Shiny Objects

You are already what you're looking for. You can't 'become' it, 'find' it, 'create' it, or 'lose' it. All that is ever happening is that our attention gets caught by shiny objects. Misdirected attention.  When it happens - and it will - see that only the attention has moved. What knows the attention has moved remains here as always. Stay here. You're really never anywhere else anyway; you just think you are. There is no welcome home for you because you never really left.

Don't Be Fooled By Smoke

Regardless of our understanding, difficult states continue to come up, but we don’t focus on them. We just allow them to be there, allow them to arise and do whatever it is they do, but continue to practice short moments of resting as we are again and again. We begin to see that it all arises within this space and we are that space. The sky is completely unaffected by whatever is passing through it. The sky remains completely unaffected and clear and by taking short moments we get to know that and we gain confidence in it. We are that sky, too. We are not just the arisings.

We can’t hold onto any insight that might happen as a result of resting as the awareness that we are. These objects of awareness that we call insights arise only in the moment. Understanding only happens in this moment, now this moment and now this moment. None of it can be grasped. Any insight is just another object, another thought, no matter how beautiful. It can only be enjoyed in the moment. The smoke takes a particular shape in this moment and then it is gone.

We use the thoughts that arise to limit ourselves in many ways; we tell ourselves what we can and can’t do. What arises doesn’t really limit us in any way. It is like smoke taking the shape of steel bars and then we believe we cannot move through it. We forget that it is just smoke. Understanding, not understanding, getting it, not getting it – all of it is smoke taking one or another shape and it is just us forgetting that it is simply smoke and we can walk through it at anytime. We don’t need to do anything about it. We just rest as we are and it will clear.

This smoke is what we are dealing with in every moment of our lives. We believe we are dealing with reality but we are always just dealing with smoke. We let smoke stop us from doing what needs to be done in any moment. We just keep coming back to resting simply in this moment. As we rely on this open space of awareness; the shapes that smoke takes no longer hoodwinks us. Don’t be fooled – the smoke is still there and it will still make frightening shapes, but we won’t be thrown by it any longer. We know what it is and it can no longer scare us. By just resting in this moment, we have all we need right now. There is nothing special about this. Yet, it can completely transform our life.

No Separation

Awareness is present when the "me-sense" is present.
Awareness is present when the "me-sense' is not present.
Awareness is present when the sense of "beingness" is present.
Awareness is present when the sense of "beingness" is not present.
Awareness is present when there is a sense of "knowing."
Awareness is present when there is no sense of "knowing."
Awareness is not dependent upon anything.
Everything is dependent upon Awareness.
Awarenesseverything.

Stop

Wherever you are right now, reading this, stop.

What do you notice? Sounds, sights, sensations, smells...allow them all.

What notices? Thoughts probably stumble through that say "I do" or "me" or "my brain" or "my senses" or something similar.

What notices those thoughts?

Welcome home to the place you never left.

Isness Is Infinitely Is-ing

Being what you really are is not difficult. Being what you are not and then arguing for or against it is what is difficult.

Notice that right now, if you just rest and welcome everything (really - everything - including your rejection of anything), there is nothing else that needs to be done in order for Isness to Is (so to speak!). It is only a thought which says "I'm not getting it," or "I am missing something." Even these thoughts are Isness taking shape as particular thoughts. Isness is is-ing everything: Isness is-ing as this computer; Isness is-ing as the big blond dog on the floor; Isness is-ing fingers; Isness is-ing uncertainty and confusion; Isness is-ing a Vince and a Tom and a Sue and a Roberta and a Karl and... Isness is-ing is-ing!

No effort is necessary for Is-ing to Is. Rest and welcome the fizzing Is-ing.

Nothing to do.

Right here.

Right now.

Rest.

Awareness Is Stuff, Stuff Is Awareness

Even though Awareness cannot be "experienced," this doesn't mean that Awareness-Being is somehow separate from all of the stuff of life. On the contrary, life is Awareness/Beingness itself. Absolutely everything is known in, by, and as Awareness. Nothing is separate from this Everyday Awareness present here-now...It is never anywhere other than here.


A line from the Heart Sutra says that "form is nothing other than emptiness and emptiness nothing other than form." It is only thought that separates the two.  If you live in the middle of the cornfields of Illinois (as I do) you might say it this way: Awareness is full of stuff and stuff is full of Awareness!

