The Seer

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My apologies for the ’suspension’ of posts for the past month or so but there were a couple of reasons for this. First, The Seer, was attacked by a hacker or hackers who managed to corrupt the code on the home page and insert some mischiefous code of their own redirecting visitors to other sites etc.

This has now been fixed and I hope the loopholes in the blog software that allowed this to happen have been closed. We are also trying to upgrade the software and install greater protection against these ‘invasions’.

As I explained in an email to our subscribers, this happened just as I had a bit of a crisis with my eyesight and adding new posts became extremely difficult let alone trying to undo the damage done to The Seer by the hackers.

After the crisis, a corneal transplant was redone on my right eye and at this stage, I have some good useful vision with every prospect of it improving over the next few months (in the absence of complications). Of course, the formless dimension or ‘light of consciousness’ remains as crystal clear as ever and has been the Source of deep abiding peace through all these comings and goings of sensory perception.

With regard to these medical issues, I constantly abide in Awareness — the still silent background to all my life-experience in the foreground, so to speak — this is my meditation. I also consult with and am guided by medical specialists who are wondrous expressions or manifestations of the One that I am and you are too. It is all God.

I’m now looking forward to sharing more regularly with interested friends through this blog and thank you for your patience with the recent scarcity of posts.

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Back in the 13th Century, the Dominican friar and mystic, Meister Eckhart, once observed, “It is because the eye has no color that we see color.”

Of course, he was referring to the conea of the eye, that normally transparent windscreen through which Consciousness looks out at the manifest world. That seeing is also conditioned by our ’self-consciousness’, but that’s another story.

You may remember that my corneas were badly injured some years ago by a working-bee accident and that because they became ‘colored’ instead of transparent, I could no longer see colors etc.

Since then, I’ve had several corneal transplants that have restored some useful eyesight from time to time, but these transplants have a limited life and that’s why they have to be ‘redone’.

Last August, my previous graft, which had lasted ten years, turned up its toes and I had to go back to no eyesight again though the seeing continued on uninterrupted.

My ophthalmic surgeon here in Perth made it plain that after so many other transplants and some arising complications, the likelihood of another successful graft was very slim, but that he would give it a go nevertheless.

So, when suitable donated tissue suddenly became available a week ago, I had the operation at RPH. Although my eyelids are still stitched together, the initial indicatiions are that the procedure went well and there is no doubt that I will once again have some useful sight, but how much and for how long is not something anyone can predict.

Of course, our satsang community here has been aware of my situation as have been a numberof my correspondents around the world, and I’ve received so many expressions of love, support and good wishes for the operation etc. that all this positive energy has been extraordinarily uplifting. For all these and those unexpressed but felt, Pearl and I are most profoundly grateful.

Because so many have held this situation in Consciousness, there has been from the outset a ‘peace that passes understanding’ about whether eyesight is to be in the picture for Pete from now on or not. Naturally, I have my preferences, but overall, I know that it is good if it happens and good if it doesn’t. Eyesight matters, of course, but not absolutely.

The only thing that matters absolutely is seeing which has nothing to do with fleshy corneas, but with disidentifying from the egoic self (little me) and seeing What we really are.

When the “I” that I am has no color (no discrimination), then all the colors are seen and what is seen, is recognised as the true Self that is all. What unabated joy there is in this seeing that cannot be touched by bodily frailty or imperfection.

It is this joy that has no opposite or cause that Pearl and I trust you will experience at this festive time when we celebrate the birth of awakening Consciousness in our midst.

Your ever well-wisher,

Pete S.

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Dear Diana,

Thank you for your note.

