the heart of the separate-self

sense. The separate-self is, at bottom, simply a sensation of seeking. When you

feel yourself right now, you will basically feel a tiny interior tension or

contraction—a sensation of grasping, desiring, wishing, wanting, avoiding,

resisting-it is a sensation of effort, a sensation of seeking.

In its highest form, this sensation of seeking takes on the form of the Great

Search for Spirit. We wish to get from our unenlightened state (of sin or

delusion or duality) to an enlightened or more spiritual state. We wish to get

from where Spirit is not, to where Spirit is.

But there is no place where Spirit is not. Every single location in the entire

Kosmos is equally and fully Spirit. Seeking of any sort, movement of any sort,

attainment of any sort: all profoundly useless. The Great Search simply

reinforces the mistaken assumption that there is some' place that Spirit is not,

and that I need to get from a space that is lacking to a space that is full. But

there is no space lacking, and there is no space more full. There is only

Spirit.

The Great Search for Spirit is simply that impulse, the final impulse, which

prevents the present realization of Spirit, and it does so for a simple reason:

the Great Search presumes the loss of God. The Great Search reinforces the

mistaken belief that God is not present, and thus totally obscures the 'reality

of God's ever-present Presence. The Great Search, which pretends to love God, is

in fact the very mechanism of pushing God away; the mechanism of promising to

find tomorrow that which exists only in the timeless now; the mechanism of

watching the future so fervently that the present always passes it by—very

quickly and God's smiling face with it.

The Great Search is the loveless contraction hidden in the heart of the

separate-self sense, a contraction that drives the intense yearning for a

tomorrow in which salvation will finally arrive, but during which time, thank

God, I can continue to be myself. The greater the Great Search, the more I can

deny God. The greater the Great Search, the more I can feel my own sensation of

seeking, which defines the contours of my self. The Great Search is the great

enemy of what is.

Should we then simply cease the Great Search? Definitely, if we could. But the

effort to stop the Great Search is itself more of the Great Search. The very

first step presumes and reinforces the seeking sensation. There is actually

nothing the self-contraction can do to stop the Great Search, because the

self-contraction and the Great Search are two names for the same thing.

If Spirit cannot be found as a future product of the Great Search, then there is

only one alternative: Spirit must be fully, totally, completely present right

now—AND you must be fully, totally, completely aware of it right now. It will

not do to say that Spirit is present but I don't realize it. That would require

the Great Search; that would demand that I seek a tomorrow in which I could

realize that Spirit is fully present, but such seeking misses the present in the

very first step. To keep seeking would be to keep missing. No, the realization

itself, the awareness itself: this, too, must somehow be fully and completely

present right now. If it is not, then all we have left is the Great Search,

doomed to presume that which it wishes to overcome.

There must be something about our present awareness that contains the entire

truth. Somehow, no matter what your state, you are immersed fully in everything

you need for perfect enlightenment. You are somehow looking right at the answer.

One hundred percent of Spirit is in your perception right now. Not 20 percent,

not 50 percent, not 99 percent, but literally 100 percent of Spirit is in your

awareness right now—and the trick, as it were, is to recognize this ever-present

state of affairs, and not to engineer a future state in which Spirit will

announce itself.

And this simple recognition of an already present Spirit is the task, as it

were, of the great Nondual traditions.

[Guest guest]

That is so true Bruce, thanks for sharing that.

And much thanks be to God for His Love and Grace that reaches to our unbelief

and makes His presence known without a doubt and saves us from our stuck

predicaments.

 

blessings,

linda

 

, " bruce_oom "

<bruce_oom wrote:

>

> Hi there everyone,

>

> Hope the shaktipat time is going well for you all. I came across this writing

by one of my favorite teachers, and thought that if anyone is interested in

enlightenment, they may find it useful..

>

> Chrism.. I know you arent into labels and stuff like that, but would you

classify yourself as a nondual teacher?

>

> enjoy

> love and freedom

> Bruce

>

> The Great Search

>

> The Realization of the Nondual traditions is uncompromising: there is only

Spirit, there is only God, there is only Emptiness in all its radiant wonder.

All the good and all the evil, the very best and the very worst, the upright and

the degenerate-each and all are radically perfect manifestations of Spirit

precisely as they are. There is nothing but God, nothing but the Goddess,

nothing but Spirit in all directions, and not a grain of sand, not a speck of

dust, is more or less Spirit than any other.

