The Seer

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The enlightenment I speak of is not simply a realization, not simply the discovery of one’s true nature. This is just the beginning — the point of entry into an inner revolution. Realization does not guarantee this revolution, it simply makes it possible.

What is this revolution? To begin with, revolution is not static; it is alive, ongoing. Realization of the ultimate reality is a fact. Revolution is the continuous ongoing birth of intelligence. This intelligence restructures your entire being. This intelligence cuts the mind free of itself, of its old structures which are rooted become free of the old structures of human consciousness, then one is still in a prison, the prison of humanity’s consciousness.

This revolution is the awakening of an intelligence which alone has the ability to uproot all of the old structures of one’s consciousness. Unless these structures are uprooted, there will be no creative thought or action or response. Unless there is an inner revolution, nothing new and fresh can flower. Only the old will flower in the absence of this revolution. But our potential lies beyond the known, beyond the structures of the past, beyond anything that humanity has established.

One must be willing to stand alone — in the unknown, with no reference to authority or the past or any of one’s conditioning. One must stand where no one has stood before in complete nakedness, innocence, and humility.

by Daniela Sarahyba

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There is a very famous poem written by the third patriarch of Zen, Seng-ts’an, called the Hsin-Hsin Ming, which translates as Verses in Faith Mind. In this poem Seng-ts’an writes these lines: “Do not seek the truth; only cease to cherish opinions.” This is a reversal of the way most people go about trying to realize absolute truth.

Most people seek truth, but Seng-ts’an is saying not to seek truth. This sounds very strange indeed. How will you find truth if you don’t seek it? How will you find happiness if you do not seek it? How will you find God if you do not seek God? Everyone seems to be seeking something. In spirituality seeking is highly honored and respected, and here comes Seng-ts’an saying not to seek.

The reason Seng-ts’an is saying not to seek is because truth, or reality, is not something objective. Truth is not something “out there.” It is not something you will find as an object of perception or as a temporal experience. Reality is neither inside of you nor outside of you….

This article by Adyashanti is continued on his Web page.

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Recently, I was meditating on the words ascribed to St John who is believed by many to be a Jnani (a seer) as well as a Christian saint. You may remember he wrote: “God is love … ” and then added, “he that abides in love, abides in God and God in him.” (1 John 4:16)

To abide or dwell in love doesn’t mean for us, as a separate entity, to have constant love for some object or person, divine or otherwise. John wants us to see here that love — true love — is not something we have or do, but rather what we are in essence — already and always.

Consider what is the greatest ‘love’ of any sentient being. If he had the choice of possessing either all the wealth in the world or his ‘beingness’ or ‘consciousness’ (call it what you will), that which gives him the sense of being alive and present, and without which the body would be nothing but a cadaver, what would he choose? Obviously, without consciousness, all the wealth in the world would be of no use to him.

It is this conscious presence one loves more than anything else because without it, there is no universe, no anything! This therefore, is Presence-Love-God. And St John obviously had this in mind when he said, “God is love ….”

This conscious presence which makes us aware of this, here, now — the beingness of every sentient being on the earth — and indeed, the very soul of the entire universe, — this cannot be anything other than God.

It is clear that he meant that he (John) and He (God) were not different as pure subjectivity, but one in conscious awareness. And, therefore, he who is anchored in the conscious presence that is Love — that is God — abides in God and God in him.

The Love John speaks of here is love for the mere (or mysterious) fact of existence itself.

As Adyashanti says, It isn’t a love that is caused by anything. It isn’t based on whether one has a good day, or a good encounter, or a good feeling etc. In fact, it could be not such a good day, not such a good encounter, or not such a good feeling, and there will be still just as much love for it.

This is a love that loves to live this life because in life it is actually meeting itself moment to moment.

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Inexplicably it comes. When you least expect it. For a reason you can never know. One moment you are striving, figuring, imagining, and then, in the blink of an eye, it all disappears. The struggle disappears. The striving ­disappears. The person disappears. The world disappears. Everything disappears, and the person is like a pinpoint of light, just receding until it disappears. And there’s nobody there to witness it. The person is gone. Only awareness remains. Nothing else. No one to be aware. Nothing to be aware of. Only that remains itself. Then it’s understood, finally and simply.

Then everything — all the struggle, all the striving, all the thinking, all the figuring, all the surrendering, all the letting go, all the grabbing hold of, all the praying, all the begging, all the cursing, too — was just a distraction. And only then is it seen that the person was, is, and ever will be no more than a thought. With a single thought, the person seems to re-emerge. With more thoughts, the world seems to re-emerge right out of nothing. But now you know.