No Experience Necessary

What you are can never be experienced.

Looking for a particular experience as confirmation of what you are - whether peace or love or anger or irritation or rain or cold wind or sand between your toes or terror or calm or equanimity or hunger or sublime spiritual visions - takes you in the wrong direction and will keep you searching forever. Searching, finding, celebrating, losing, and grieving - only to begin searching again and again - is samsara/suffering.

No experience is what you are (read that again - yes, I mean that in both ways). In fact, any experience can only serve to point you back to this present Awareness upon/within/throughout which this very experience, right now, is registered.

Beingness, as an employer, has few requirements: no experience necessary.

There Isn't Really Anyone Who Rests in Amsterdam

Questioner: I keep trying to rest, but my mind just keeps going. Another teacher told me that this pointer to just rest will lead me astray. I'm afraid I'm not getting it.

Vince: Look, everyone who is talking about this stuff has his/her own way of trying to help people see what they have seen. I found, in my own seeking, that "trying" really got in the way of simply stopping and seeing what is ALREADY true - that the SEEING/AWARENESS is absolutely, totally, 100 percent, always functioning effortlessly.

Without "trying" to be aware of sensations, there is awareness of sensation.
Without "trying" to be aware of seeing, there is awareness of light/dark/shape/color, etc.
Without "trying" to be aware of hearing, there is awareness of sound.
Without "trying" to be aware of smelling, there is awareness of odor.
Without "trying" to be aware of tasting, there is awareness of taste.
Without "trying" to be aware of thinking, there is awareness of thinking.

All of this is happening all of the time; sometimes, one sense or another is dominant. No matter WHAT is the object of awareness, AWARENESS itself is present or there would be no way to KNOW experience. In your case, a lot of thinking is going on as well as the thought that there shouldn't be so much thinking - so what? Right now, isn't there awareness of the thinking? This thinking is happening in a vast, open, spaciousness that is not in the least disturbed by thinking.

Experience itself is ALWAYS changing. You can prove this to yourself by sitting quietly for a moment and just watching - the body moves slightly, an eye twitches, the wind blows, thoughts shift, light or shadow crosses the room, you smell the chicken soup on the stove and then that smell is replaced by something else, you feel at ease and then you feel tense - all of this can happen in an instant. Yet, there is something present and aware that is registering all of these tiny movements/changes...and THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE! "You" are the presence/awareness that KNOWS the changing.

When I say "just rest," I am saying "rest as THAT." We are really NEVER DOING OTHERWISE, anyway! Just rest is an attempt to help "you" see what you already are.

So, no, you don't "need" to rest in order to see what you already are (since you already are what you already are, anyway - my English teacher would not be happy with that one). I have just found that it helps people notice the awareness that is always, already present and to identify as that - and gives them permission to stop seeking/trying.

It is a little like the old pointer of someone standing in Amsterdam asking someone how to get to Amsterdam. If that person is frantically trying to find Amsterdam, someone who is trying to help might first say, "Stop. It's OK. Take a breath. Just rest. You are already here. There is nothing more you need to do other than to just rest right here, right now." You see, the resting isn't a "process" or "technique" that gets them to Amsterdam; but it increases the chance that s/he will see what is already true.

I hope this helps a bit. I hate to say this because it sounds so much the party line, but you really already ARE what you are looking for. WHAT you ARE (it really is more a "what" than a "who") is what is registering all of the looking and worrying and thinking and trying and efforting and...so, just rest. You are already in Amsterdam. And, after you've taken a breath, take a look - there really is no one resting in Amsterdam, either. Wink.

Theo's Search for the Center

Once upon a time a lovely and unremarkable spider, Theo (not poisonous, not mean-spirited, just your typical fly- and gnat-eating spider), sat in his web, thinking.

Theo thought about lots of things, but mostly Theo thought about spider enlightenment. He had read many books written by other wise spiders who had realized their true nature. In the spider world, this is called "living from the center of your web." Nearly all of the books Theo read (and he read a lot because of his multiple spider eyes) told him in one way or another that the center of his web was empty and to simply return to the center of his web and stay there.

"Easy for the enlightened spiders to say!" Theo thought, "But I can't find the center of my web!" Theo was miserable and desperate.

