The Seer

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What is love and where is it found? We search for love and try to get love, and yet it seems like we never get enough. Even when we have found love, it can slip away as time passes. What if there is a source of love that never fades and is always available? What if love is as near and easy as breathing? What if we have been “looking for love in all the wrong places” instead of actually lacking love?

Love is both simpler and more mysterious and subtle than we have imagined it to be. Love is very simply the spacious, open attention of our awareness. Awareness itself is the gentlest, kindest, and most intimate force in the world. It touches things without impinging on them. It holds all of our experience but doesn’t hold it down or hold it back. And yet, inherent in awareness is a pull to connect and even merge with the object of our awareness.”

This truth, that we are filled with love when we love someone or something else instead of when we are loved, can free us from the search for love outside of ourselves. If you are still not sure that it is your own love that fills you, think of a time when someone else was in love with you, but you were not in love with that person. The flow of loving attention towards you was not satisfying, in fact it could have been uncomfortable having someone so interested in you when you were not feeling the same way.

In contrast, when we are falling in love with someone, it can be rich, exciting, and energizing, even if it is not reciprocated. There is an intensity and beauty even in unrequited love. It is the outward flow of love that is filling us in that moment. So, along with the disappointment and hurt of not being loved back, we also experience a fullness and aliveness just from loving the other. In the Renaissance, unrequited love was even seen as an ideal. It is the love flowing out from our heart that fills us with joy and satisfaction. The source is within you.

There is just one awareness and one Being behind all the individual awarenesses. The way we as can reach that oneness of Being is by experiencing the flow of love from within our being. Paradoxically, the place where you are connected to others is inside your own heart. You
cannot really connect to another externally. Even if you used super glue to attach yourself to another person, there would still be a sense of separation in your outer experience, not to mention how hard they might be trying to disconnect!

On the inside, you are already connected to everyone and everything. The connection is this flow of awareness that is here right now reading these words. It is in the loving nature of awareness that the sense of connection is found, not in the objects of awareness. We are connected to others in the awareness flowing from within us to them. Connection is not found in the flow of awareness and love towards us as, by definition, that flow is connected to its source inside the other person.

This is good news! We can experience limitless love no matter what anyone else is doing. The only thing that matters is how much we are loving, not how much we are loved. Right now you can be filled to overflowing with the incredible sweetness of love, just by giving awareness to
anything and everything that is present in your experience.”

From the new free ebook, Love is for Giving, Not for Getting, by Nirmala

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The true function of problems is to direct you to their solution at the Centre. Having some problems is very helpful.

Having quite severe problems brings me back to the place where there are no problems. Because Who I really, really, am is problem-free. I’m living from the problem-free area out into the world.

Part of the price of involvement in the world is to have feelings, some of which are agreeable, some of which are disagreeable, some of which are tragic.

I can’t exist, can’t express at all without this dualism: the dualism of good and evil, beauty and ugliness, black and white, etc, which is the inescapable condition of expressing into the world from the place that is free of those dualities.

From: Open to the Sourcemebeli, by Douglas E. Harding. Edited by Richard Lang.

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The new earth arises as more and more people discover that their main purpose is to bring the light of consciousness into this world and so use whatever they do as a vehicle for consciousness. Here are three ways of practicing “awakened doing.”

Knowing that what is cannot be undone — because it already is — you say yes to what is or accept what isn’t. Then, you do what you have to do, whatever the situation requires.

Stay alert, stay present — present with your whole Being, with every cell of your body. As you do so, you are bringing a light into the darkness. This is the flame of your consciousness.

Abide in this state of acceptance for longer and longer periods each day. In this state, you create no more negativity, no more suffering, no more unhappiness. You then live in a state of nonresistance, a state of grace and lightness, free of struggle. When your doing arises from this state, your Being is a gift to the world.