Regarding ‘experiences of deep awakening’, you asked: “Does this happen to you often?” My reply is no, and yes. No, in the sense that there is really only one experience of deep awakening, and that is not actually an experience — it could be more accurately described as a shift of consciousness, or seeing, or of perception (apperception). One split-second, you see yourself and the world etc. one way, the way we have all been conditioned to see it from infancy, and the next, we see it as it really is and quite differently. One moment you are identified totally with your body/mind/personality, and the next, you are totally identified with the Awareness of that and every other phenomenon. You cease seeing yourself as one object among many and you know yourself instead to be one with the Source — you are no longer in the world, but the world, and indeed the whole universe is in you. That, Diana, only happens once, because it is not an ‘experience’ that can come and go, it is as if Awareness has awakened at last to its own witnessing of all that is coming and going.

On the other hand, experiences of deep awakening ‘happens’ to or for me constantly, because after the shift, every life experience is an experience of deep awakening. The unawakened mind imagines that experiences of deep awakening are somehow ’special’ or ’spiritual’ and is constantly looking for some kind of ’satori’ or ‘ecstatic’ mind-movement to break in upon their normal state of beingness — so that it can say to itself, “I am someone because I have had an experience of deep awakening, or whatever.”

Many truly awakened ones testify that ALL of life after the shift is an experience of deep awakening, and that includes experiences we might call, good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant etc. etc. Awakening is NOT having a so-called satori or elevated experience of some kind and staying in it, but discovering that all of one’s life is a perfect unfolding of the divine will and that everything is the Unmanifest manifesting in trillions of forms constantly. After the shift, there is nothing ‘ordinary’, everything is seen to be extraordinary and that all of life is simply an unfoldment of the one miracle. In the film, The Last Samurai the Japanese here speaks of his search for the ‘perfect blossom’. At the end of the film, as he is dying, he has a moment of great insight and declares to his friend, I see now “every blossom is perfect.” That, in essence, is what everyone sees when they fully awaken.

Next, you asked, “Does anyone stay there (in an experience of deep awakening) permanently? This question is contradictory as I said because deep awakening is not an experience. But if asked can one stay in any experience, awakened, enlightened or otherwise, the answer is no, because ALL experiences come an go. Whatever you have, you can and will lose. Whatever you can get into, you can get out of or be taken out of by one means or another. That is why it is so important, Diana, to focus your attention and your identity not on experiences but on THAT which is the Source and witness of all experiences, which you already are and always have been.

You then asked, “Is it a bad idea to long for this experience?” Diana, it is neither good nor bad. What is important is that you clearly recognize where this question is coming from — who or what is it that longs for these peak experiences? The answer should be plain to you. It is the mind or what might be called the egoic self that always wants something more or different to what it already has. It always wants something other than what presently is. Awakening or enlightenment, it says can never be this, never be here, never be now. You are not this conditioned and defensive pattern of thoughts, Diana — seize the day — this present moment!

Finally, you asked, “did you detect personal change after experiencing these “flashes”?” The answer is obviously no, because “flashes” or experiences never change Reality or THAT which always is. They may change the dream or the illusory life, and if that is all that’s wanted, then fine — one can go ahead and improve the dream by whatever means one can. Awakening or enlightenment is never about personal change or self-improvement — that stuff is all about fixing up the dream and having a better illusion than the one your having right now. Awakening or enlightenment is about self-realization or realizing Who or What you really are. It’s about waking up to Who or What was actually having the dream! When you wake up to the fact that the character in the dream that you thought you were is really only a ‘dream’ character and that all the other things in the dream that you desperately desired or feared are only ‘dream’ desires or fears etc. then you understand that you are not a ‘person’ or a ‘thing’ that can ever change or ever needs to! You see that you are the No-thing, or the Formless from which all ever-changing ‘things’ or forms arise.

Interestingly, however, when the shift occurs in a particular person or form, that form begins to change in ever increasing conformity to the love and truth it knows Itself to be. Not only does the form tend to experience deeper levels of love, joy, peace and well-being, but the context or environment of that form tends to become more harmonious and fulfilling. It seems that ALL things work together for good for those in whom the great shift has occurred. It’s a case of “Seek first the Kingdom (awaken to the truth) and all things (necessary for well-being) will be added (arise in due course as you consciously abide in that understanding).” as Jesus once said.