He looked high and low for his web's center. He did a number of the practices suggested by other wise spiders. He watched his breath. He labeled his thoughts. He felt his legs. He closed his eyes and repeated a secret mantra. He went on retreat with other wiser spiders and listened to them describe the center of their webs and what it was like when they first "realized the center." Theo prayed to the Absolute Arachnid for wisdom to find the center of his web. Nothing happened.

For a while, he decided to forget the search for the center and just ate flies and gnats and other assorted bugs willy-nilly without concern for his health or any other spider's inconvenience. Yet, Theo always returned to the search for the center of his web.

As he looked about his world, searching longer and harder for the center, he created a larger and larger web. Each time something came floating or flying into his web Theo would leap forward fast as a...um, well, spider. The web caught all kinds of things, some of them useful (edible is a better description) and some of them just distractions - tree fluff, bits of leaves, dust, and sparkling drops of dew - none particularly edib...useful.

And, as Theo continued his search, he spun a larger and larger web each time he jumped to see whatever his ever-growing web caught. Through his search, his web caught even more and he found himself leaping more and more, faster and farther, with each web-quiver. He became exquisitely sensitive to the most minute web tremor. And, each time he jumped to explore whatever bit of fluff had floated into his web, it grew larger.

Other spiders admired his vast web as well as all that it caught. Theo became rich in spiderweb-stuff; but, Theo knew he hadn't found what he was looking for - the center of his web, spider enlightenment.

Time wore on and Theo grew older. He couldn't spring to the far reaches of his web as easily or as quickly or as often as he used to when he was a younger spider. Theo knew that time was no longer on his side. He thought, "I am so tired. I can no longer jump to every bit of fluff that tickles my web. I just can't do this anymore." He could still feel the web-tremors but he had given up hope that he would ever find the center of his web out there on the fringes. The sometimes beautiful, sometimes drab, sometimes useful and sometimes useless bits and flecks that tickled his web had never led him closer to the center.

Dejected and exhausted from his search, Theo just stopped. He needed rest. And then...with all of his spider eyes downcast, Theo saw below him...Nothing! He looked closely and realized that he was sitting in the center of his web at that very moment! It was this Nothing that held the rest of his web together. Absolutely everything in Theo's web universe was spun directly from this very Nothing. It was Nothing that was supporting him at that very moment.  Theo had been sitting on top of it all the time! What he was looking for was right under his nose (well, you  know, that thing spiders have)!

Theo saw that Everything depended on Nothing!

Theo thought, "Every time I went out looking for the center, I just moved further away from it. As soon as I stopped looking and jumping at every web tremor and just rested, I was resting in the very center Itself." It was only Theo's search that made it seem that the center wasn't there - but it had been there all the time.

Many spiders realized that something was different about Theo. They didn't see him jumping about his web anymore. He didn't seem particularly interested in the various bits of fuzz and fluff that tickled his web. They assumed that Theo had simply lost his drive and ambition. They were right.

Now and then, other spiders who were searching as Theo had searched came to visit. They asked him how he had realized his center. He told them that it had been there all the time and that it was no less true for them than it was for him. Other spiders asked him, "How did you feel when your spider realization happened?" "Embarrassed," was his usual reply. He did what he could to point out the Central Nothing that was holding the Great Everything together. Theo would say, "Describing Nothing is not easy - try it sometime!"

Theo watched as a lucrative fluff-and-fuzz web industry grew around the searching. He knew that the fluff-and-fuzz just served to distract seekers from Nothing as they searched for more of Everything.

Some "got it." Some didn't. Theo knew it really didn't matter because the Central Nothing was cradling them all anyway. And, regardless of "getting it" or not, a spider could still enjoy a nice juicy fly now and then as well as the swaying of his web in the breeze. Really, what more did a spider need, anyway?

Allow It All

Allow.

If there was only one word to use as a pointer, this would be a pretty good one...Allow.

Allow whatever is happening right now. Right now! Really. Don't make this an intellectual exercise or, if you are, allow that.

See whatever it is that is registering in sight and allow.
Hear whatever sounds are present right now and allow.
Smell whatever odors are present right now and allow.
Taste whatever flavors are present right now and allow.
Feel whatever sensations are present right now and allow.
Notice whatever thoughts are present right now and allow.
Allow it all.