> This realization undoes the Great Search that is the heart of the

separate-self sense. The separate-self is, at bottom, simply a sensation of

seeking. When you feel yourself right now, you will basically feel a tiny

interior tension or contraction—a sensation of grasping, desiring, wishing,

wanting, avoiding, resisting-it is a sensation of effort, a sensation of

seeking.

> In its highest form, this sensation of seeking takes on the form of the Great

Search for Spirit. We wish to get from our unenlightened state (of sin or

delusion or duality) to an enlightened or more spiritual state. We wish to get

from where Spirit is not, to where Spirit is.

> But there is no place where Spirit is not. Every single location in the entire

Kosmos is equally and fully Spirit. Seeking of any sort, movement of any sort,

attainment of any sort: all profoundly useless. The Great Search simply

reinforces the mistaken assumption that there is some' place that Spirit is not,

and that I need to get from a space that is lacking to a space that is full. But

there is no space lacking, and there is no space more full. There is only

Spirit.

> The Great Search for Spirit is simply that impulse, the final impulse, which

prevents the present realization of Spirit, and it does so for a simple reason:

the Great Search presumes the loss of God. The Great Search reinforces the

mistaken belief that God is not present, and thus totally obscures the 'reality

of God's ever-present Presence. The Great Search, which pretends to love God, is

in fact the very mechanism of pushing God away; the mechanism of promising to

find tomorrow that which exists only in the timeless now; the mechanism of

watching the future so fervently that the present always passes it by—very

quickly and God's smiling face with it.

> The Great Search is the loveless contraction hidden in the heart of the

separate-self sense, a contraction that drives the intense yearning for a

tomorrow in which salvation will finally arrive, but during which time, thank

God, I can continue to be myself. The greater the Great Search, the more I can

deny God. The greater the Great Search, the more I can feel my own sensation of

seeking, which defines the contours of my self. The Great Search is the great

enemy of what is.

> Should we then simply cease the Great Search? Definitely, if we could. But the

effort to stop the Great Search is itself more of the Great Search. The very

first step presumes and reinforces the seeking sensation. There is actually

nothing the self-contraction can do to stop the Great Search, because the

self-contraction and the Great Search are two names for the same thing.

> If Spirit cannot be found as a future product of the Great Search, then there

is only one alternative: Spirit must be fully, totally, completely present right

now—AND you must be fully, totally, completely aware of it right now. It will

not do to say that Spirit is present but I don't realize it. That would require

the Great Search; that would demand that I seek a tomorrow in which I could

realize that Spirit is fully present, but such seeking misses the present in the

very first step. To keep seeking would be to keep missing. No, the realization

itself, the awareness itself: this, too, must somehow be fully and completely

present right now. If it is not, then all we have left is the Great Search,

doomed to presume that which it wishes to overcome.

> There must be something about our present awareness that contains the entire

truth. Somehow, no matter what your state, you are immersed fully in everything

you need for perfect enlightenment. You are somehow looking right at the answer.

One hundred percent of Spirit is in your perception right now. Not 20 percent,

not 50 percent, not 99 percent, but literally 100 percent of Spirit is in your

awareness right now—and the trick, as it were, is to recognize this ever-present

state of affairs, and not to engineer a future state in which Spirit will

announce itself.

> And this simple recognition of an already present Spirit is the task, as it

were, of the great Nondual traditions.

>

[Guest guest]

Bruce, that was a little gem, thanks for that, it really resonates with me, how

can one not realise that we are all perfection right now? I guess thats the

great illusion, the big trick we play on ourselves.

Thanks my dear brother for that!

love elektra x x x

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Bruce,

This is what I have struggled with and reading the words of those who walk

before us - this realization of it is HERE and NOW - its so simple and I've

caught myself over and over and over again doing just that - that in the future

- that desire for enlightenment - that desire for that merging and its taken me

so long to even become aware that I'm doing that its kinda funny. As long as

there is desire that means its something I don't have - something as you wrote

in the future - and reading words such as these brings such peace doesnt it?

'Cuz its here right now - we don't have to search without - its funny though I

still catch myself doing just that! ha And then someone says something or writes

something as you did and again that AHA - relax Deb its all right now. Many

thanks - feels so much lighter this way!