The incarnation is nothing more than a thought. A thousand incarnations are but a thousand thoughts. And this amazing miracle of a mirage we call the world reappears as it was before, but now you know. That’s why you usually have a good laugh, because you realize that all your struggles were made up. You conjured them up out of nothing with a thought that was linked to another thought, that was then believed, that linked to another thought that was then believed. But never could it have been true, not for a second could it have actually existed. Not ever could you have actually suffered for a reason that was true — only through an imagination, good, bad, indifferent. The intricacies of spiritual philosophy and theologies are just a thought within Emptiness.

And so at times we talk, and I pretend to take your struggles seriously, just as I pretended to take my own seriously. You may pretend to take your own struggles seriously from time to time, and although we pretend, we really shouldn’t forget that we are pretending, that we are making up the content of our experience; we are making up the little dramas of our lives. We are making up whether we need to hold on or surrender or figure it out or pray to God or be purified or have karma cleansed — it’s all a thought. We just collude in this ridiculous charade of an illusion pretending that it’s real, only to reveal that it’s not. There is no karma. There is nothing really to purify. There’s no problem. There is only what you create and believe to be so. And if you like it that way, have at it!

But we cannot continue this absolute farce indefinitely. We cannot continue to pretend this game we play, indefinitely. It’s impossible. Everything comes back to nothing. And then it’s a bit harder to hold a straight face consistently for the rest of your life.

Transcribed from a talk given by Adyashanti in Pacific Grove, CA, June 9, 2006.

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It was a great joy for Pearl and me to have Adyashanti and his wife, Mukti, as guests in our home, Gurukula, for almost a week earlier this month (Oct. 07). Adya, as he is known, hails from Northern California and had come to Perth, Western Australia, to give some satsang talks and a two-day intensive.

It soon became apparent that Adya and Mukti live in complete integrity with what they know and teach, and make no claims to ’specialness’ whatever. Nevertheless, you cannot be arround this charming couple for long without being impressed by their presence which seems to radiate warmth, depth, humor and a kind of unattached spontaneity.

At one point, in passing conversation, Mukti reavealed that Adya was quite a good cook — particularly in the area of pies and other desserts. Adya said he got most of his favorite recipes from his mother who apparently is noted for her culinary prowess.

Adya’s Perth events left us all glowing and more deeply grounded in love and truth than ever and we were planning a farewell dinnerparty at a friend’s place on our final evening together before Adya and his team flew on to the East Coast for the remainder of his tour. On hearing about this, Adya offered to make an apple pie for dessert, and of course, we readily accepted.

So, on the Monday morning after the intensive, Mukti made up a list of ingredients and we did a quick shop for them at our local stores. Then after an early light lunch, Adya and Mukti took over our small kitchen and set to work on the apple pie. To me, they sounded more like children playing hppily in a sand-box as they peeled the apples, conjured up the pastry and banged about with the cooking utensils. Thse sounds were followed eventually by the most fragrant aroma which issued from our oven and filled the adjacent rooms with a presence of its own. The pie looked wonderful when it came out of the oven and was set on a rack to cool.

Later, at the dinnerparty, when Adya’s apple pie was portioned out, tasted and consumed with lashings of whipped cream etc, all agreed that the taste was simply superb and somewhat distinctive owing to his inspired preference for ginger and cloves to spice up the apple filling. Before they left the next morning, I asked Mukti for a copy of the recipe which she kindly supplied with Adya’s ‘adjustments’. Now we can share the recipe with you, and if you care to try it out and live anywher near us in Perth, I’d be more than glad to sample a piece of your pie and let you know how close you got to the masterPIEce Adya cooked up in our tiny kitchen that day.

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Makes one 9 inch (23 cm) pie.

Short Crust Pastry (Pate Brisee) Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups (350 grams) plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon (30 grams) granulated white sugar

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces

1/4 to 1/2 cup (60 - 120 ml) ice water

Apple Filling Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds (1.1 kg) Granny Smith apples (about 6 large), peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 8 cups sliced) (about 900 grams sliced)

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1/4 cup (55 grams) light brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (15 grams) cornstarch (corn flour)

Directions:

In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/4 cup (60 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Divide the dough in half, flattening each half into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour.

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, remove one portion of the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry into a 12 inch (30 cm) circle. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards).) Fold the dough in half and gently transfer to a 9 inch (23 cm) pie pan. Brush off any excess flour and trim the edges of the pastry to fit the pie pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.