We fight so much with our own experience. If you notice "fighting with experience" happening, allow that, too.

We work so hard in the search, imagining that there is some other way other than the way it is in this present moment. If that is true for you right now, allow it.

If the film of "I give up; I'll never get it" is playing, allow that.

If there is a lot of thinking/intellectualizing about this article, this search, dropping the "I" - all that malarkey - allow that, too.

If there is agreement or disagreement, passion or neutrality, peace or war, anger or calm, happiness or sadness - allow it all. If there is great desire or no desire at all, allow.

If there is a sense of allowing, a sense of "me" who is allowing and disappointment that there is a sense of "me" still present, allow that, too.

What you are is within and beyond all of that. YOU ARE ALL OF THAT. What you ALREADY ARE is this unobstructed knowing in which all of this ("this" meaning whatever is arising in experience as these words are read RIGHT NOW) happens.

Allow is another word for REST. I know that it seems there is a choice about resting or not, allowing or not. Remember, "resting" and "allowing" are just pointers to what you already are - but there really isn't a choice about it because YOU are already THAT - always have been and always will be. There is nothing you need to "work on" or "try for" or "get under control" or "understand" or "figure out" or "experience" or "rest into" in order to simply BE what YOU ALREADY ARE! And, if that seems too easy and nonsensical, well...do I really need to say it again?

If none of this makes any sense - good.

Allow that, too.

It Is All a Story...Including This (Step 1)

I've mentioned before in other posts that all that is ever really experienced is thinking and sensation. No matter what it looks like, everything that we are ever experiencing is thought and sensation. The combination of these two elements is what we sometimes refer to as emotion (with sincere thanks to zen teacher Joko Beck for pointing this out to me). All else is a story. The story is our interpretation of any particular configuration of thought and sensation.

Most of the time, we get into trouble because of the story we tell ourselves about the thought-sensation arising in any particular moment. As an example, let's say a car cuts in front of us in traffic. The body (probably) immediately tenses in reaction to a perceived threat to its safety - a natural reaction preparing the body to respond further, if necessary, to safeguard the organism. We can see this same reaction throughout the world of living things. No problem here.

Then, almost as automatically as the physical reaction occurred, the thinking apparatus drapes a net of interrelated thoughts over the sensations. These thoughts are The Story. They attempt to explain the experience (sensations) in some way. The net of thought that drapes over the experience-sensation varies from person to person depending upon a nearly infinite number of variables. Is there a problem here? Not really. 

The "problem" is created by BELIEVING the Thought-Story - "that guy is a jerk and doesn't care about anybody on this road but himself!." That is, we assume our Thought-Story is true - we assume it is "the way things are." The believed Thought-Story creates more physical sensation (usually tension, clenching) which we then assume confirms our original Thought-Story - "See! He really is a mindless cretin in a Pinto!" We then drape even more thoughts over those sensations and...you get the picture. The more blaming or critical or fearful the Thought-Story, the more intense the sensations.

There are a few things going on here that we will investigate over the next few posts. First, there is the awareness of sensation and thinking.  Then, there is a recognition of the believed Thought-Story. Third, there can be a recognition that what SEES all of this - sensation, thought, Thought-Story - is not itself sensation, thought, or Thought-Story. Finally, at the heart of it all, is the realization that the body and the very idea of a "me" who is experiencing all of this is itself composed of thought,sensation, and Thought-Story. This realization dissolves it all.

However, it can be useful for some of us to be a bit more methodical about uncovering all of this. Let's begin by simply NOTICING physical sensations as we go through daily life. We can do this especially when we find ourselves upset in some way - what we typically label as sad, lonely, irritable, angry, worried, afraid, confused, troubled, etc. As you begin to play with this, notice how thought is always attached to these states. Don't worry about investigating the thinking. It is enough for now to know that it's there. 

Instead, come back to the raw physical sensation (buzzing, tingling, heat, cool, pressure, tension, hardness, softness, etc.) and stay with it. What do I mean by "stay with it"? Let your attention rest easily on the sensation for a while - maybe a minute or so. Give the sensation ROOM. Give it SPACE. It is already there so, as best you can, leave it alone and watch what happens (hint: it will change).

Let's leave it there for now. Next post (probably), we'll talk more about The Story. If you resonate with this methodical approach, STOP READING NOW!