Your ever well-wisher,

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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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I feel I owe our regular readers an explanation about why there have been so few postings to The Seer lately. The main reason is that over the past couple of weeks, my eyesight has dwindled to almost nothing. The irony of this happening to the moderator of a blog entitled, The Seer, is not lost on me, but of course, the seeing done by any seer has very little to do with one’s eyesight.

How are you writing this, you may ask, if you can’t see? Well, I’ve been using a program named Zoomtext which magnifies screens for users with limited eyesight and I’ve now got it turned up so that it fits only a couple of words on the screen at a time and, of course, I’m using the high contrast setting — white text against black etc. In the next week or so, I hope to upgrade Zoomtext to the voice version which ’speaks’ the text as it is typed etc.

If you’re curious to know why my eyesight failed so suddenly, the explanation is fairly straight forward. For the past 16 years or so, I’ve been relying on corneal transplants (or grafts) since I injured my eyes in a workplacel accident. My last transplant was done ten years ago and gave me useful sight most of that time, but a few weeks ago, the transplant (in my only good eye) came to the end of it’s life. I’m now on the list to have another transplant which will probably happen in a few months. As much depends on the condition of the recipient eye and the tissue match, it’s hard to predict the outcome of such operations, but when you have only light perception, any improvement is welcome.

Some of you may know that my lovely wife, Pearl, is also legally blind and has had, for the past seven years, the help of a beautiful golden Labrador guide-dog, named Skye. Before my first successful transplant, I was as I am now for many years and over that time had the help of four different guide-dogs. So when my sight went downhill so quickly this time, I wondered if Skye could guide me as my other wonderful dogs had done in the past. With Pearl’s agreement, I took Skye (or she took me) for a spin around the block and found that Skye worked just as well for me as she did for Pearl. So now, Skye is getting a bit of extra walking in which is fine as Pearl has to spend a lot of time at home studying and conducting her counselling work.

We are very blessed to have a caring community of satsang friends around us who are helping with our practical needs in a variety of ways. We have just had a marvellous time with Adyashanti and Mukti who stayed in our home during their visit to Perth. We had good numbers at the satsang talks and the intensive and a host of community members served as volunteers to make sure it all ran smoothly. Adya’s teaching, of course, was breath-takingly clear, lucid, direct, compassionate and immensely profound without being abstract in any way. Our involvement with these and his other Australian events was another reason why The Seer has been on hold these last few weeks.

These recent difficulties wth my eyesight have drawn my attention even more to That which is changeless amid the changefulness of our life experience. Inwardly, there is ever the pure beingness of our essential nature while outwardly, the human form is always becoming and moving from one state or situation to another. The Formless that I am and you are is already and always complete, while the manifestation is always in the process of completion. For me, the inner darkness shines with a beauty and splendour that makes the loss of visual perception trivial by comparison. I have discovered, that losing one’s eyesight certainly matters, but it doesn’t matter absolutely. It’s not that one retreats into the shining darkness, so to speak, but that this shining from the Source transfigures and illuminates every experience of life, pleasant and unpleasant, so that it is all encourntered and felt as the unfolding of the One. From this perspective, it is more adventure than adversity.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. I’ll try to keep you up to date with developments in my situation as often as I can and explore ways to include other items of interest as before.

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Here’s a great Chai recipe from Mooji who gives satsang in the UK.

The preparation in Presence of this recipe can be as delicious as the Chai itself.

Ingredients:
3 or 4 assam tea bags, ( or 3 teaspoon of loose assam tea)
3 inches piece of ginger, peeled and crushed or grated,
1 or 1 and a half stick of cinnamon, loosely crushed,
1 flat tablespoon of black peppercorns (crushed),
1 inch of natural vanilla stick or 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence, (optional)
6 or 7 sticks of cloves,
5 pods of green Cardamom (crushed),
2 whole star anise,
1 full teaspoon fennel seeds,
1 full teaspoon aniseed,
a half teaspoon of ground nutmeg brings in a warm, caribbean flavour,
3 or 4 cups of soy milk or cow’s milk (Mooji uses soy),
brown sugar or honey to taste,
3 cups of water.
Place all dry ingredients, except the assam tea, in a sealed container and shake well to blend. Leave for a few hours or overnight to ‘mature’.