Adapted from Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from The Power of Now (p. 132–133) by Eckhart Tolle

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A Taoist story tells of an old man who accidentally fell into the river rapids leading to a high and dangerous waterfall. Onlookers feared for his life as he was swept along by the torrent.

Miraculously, he came out alive and unharmed downstream at the bottom of the falls. People asked him how he managed to survive.

“I accommodated myself” he said, “to the water, not the water to me. Without thinking, I allowed myself to be shaped by it. Plunging into the swirl, I came out with the swirl. That’s how I survived.”

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To realize that we are one with the Creator, as Beethoven did, is a wonderful and awe-inspiring experience. Very few human beings ever come into that realization and that is why there are so few great composers or creative geniuses in any line of human endeavor. I always
contemplate all this before commencing to compose.

This is the first step. When I feel the urge I begin by appealing directly to my Maker and I first ask Him the three most important questions pertaining to our life here in this world — whence, wherefore, whither? I immediately feel vibrations that thrill my whole being. These are the spirit
illuminating the soul-power within, and in this exalted state, I see clearly what is obscure in my ordinary moods; then I feel capable of drawing inspiration from above, as Beethoven did.

Above all, I realize at such moments the tremendous significance of Jesus’ supreme revelation, “I and my Father are One”. Those vibrations assume the forms of distinct mental images, after I have formulated my desire and resolve in regard to what I want — namely, to be inspired so that I can compose something that will uplift and benefit humanity — something of permanent value.

Straight away the ideas flow in upon me, directly from God, and not only do I see distinct themes in my mind’s eye, but they are clothed in the right forms, harmonies and orchestration. Measure by measure, the finished product is revealed to me when I am in those rare, inspired moods, as they were to Tartini when he composed his greatest work — the Devil’s Trill Sonata.

I have to be in a semi-trance condition to get such results — a condition when the conscious mind is in temporary abeyance and the subconscious is in control, for it is through the subconscious mind, which is a part of Omnipotence, that the inspiration comes. I have to be
careful, however, not to lose consciousness, otherwise, the ideas fade away.

Johannes Brahms — in, Talks With Great Composers

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Right now, part of the dog’s divine purpose is to assist humans. That’s why they have chosen to be with humans. They have been with humans for thousands of years and now there is a link between dogs and humans, much closer than it has ever been. A dog can keep you in touch with Being — the innermost core, beyond mind. You can look into the eyes of the dog and see that innermost core.

Something that’s very important for many people is they realize, consciously or unconsciously, that their dog is not judging them. For some people, it’s the only relationship that they have where there’s no fear and where they realize they are being accepted and not judged. For many people it’s the only relationship they have with another being.

That’s a pity, because really they should have deep relationships with humans also, but that’s difficult because every human being has a mind and every human being judges and so people become afraid, they withdraw, they put up barriers. I believe that dogs are keeping millions of
people sane who would otherwise become deeply neurotic in our alienated world.

There are teachings that say every being is a spark of the divine or God. You can see it sometimes more clearly [in dogs] than in a human being because the human being has the veil of mind, negative emotions, and ego, and plays a role. I believe that dogs fill a vital function in the collective consciousness of humanity. I would call them “the Guardians of Being.”

They show us what we have lost and, once we realize that, they can help us in our shift into a deeper state of consciousness. Of course, we don’t want to be confined to only deep relationships with dogs, but they can teach us how to relate deeply to another being and then we can learn to relate deeply to humans also. That has to be the next step.

by Eckhart Tolle, in Modern Dog Magazine - 07 Fall Issue. (Eckhart has a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Maya, and together, they live on the edge of Pacific Spirit Park in Vancouver, British Columbia)

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Enlightenment is seeing that the “self” concept you have been building since about age two or three inside your head is totally unreal. Once you see this, once you get it, you will be awake. You will live fully and effortlessly in the present, because you will understand that the present is all that exists. You will always be at peace. You will always flow cheerfully with whatever is happening. Sure, there may be more fun awaiting you tomorrow evening, when you go out on some hot date, or do whatever else you love to do, but you don’t dwell on that.