For those of you who really hate a methodical approach, when you feel the sensations, ask, "What is aware of this (tingling, burning, itching, pressure, etc.)?" or "What is seeing this now?" But, don't leave the sensation to investigate some thought that comes up in response to the question - that keeps us caught in the same trap. The answer is not a thought. 




(By the way, I am not trying to be tricky or coy when I say "the answer is not a thought." I am not trying to make you "work at it." The deal is that the answer really is NOT a thought. The only thing another thought can do is point to "it" or attempt to describe "it" - but the description is not "it," and "it" is not an "it" anyway! [this is the point at which, when I used to read this stuff, I wanted to throw my computer out the window and/or strangle the writer...*gulp*])




I'll bet you wish you hadn't read on :-)




More to come.

What You Really Are Can Never Be Found By Anyone

Everything we see/hear/touch/taste/smell/think is an object, an object of consciousness.

These objects include everything from a 50 ton whale to an atom viewed through an electron microscope. And the one we typically think of as "me" is also an object of consciousness.

What You really are contains what you think you are.

Do nothing except notice whatever sensations register on the screen of the senses right now. Notice the thought, "I am witnessing all of the sensations registering on the screen of the senses right now." Good. Now, what notices that thought?

Any answer you give is yet another thought. What notices that?

There is nothing tricky here. Just rest as what you already are; there really is no choice anyway. All the thoughts that swirl around and say "it can't be that easy" or "there must be a practice" or "but nothing happens" are simply more of the same. Another object arising in and as what You are.

You are the silence in the center of it all. You are already that. Everyone is already that. There really is only one of us here.

Rest, little mind. Everything is already OK. And, the flowers need weeded.

Keep Driving

I was driving in the country the other day and it came to me that the drive was very much like the journey of the search. At first, it is clear that I am driving. I feel distinct, definite, separate. There is clearly a "me" doing the driving. I look around and see the car in which I'm driving as well as the trees, people, buildings, other cars, road, weeds, signs, clouds, dust, bugs - all of the objects - that I am driving past.

At some point, the space in which all of these objects are appearing becomes evident. Then there is me seeing all of the objects as well as the space in which they appear. I seem real. The objects seem real. The space in which the objects appear seems real.

A little further down the road, I become aware of thoughts and sensations as objects arising within my body. I see those objects in me as well as all of the other objects and space outside of me. They all seem real.

Rounding a curve in the road, I become aware of a kind of space in me in which all of the thoughts and sensations (objects) are arising. I see the space in me as well as the objects in me. I also see all of the objects and space outside of me. It all seems very real.

Driving on, it dawns on me that everything that I see outside of me arises within me as a thought - including space. Just a thought. The thoughts-sensations seem real as does the space within me in which they all float.Outside seems to have disappeared.

Now, while driving, it occurs to me (?) that even the saying "I" or "me" is itself a thought. No objects exist outside of the car and it is beginning to look like nothing exists inside of the car, either - including the car. Gulp. The thought of me is a thought arising within me which is another thought arising within...? Inside and Outside are both recognized as concepts that no longer seem to refer to anything. Something recognizes that space in the body is another concept as well as the body itself...and what is aware of it? Nothing seems real.

Everything has disappeared. No trees or beetles or worms or clouds or corn or dust or breeze or ditch water or cars or little kids with sticky fingers and scraped knees; no dogs, no up, no down, no inside, no outside, no thought, no sensation, no me, no you, no body, no realization, no need of realization...nothing. Not even nothing.

An intersection appears, a foot pushes on a pedal that slows the car. Both directions - left and right - appear as well as corn and soy beans, bullfrogs grump at a pond in the distance. A dog barks from a barn down the road. Red-orange light in the sky staining the bottom of narrow clouds. A rusty corn bin creaks ahead. Ash from a cigar held by two fingers floats to the floor. Pain in the lower back. Sweat in the ear. Butter-yellow moths dart across the road. The foot, the hands, the corn, the flies, the dog, the thoughts, the frogs, sweat on the ear, the breeze, the ditch water, the car, the clouds, the purple-blue-orange-red sky - all drive on to get bird seed from the hardware store. The birds will be hungry in the morning.

Just a Moment - Please.

Please stop trying to find anything more, at least, for this moment.

Through the open window
a soft, warm, wet breeze smells green of wood, moss, decay.