Deb

 

, " bruce_oom "

<bruce_oom wrote:

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you Bruce for the Great Search. As I read it I wished I had seen this

40yrs ago when my search for God and Goddess began. But even if I knew this

information I would probably not have believed it. I think we all have to go on

our great search in order to recognise that what we seek is inside us and all

around us and always has been.

 

Blessings, Skydancer x

>

> The Great Search

>

> The Realization of the Nondual traditions is uncompromising: there is only

Spirit, there is only God, there is only Emptiness in all its radiant wonder.

All the good and all the evil, the very best and the very worst, the upright and

the degenerate-each and all are radically perfect manifestations of Spirit

precisely as they are. There is nothing but God, nothing but the Goddess,

nothing but Spirit in all directions, and not a grain of sand, not a speck of

dust, is more or less Spirit than any other.

> This realization undoes the Great Search that is the heart of the

separate-self sense. The separate-self is, at bottom, simply a sensation of

seeking. When you feel yourself right now, you will basically feel a tiny

interior tension or contraction—a sensation of grasping, desiring, wishing,

wanting, avoiding, resisting-it is a sensation of effort, a sensation of

seeking.

> In its highest form, this sensation of seeking takes on the form of the Great

Search for Spirit. We wish to get from our unenlightened state (of sin or

delusion or duality) to an enlightened or more spiritual state. We wish to get

from where Spirit is not, to where Spirit is.

> But there is no place where Spirit is not. Every single location in the entire

Kosmos is equally and fully Spirit. Seeking of any sort, movement of any sort,

attainment of any sort: all profoundly useless. The Great Search simply

reinforces the mistaken assumption that there is some' place that Spirit is not,

and that I need to get from a space that is lacking to a space that is full. But

there is no space lacking, and there is no space more full. There is only

Spirit.

> The Great Search for Spirit is simply that impulse, the final impulse, which

prevents the present realization of Spirit, and it does so for a simple reason:

the Great Search presumes the loss of God. The Great Search reinforces the

mistaken belief that God is not present, and thus totally obscures the 'reality

of God's ever-present Presence. The Great Search, which pretends to love God, is

in fact the very mechanism of pushing God away; the mechanism of promising to

find tomorrow that which exists only in the timeless now; the mechanism of

watching the future so fervently that the present always passes it by—very

quickly and God's smiling face with it.

> The Great Search is the loveless contraction hidden in the heart of the

separate-self sense, a contraction that drives the intense yearning for a

tomorrow in which salvation will finally arrive, but during which time, thank

God, I can continue to be myself. The greater the Great Search, the more I can

deny God. The greater the Great Search, the more I can feel my own sensation of

seeking, which defines the contours of my self. The Great Search is the great

enemy of what is.

> Should we then simply cease the Great Search? Definitely, if we could. But the

effort to stop the Great Search is itself more of the Great Search. The very

first step presumes and reinforces the seeking sensation. There is actually

nothing the self-contraction can do to stop the Great Search, because the

self-contraction and the Great Search are two names for the same thing.

> If Spirit cannot be found as a future product of the Great Search, then there

is only one alternative: Spirit must be fully, totally, completely present right

now—AND you must be fully, totally, completely aware of it right now. It will

not do to say that Spirit is present but I don't realize it. That would require

the Great Search; that would demand that I seek a tomorrow in which I could

realize that Spirit is fully present, but such seeking misses the present in the

very first step. To keep seeking would be to keep missing. No, the realization

itself, the awareness itself: this, too, must somehow be fully and completely

present right now. If it is not, then all we have left is the Great Search,

doomed to presume that which it wishes to overcome.

> There must be something about our present awareness that contains the entire

truth. Somehow, no matter what your state, you are immersed fully in everything

you need for perfect enlightenment. You are somehow looking right at the answer.

One hundred percent of Spirit is in your perception right now. Not 20 percent,

not 50 percent, not 99 percent, but literally 100 percent of Spirit is in your

awareness right now—and the trick, as it were, is to recognize this ever-present

state of affairs, and not to engineer a future state in which Spirit will

announce itself.

> And this simple recognition of an already present Spirit is the task, as it

were, of the great Nondual traditions.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for this Bruce,

Incidentally, who wrote this? I didn't see the author.