In the meantime, there is only now, there is only ever the now, and even working in a freezing, windowless salad factory is okay when you are inwardly free. However, you may certainly form a plan, from a place of clarity and presence, to move on from the salad factory as soon as you realistically can.

So, the sixty-four million dollar question: how do you get free? You breathe, you come back to being very aware in the present, you notice your own mind stuff, your story, and you tell yourself, “This is not who I am.” You tell yourself, “Peace is my true nature, and I am always at peace, deep within.” Your consciousness is like a deep lake, and while the surface may get ruffled and buffeted by the challenges of life, deep down that stillness, that peace, is always here. You have to stop, and begin to feel into it.

One last tip: whenever you find yourself doing something you don’t really want to do, ask yourself, “If I were an enlightened Zen master (or Sufi, or Christian mystic, or whatever inspires you) how would I approach this?” Then act as if you were that.

Remember, the way to tell whether someone is enlightened or not is that what is happening right now is always the most important thing. Awakened people honor the past, keep an eye on the future, but they are always right here, enjoying and appreciating what is happening now.

by Jim Dreaver

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A great way to get in touch with your resistance to what is, is asking the following questions: Am I willing to have the experience I am having right now? and Am I willing to not have the experience I am having right now? If the answer is even slightly no to either of those questions, then suffering is present.

This is a very high standard because it means that you have to say yes to every experience you’re having right now and yes to every experience you’re not having right now. One of our favorite ways of saying no to our current experience is fantasizing about all the other experiences we’re not actually having. We often think we should be having some other experience than what we’re having.

Fantasizing about the past is another way we keep ourselves outside of our present experience. The truth is that every experience you’ve had you’ve managed to lose. You’re already losing the experience you’re having right now, and a new one is taking its place. Are you also willing to lose every experience you have?

These questions help to broaden our focus so that we’re not just noticing what’s happening but also our relationship to what’s happening. They broaden your focus to also include what’s moving in you in response to whatever is happening-is it willingness or unwillingness? Is it a yes to this moment or a no?

When you ask these questions, what you quickly discover is that basically the answer is almost always no. Either grossly or subtly, there is usually a no there. For example, you might be willing to have a lot of money, but you aren’t willing to lose it. Or you might be willing to have an experience end, such as an illness, but you’re not willing to have it.

If you pay attention, you’ll discover that trying to manage your experience is what your life is about. We are always trying to have the right experience by saying yes to the right ones and no to the wrong ones. When you practice this inquiry, you begin to see how much of the activity of your mind is caught up in resistance, in saying no to something. Even wanting something is a form of saying no to the way things are. When you are wanting something to be different, are you willing to have it be the way it is? No.

Nevertheless, there are moments when we experience an aspect of our Being that says a big yes to it all, to whatever is happening. In those moments, willingness is present, but it doesn’t feel like you had anything to do with that. The suffering goes away, but we didn’t do it. In hearing this, we may get excited: “I get it.” — I just have to stop resisting. But this is just another way of saying no — this time to resistance-and this will cause you to suffer as much as ever.

What I’m pointing to with the inquiry question “Am I Willing?”; is not so much this dilemma (which you can’t do anything about, because anything you try to do would just be more resistance) but another way of being with your resistance. Can you ask this question simply to see what’s there?

We’re not very familiar with being with our experience in this way. Most of the time, our questions are in service to trying to get something to be better. What about asking this question just to find out what’s there? Just touch your experience without any added push or pull, without a sense of trying to change your experience. This isn’t a denial of your experience or an attempt to transcend it so that you don’t have to experience your suffering. You’re bringing your experience into focus but not doing anything about it. You’re just experiencing it with an openhearted curiosity about it as it is.