A cricket chirps.

A television in the distance.

Rain water drips from a sycamore leaf.

Thoughts, smells, sounds come and go.

No work or practice or technique is necessary
for this-now-here is-ing.
.
Just listen

and rest,

slowly

simply

quietly.


Nothing much, yet, everything.

Even Simpler

All that is ever happening is this:

Thoughts and Sensations (seeing, smelling, hearing, touching, tasting) arise within Awareness (what we refer to as emotion is a combination of thought and sensation).

All thoughts and sensations change constantly; awareness of the changing thoughts and sensations remains regardless of change. Awareness of changing thoughts and sensations (or awareness of not being aware of changing thoughts and sensations), includes awareness of the thought "I". 

There is no time in which this Awareness has not been present. If you think that is not true, find it now.

You are Awareness.

Don't take my word for it. Find whether or not this is true in your direct experience.

Now, what problem is there?

Simple

Your default setting is wisdom and peace.

The only thing that ever covers over your experience of spaciousness and peace, in any moment, is believed thought.

You don't need to do anything to become what you already are. It is only thinking that suggests otherwise. Don't believe it. Just leave it alone. It will pass.

Love is what we all are. Not the feeling we call love (though that may come and go), but Love as the space that allows everything to be as it is. There really is no choice in the matter.

Just rest - right now. Don't trust the thinking - the story - that suggests there is something more to do. That story (believed) is the very thing that keeps you (seemingly) caught.

Just stop. Leave everything alone. Leave all thinking alone - no matter how horrendous or sublime. All thoughts are leaves blowing in the wind - no matter how beautiful, they are already dead.

Rest and realize you are the alive space-awareness that is the Knowing of all of this at this very moment.

And, when in doubt, rest some more.

Bad News: You Will Not Wake Up Tomorrow...Good News: You Will Not Wake Up Tomorrow

You will not wake up tomorrow. Sorry and congratulations.

First, of course, there is no "you" to be awake. I don't want to belabor this because I know everyone talks about this and many have described it far better than I. However, because it is so important (important in the sense that, once seen, you'll stop reading all of these blogs and books and finally take the time to fix that screen door that you've neglected for the past few years!), allow me to add my own pointing, such as it is, anyway.

This idea of ourselves that we typically refer to as "me, mine, I, etc." is just that - an idea. By "idea," I mean it is a thought that occurs only in a moment and then is gone. It reappears hundreds of millions of times, but it still only occurs in a moment. Read that again. The "I," the "me," the "myself," is just a thought that occurs at an instant and then dissolves as easily and as effortlessly and as unintentionally as it appeared.

Any argument against this is just more thinking, more ideas occurring moment-by-moment; now, here in this instant; now gone. Whatever thought is occurring in this moment is no different than the thought of "I, me, mine." What you are reading now is just thought, more ideas arising in this moment. Now here. Now gone.

Any thought, any idea can point us back to seeing this impermanence arising and dissolving right now. We just need to stop long enough to see it happen. It is not hidden. Or, if it is, it is hidden in plain sight. We are usually so mesmerized by thought that we don't notice the obviousness and effervescence of seeing now. It is only another idea that tells us that we don't yet see. See?

However, back to the point of this note. What has really struck me about all of this lately is the "momentary-ness" of seeing. We can't see tomorrow (of course, there is really no "tomorrow" either, but let's not go there for now!). We can't wake up tomorrow. Awareness/Seeing is only available now...and now...and now...

Everything is always just this moment. There is no such thing as as "your life" or "my life" - there is just livingness in this moment.

This is the good news. We can stop the work to wake up tomorrow. It won't happen. It is utterly and completely futile to live as though it will. It is a fool's errand. Waking up tomorrow is a mirage. But now, see this! This is it! Rest here, now.

There never has been and there never will be another opportunity to recognize the Seeing/Awaring that is here now other than in this moment. Forget what your thinking is telling you right now. Forget it! Leave it alone. Whatever thought is telling you, leave it alone! You are already home. Seeing/Awakeness is what you are. Don't buy anything else thought attempts to sell you. Just rest in this instant and see.

Leave "Stuff" Alone!