Love,

Jan

, " bruce_oom "

<bruce_oom wrote:

>

> Hi there everyone,

>

> Hope the shaktipat time is going well for you all. I came across this writing

by one of my favorite teachers, and thought that if anyone is interested in

enlightenment, they may find it useful..

>

> Chrism.. I know you arent into labels and stuff like that, but would you

classify yourself as a nondual teacher?

>

> enjoy

> love and freedom

> Bruce

>

> The Great Search

>

> The Realization of the Nondual traditions is uncompromising: there is only

Spirit, there is only God, there is only Emptiness in all its radiant wonder.

All the good and all the evil, the very best and the very worst, the upright and

the degenerate-each and all are radically perfect manifestations of Spirit

precisely as they are. There is nothing but God, nothing but the Goddess,

nothing but Spirit in all directions, and not a grain of sand, not a speck of

dust, is more or less Spirit than any other.

> This realization undoes the Great Search that is the heart of the

separate-self sense. The separate-self is, at bottom, simply a sensation of

seeking. When you feel yourself right now, you will basically feel a tiny

interior tension or contraction—a sensation of grasping, desiring, wishing,

wanting, avoiding, resisting-it is a sensation of effort, a sensation of

seeking.

> In its highest form, this sensation of seeking takes on the form of the Great

Search for Spirit. We wish to get from our unenlightened state (of sin or

delusion or duality) to an enlightened or more spiritual state. We wish to get

from where Spirit is not, to where Spirit is.

> But there is no place where Spirit is not. Every single location in the entire

Kosmos is equally and fully Spirit. Seeking of any sort, movement of any sort,

attainment of any sort: all profoundly useless. The Great Search simply

reinforces the mistaken assumption that there is some' place that Spirit is not,

and that I need to get from a space that is lacking to a space that is full. But

there is no space lacking, and there is no space more full. There is only

Spirit.

> The Great Search for Spirit is simply that impulse, the final impulse, which

prevents the present realization of Spirit, and it does so for a simple reason:

the Great Search presumes the loss of God. The Great Search reinforces the

mistaken belief that God is not present, and thus totally obscures the 'reality

of God's ever-present Presence. The Great Search, which pretends to love God, is

in fact the very mechanism of pushing God away; the mechanism of promising to

find tomorrow that which exists only in the timeless now; the mechanism of

watching the future so fervently that the present always passes it by—very

quickly and God's smiling face with it.

> The Great Search is the loveless contraction hidden in the heart of the

separate-self sense, a contraction that drives the intense yearning for a

tomorrow in which salvation will finally arrive, but during which time, thank

God, I can continue to be myself. The greater the Great Search, the more I can

deny God. The greater the Great Search, the more I can feel my own sensation of

seeking, which defines the contours of my self. The Great Search is the great

enemy of what is.

> Should we then simply cease the Great Search? Definitely, if we could. But the

effort to stop the Great Search is itself more of the Great Search. The very

first step presumes and reinforces the seeking sensation. There is actually

nothing the self-contraction can do to stop the Great Search, because the

self-contraction and the Great Search are two names for the same thing.

> If Spirit cannot be found as a future product of the Great Search, then there

is only one alternative: Spirit must be fully, totally, completely present right

now—AND you must be fully, totally, completely aware of it right now. It will

not do to say that Spirit is present but I don't realize it. That would require

the Great Search; that would demand that I seek a tomorrow in which I could

realize that Spirit is fully present, but such seeking misses the present in the

very first step. To keep seeking would be to keep missing. No, the realization

itself, the awareness itself: this, too, must somehow be fully and completely

present right now. If it is not, then all we have left is the Great Search,

doomed to presume that which it wishes to overcome.

> There must be something about our present awareness that contains the entire

truth. Somehow, no matter what your state, you are immersed fully in everything

you need for perfect enlightenment. You are somehow looking right at the answer.

One hundred percent of Spirit is in your perception right now. Not 20 percent,

not 50 percent, not 99 percent, but literally 100 percent of Spirit is in your

awareness right now—and the trick, as it were, is to recognize this ever-present

state of affairs, and not to engineer a future state in which Spirit will

announce itself.

> And this simple recognition of an already present Spirit is the task, as it

were, of the great Nondual traditions.

>