Then remove the second round of pastry and roll it into a 12 inch (30 cm) circle. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator.

Make the Apple Filling: In a large bowl combine the sliced apples, sugars, lemon juice, ground ginger, cloves, and salt. Let the apples macerate at room temperature for about two hours. Then, place the apples and their juices in a strainer that is placed over a large bowl (to capture the juices). Let the apples drain for about 15-30 minutes or until you have at least 1/2 cup (120 ml) of juice. Spray a 4 cup (960 ml) heatproof measuring cup with a nonstick vegetable spray, and then pour in the collected juices and the 2 tablespoons (28 grams) of unsalted butter. Place in the microwave and boil the liquid, on high, 6 to 7 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to about 1/3 cup and is syrupy and lightly caramelized. (Alternatively, you could place the juices and butter in a small saucepan and boil over medium high heat on the stove.)

Meanwhile, remove the top pastry crust from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes so it has time to soften and become pliable. Transfer the drained apples slices to a large bowl and mix them with the cornstarch (corn flour). Then pour the reduced syrup over the apples and toss to combine. Pour the apples and their syrup into the chilled pie crust. Moisten the edges of the pie shell with a little water and then place the top crust over the apples. Tuck any excess pastry under the bottom crust and then crimp the edges using your fingers or a fork. Using a sharp knife, make five 2-inch (5 cm) slits from the center of the pie out towards the edge of the pie to allow the steam to escape.

Cover the pie with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill the pastry while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 356 degrees F (180 degrees C). Place the oven rack at the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on the rack before preheating the oven. Place a piece of aluminum foil on the stone (or pan) to catch any apple juices.

Set the pie on the stone or pan and bake for about 45 to 55 minutes or until the juices start to bubble through the slits and the apples feel tender (not mushy) when a toothpick or sharp knife is inserted through one of the slits. Make sure to cover the edges of the pie with a foil ring to prevent over browning after about 30 minutes.

Remove the pie from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 3-4 hours before cutting.

Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream, yogurt or softly whipped cream. Store at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.

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It’s hard to believe that Adyashanti will be here in Perth (Western Australia) in just over seven weeks! Hundreds are planning to hear him at he Fremantle Town Hall and the places are filling up rapidly for his intensive at Cottesloe. We strongly advise you to register for Adya’s intensive if you’re planning to be there.

The recording of the satsangs in Perth, Sydney and Byron Bay will be availabe online for download within a week of each event. The recordings will be uploaded to Adya’s Cafe Dharma site so anyone can go online and purchase them for download. A card explaining this will be available at the bookstore at each event.

“To try to get beyond yourself is the ultimate act of self-obsession. If you’re going to do anything, put your attention on what’s already free. Your mind would say, Well, where is that? I would say, It’s the awareness that you’re using right now to look, to listen, that awareness itself. It’s already free. Just abide in what’s already free.” ~ Adyashanti

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Today I awoke, finally I see the Self has re-turned to the Self.
The Self is none other than the Self.
I am deathless. I am endless. I am free.
The birds outside sing…
The birds outside sing and there am I.
The seeing of leaves on the trees, that seeing am I.
The body breathes, breathing am I.
I am awake and I know that I am awake.
Seen from the old eyes, everything is asleep, a game, a delusion.
But now I am awake. I am the play. I am the game. I am the delusion.
I am the enlightenment I sought, looking everywhere.
Nothing is separate, nothing is alone.
I am all that I see. All that I smell, taste, touch, feel, think and know.
I am awake and this awakeness is the same as Shyakyamuni Buddha’s.
Today the leaf has returned to the root.
I am all name and form and beyond all name and form.
I am Spirit, no longer trapped in a body.
I am free. I am free because I am awake.
So ordinary. Who would have thought ? Who could have guessed?
I am home. I am really home. Ten thousand life times.
Ten thousand life times but today I am home.
Ten thousand life times but today I am home.
This is not an experience. This is me.
I am awake. Finally, I am awake.
Nothing has changed, but I am awake.
Before I tasted the root many times and felt, how delicious.
Today I became the root. How ordinary.

From the book, My Secret is Silence, by Adyashanti

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Seeing is outside of what’s being seen. That’s where the wisdom lies: in the seeing itself, in the awareness itself, and in the consciousness of what’s happening. That’s where the wisdom is.

The mind will always want to remain fixated on the content of perception. But wisdom arises from the consciousness of the content. So it’s important to see that the content of perception is the dream, is unimportant, is illusion.

From: The Impact of Awakening, by Adyashanti

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