Look, it just doesn't matter what kind of "stuff" comes floating into awareness. The "stuff" could be thoughts you might describe as beautiful or ugly or frightening or lovely or kind or...anything! The "stuff" could be sensations that are yummy or painful or weird or tingly or numb or...anything! It doesn't matter what the "stuff" is - leave it alone!

If you are similar to me, thought probably immediately jerked into high gear with all kinds of objections to this simple idea..."how could I possibly leave things alone?" or "he doesn't understand my life, I have responsibilities and troubles that need to be dealt with..." or "oh, doesn't he think he's spiritual; he should just walk in my shoes for a while" or "that's crazy - there are things that need to be addressed" or "but how will I solve these very pressing problems?" and on and on and on.

Yep. I know. Do you think for a second that those kinds of thoughts don't arise in my equally crazy mind!? Let me assure you, they do. But, so what? Who cares? No, I mean really - who cares? Here is a clue: it begins with a "t" and ends with a "t" and has a "hough" in the middle. Uh huh. You got it.

Leave the "stuff" alone and see that the Basic State, the Natural State, the Stateless State, the Un-State, Nirvana, Bliss, Being, Emptiness, Fullness, Awareness, God, Source - call It what you will - is there around, in, through and beyond all the mish-mash mess of stuff that we often mistake for the whole of life. It is right there-here-now! It never goes anywhere - ever ever ever! That is what "you" are (me, too)!

Relax. It's done. Over. Kaput. Finished. Nothing more needs to be done or sought or discovered or understood. All that stuff is more "stuff" too!

Leave "stuff" alone every chance you get and see what happens...

Start with whatever thought just occurred to you when you read that. I know; more "stuff," huh?

Just Bee Awareness

Once upon a time there was small bee enjoying the flowers and trees and summer breeze. In his bee-meanderings, he flew into a house...and could not find his way out!

He flew everywhere he could attempting to find a way out. He flew through the kitchen, the fruit bowl, in and out of clothes-filled closets. He flew through the curio cabinet and the television. He buzzed his way around and under the table holding the family photo albums. He landed on book cases and crawled over each and every book looking for freedom. He still remained trapped.

Over time, other bees - in fact, generations of bees - appeared in the house and attempted to find routes to freedom through most of the same places the first bee had looked - closets, clothes, couches, chairs, the alcohol cabinet, the kitchen, the bedroom, the book case. And, while their methods were more sophisticated than the first bee, they remained trapped.

Most bees made the best of it. They found partners, raised their bee young, built comfortable-enough hives and engaged in bee science, philosophy, education, commerce and industry. Yet, there still existed among some of the bees a sense of something missing. It sometimes seemed that they each possessed a distant and indistinct memory of openness and clarity and freedom that could not be found in the house.

Sometimes, small groups of bees would meet in the evenings to discuss their shared predicament. Many bemoaned their fate and suggested it was the will of the Great Hive itself that this should happen. Others philosophized that no real freedom existed and that it would be best to learn to be satisfied with the world of closets and books and the sugary treats sometimes available in the kitchen. Still others, admittedly a much smaller number, continued to look for the freedom that legend spoke of and intuition pointed towards.

One day, one of the bees thought she had discovered a way out! She saw the blue sky and sun shining brightly and - instinct being what it is - flew straight toward it and...bumped into it! Bumped into freedom? How could this be? She had heard the elder bees talking about a great, open, spacious freedom in which a few of the ancient ones said they had once lived - is this what she had bumped into?

She backed away slowly, looked carefully, and thought hard about what had just happened. She thought and thought and thought until she was so tired that her tiny bee-brain just could not think another thought when suddenly...what was that?

There was a kind of movement against her delicate bee-body. It was a gentle breeze coming from an area just a few feet below her first attempt at freedom. The breeze felt so nice, so inviting that, without thinking, she followed it. Before she knew it had happened, she was flying into open space! She flew and flew and found no walls, no boundaries - there was no place where this openness began and no place where it ended! Space was everywhere! This was the freedom of legend! Her tiny bee-heart was beating almost as fast as her wings.

She turned and looked at the house. She could see clearly the place from which she had come. As she flew back into the house, excited to tell all the rest how easy it was to find this freedom, she realized that the breeze which had led her to freedom filled the house! Without knowing it, all of them, every single bee whether big or little, old or young, male or female, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, worker or queen - every single one of them lived in freedom - they just didn't know it!