What’s it like to have the experience of resistance? In the space that this inquiry opens up, it’s possible to discover a surprising thing: This big yes even shows up for our resistance. There is a place in our Being that is perfectly willing to have any experience and perfectly willing to resist and therefore suffer. In touching our resistance this gently, just letting it be the way it is, it’s possible to touch more of our experience. To whatever extent we can touch our resistance, it’s possible to see what else is present. Space is given to our whole experience, beyond the struggle and dissatisfaction created by our various strategies and ideas about what we should and shouldn’t resist, what we should and shouldn’t allow.

This question, Am I willing? illuminates the endless flow of unwillingness that is our conditioning. This is what we were all taught to do. We’ve all been programmed to say no to this and yes to that.

It can be helpful to realize that none of your conditioning is your fault. All of it is inherited. Our parents, our teachers, our spiritual teachers, our friends, TV, and the books we’ve read have all contributed to the ways we resist. They’ve all been telling us what to say no to. The beauty is, if you’ve been around long enough, you’ve been taught to say no to everything, to opposite things: Don’t be poor and don’t be rich, don’t be proud and don’t be self-effacing, and on and on. If you get to know your own conditioning, you discover how contradictory it is. That’s why you never got it right — because when everything is wrong, nothing is right.

In the midst of this conditioning is the big yes that you can’t make happen. There’s no technique or process for bringing you to a place of that wholehearted yes. And yet, just by being willing to experience your suffering and struggle in this moment, you can discover that this big yes is also present. Nothing has been gotten rid of: Your conditioning is still present, but the view has broadened to include this Presence that has no problem with any experience nor with the resistance to it. Paradoxically, you discover that being willing to see all the ways you say no, opens the door to experiencing what is always saying yes.

From the expanded edition of Nothing Personal, Seeing Beyond the Illusion of a Separate Self by Nirmala

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Any man can spoil himself for himself. He can allow himself to grow so sensitive that he lives in constant pain. He can nurse his grudges until they are an intolerable burden. He can think himself insulted until he is apt to be. He can believe the world’s against him until it is. He can imagine troubles until they are real. He can hold so many under suspicion that no one believes in him.

He can insult his friends until they are no longer friends. He can think himself so important that no one else does. He can have such a good opinion of himself that he becomes very small. The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use, even spirituality. Ego is constantly attempting to acquire and apply the teachings of spirituality for its own benefit.

Chogyam Trungpa

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Inquirer: My question for you is about weight. I get stuck though I now understand that my non-physical being is creating the physical being but I can only identify with my physical being even though I know better. A part of me has a real big problem with this. Does it mean I accept myself as 60lbs heavier? Then how do I do what I need to do to let go of the weight? Needless to say, I feel like I have been working with this problem for so many years, and each year my problem expands by 10lbs! Frustration, anger, and depression inevitably come along with the story about my weight.

Jim Dreaver: You must ask yourself: what is more important to me, finding the freedom, peace, and love inside me that comes with awakening to my true nature… or losing this excess weight that I’ve been struggling to lose for so many years? The more you find freedom within, the more the more you will perceive yourself as a contented and happy person, genuinely so. The “problem” of your weight will then fade from your consciousness. It simply won’t be a problem anymore. Then, maybe, the weight will also fade away. Or maybe it won’t! Whatever happens, you will be at peace.

How to find the freedom within? First, every time you find yourself suffering over your weight, welcome it. Welcome your experience, because it is showing you where you are not yet free. Then look for the story you are telling yourself (I’m angry, I’m depressed, I feel awful because I’m so fat!). Lastly, do the practice. Step back out of the story between your ears, but be very present, very aware. Affirm to yourself the one story that is always true: “I am not my story. I am the pure awareness that is present right now…” Then breathe and relax into the feeling of being aware, of being alertly present in this moment.

You will probably have to do this three-step transformational process many, many times a day to begin with, but I promise you, if you do it faithfully, it will work. You will become a freer, happier, and more fulfilled person. You will be vastly lighter in spirit… and maybe in terms of your weight, too!

by Jim Dreaver

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