Bring water to boil. Add the assam tea and boil for 5 minutes. Add masala chai blend from container and boil for 15 minutes then turn down flame and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Now add milk of choice and bring again to the boil, watching carefully to ensure chai does not boil over by reducing heat quickly just before it does. Repeat 2 or 3 times. This process ‘thickens’ the chai and gives a rich and creamy taste. (This is not necessary if you’re using full cream milk!).

Sweeten with brown sugar or honey to taste. Strain tea and serve hot. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon powder on top (optional). Enjoy! (Serving five to seven)

Ps: For those who like their chai extra spicy, Mooji suggests adding more black pepper. He also recommends using organic african ginger which is much hotter and dryer than the usual kind you find in most markets. Try looking in afro-caribbean food shops.

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We’ve just had the most extraordinary time at Gurukula, over the last week, with our dojo packed out at every event with friends from all over Perth keen to hear the direct, loving and insightful teaching of Leonard Jacobson on The Two-step Dance of Awakening.

The energy and Presence in the room at times was quite palpable. Almost all who attended these memorable events have expressed deep appreciation for the new depths of understanding and deliverance (from ego control) they received.

Ever since we’ve stocked Leonard’s latest (of 4) book, Journey into Now, they’ve been selling like hot-cakes, mainly as a result of reader recommendations. My wife, Pearl, has been encouraging her counselling clients to get a copy as Leonard’s book is as practical as it is profound in its approach to spirituality and personal well-being. It’s certainly one of the best books I’ve read on Presence awareness.

Even if you weren’t able to be with us, you can still get an idea of what he said and be encouraged to live in Presence via the audio and video clips etc. you will find (constantly updated) at Leonard’s Web site.

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The garden, I read the other day, is now a “personalised recreational eco-unit”. This presumably means we will have to start calling a spade a “manually operated, recreational eco-unit, maintenance tool”. Where is it going to stop? What is needed, I submit, is a war on unnecessary jargon. Communicators should clarify, not add to, the confusion. I am all for modern techniques, but I want to go on calling a garden a garden and a spade a spade!

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In May, 2005, I had the amazing good fortune to travel from Australia to northern California, via India, to attend a Silent Retreat conducted by Adyashanti.

Adya, as he is known, describes himself as a ‘Truth guy’ and is about as true-blue as they come.

After practicing Zen for some time, there was a big break-through in his understanding and he’s been a spiritual teacher, more or less, ever since.

The straight-forward way he puts things seems to be helping a growing number of seekers to see and experience the sublimity of their essential nature.

I told Adya there were a lot of people Down-Under who appreciated what he had to offer, and invited him to come and do some teaching in Australia.

After considering it, Adya accepted and this October, he will be giving a series of satsang talks and intensives in Perth, Sydney and Byron Bay.

We don’t know how it happened, but it seems that everybody in Australia and beyond our shores, who’s the least bit interested in spiritual truth teaching, is now talking about Adya’s upcoming visit.

We’ve even had a number of inquiries from people planning to attend the Perth events from interstate and overseas! Interest in Adya’s teaching work has now grown so much that we will have to book a bigger venue in some places.

Today, it was announced that people can now register on-line for Adya’s weekend intensives in Perth, Sydney and Byron Bay.

Check out the dates and if you’d like to attend, please register now to avoid disappointment. Numbers are strictly limited at all venues.

If you have friends you think may be interested in hearing this gifted and insightful teacher in Australia, please forward this post on to them. Believe me, after hearing Adya, they will thank you profusely for alerting them to this opportunity of a life-time.