That night, she told the others what she had experienced. She explained the spaciousness and freedom that the ancient grandfather and grandmother bees of legend had assured them was available was, indeed, available. She told them that they were living in the spaciousness right now!

Most of the other bees scoffed and told her that her imagination had just gotten the best of her. Perhaps she needed some sleep? Others argued with her and told her that what she described was impossible. Others went to the book case to crawl over the books they believed held the secret to their freedom. A few shook their bee-heads and whispered how sad it was that she had lost her little bee-mind.

The next morning some of the bees asked her to take them to the spot where she had found the vast openness and freedom of legend. She immediately agreed and told them how easy it would be.

As she buzzed towards the place where she had flown into the vast, blue openness, the others followed her closely. As she bobbed and weaved, they bobbed and weaved. As she flew faster or slower, they flew faster or slower. They even mimicked her buzzes and clicks just in case these movements and sounds had something to do with discovering what she had discovered.

Once they arrived, she pointed them towards the openness and watched and waited expectantly for them all to fly through to freedom just as she had done. Go! she said. Just follow the breeze!

A few flew tentatively in the direction she pointed, but returned quickly. Many others began investigating what she had originally bumped into. They spent a good deal of time mapping it, measuring it and asking very important-sounding academic questions about it. No, she told them. You're looking in the wrong direction! Honestly, it is so simple. She kept pointing them towards the source of the breeze.

She tried to explain that the movement of the air they were all feeling was the spaciousness itself and it could easily guide them to freedom in fact, was freedom itself! She said it was right there, right now, moving around all of them. She told them it was the very thing that supported them in their flight! She told them that all along they had all just thought they were trapped but they were literally flying in freedom.

Most listened politely. A fair number of the other bees nodded their bee-heads knowingly and returned to the book shelves to crawl over the words of the ancients who must certainly know better. Others asked her about her particular flying technique and how that related to freedom. She assured them that she wasn't a particularly good flyer - that many of them were much better flyers than she - and that it didn't really matter if they would just quit thinking it to death and just follow the movement of the air into freedom.

A few of the other bees asked her exactly what she had been thinking before, during, and after her experience of freedom. She was baffled! Why would they be interested in this? It didn't have anything to do with the space that she found and, in fact, was swirling about them and supporting them as they talked. She said she hadn't been thinking anything in particular. She told them she had gotten tired of thinking about it and that it was then that she had just followed the breeze that took her to freedom and showed her that they were all already living in the freedom that they imagined was elsewhere.

She promised them that they didn't need to think anymore about it. The tiny bee told them that their thinking was getting in the way of noticing and following the breeze that was supporting them right then. Oh, I see, many said. Yes, indeed, said others...but how do I do it?

Many bees nodded their bee-heads sagely and asked more questions. They took good notes. They told her they would like to meet with her again to investigate this further. They asked if she was planning to offer a more formal and structured freedom-finding class in the future.

She blinked her black bee-eyes and asked them if they would like to just follow the breeze to complete freedom now and be done with it? Most thanked her for the opportunity and told her they were very interested but would need to talk with her more and perhaps listen to the opinions of some of the more experienced, better-educated bees before they made a decision. Study groups were formed.

As it happened, a few of the bees who were not particularly well-read and tended not to think too much about things - you know the type - followed the breeze to freedom themselves. They, too, came back to talk with the rest of the bees about how easy it was but they weren't listened to because they just didn't have the right bee pedigree.

All of the very brightest and accomplished bees knew it just couldn't be that easy.

Could it?

Thinking It Is Not It

Sometimes, people ask what Awareness is. Hmmm. How do we describe what is essentially indescribable? How do we describe the eye to the eye? How do we describe water to the fish? The ocean to the wave? Air to the breeze? How does thought describe Awareness to thought with more thought?

You know the answer. It cannot be done. At best, words point us in the direction of "seeing" Awareness (another completely inadequate description considering it is Awareness itself which does the seeing). It might be better to say these pointers help us intuit Awareness, our real identity.

Another question that might help point us in the right direction is this: Can you think Awareness?

If you can "think" It, it is not It. Instead, if you ask the question, it can point out that which cannot be thought, seen, felt, smelled, heard, tasted, broken, burnt, injured, or smeared - the Big Nothing. Funny enough, Nothing turns out to be Everything.