THE WONDER OF BEING Awakening to an Intimacy Beyond Words by Je Foster Published by Non-Duality Press (www.non-dualitypress.

com) A combined and revised edition of Jeff Foster's first two books 'Life Without A Centre' and 'Beyond Awakening' W!at i "i e is in inite"y sim#"er t!an yo$ e%er imagined& We s#end o$r "i%es seeking wea"t!' s$ccess' "o%e' $" i"ment' and e%en (s#irit$a" en"ig!tenment) in t!e $t$re* +et rig!t at t!e !eart o "i e t!ere is an intimacy' a sim#"icity' a w!o"eness t!at is tota""y beyond words , and w!ic! cannot be reac!ed t!ro$g! any kind o e ort* In o$r attem#ts to c!ange' to im#ro%e o$rse"%es' or become (en"ig!tened)' we end $# ignoring t!is word"ess intimacy w!ic! is o$r birt!rig!t and o$r tr$e !ome* The Wonder of Being #oints to t!e eterna" reedom w!ic! e-ists beyond t!e seeker and t!e so$g!t' and s!ows $s t!e !idden ass$m#tions t!at $nder"ie o$r seeking acti%ities* Wit! great !$mo$r' com#assion and c"arity' Je Foster reminds $s o somet!ing we !a%e a"ways known , t!at "i e' as it is' is a mirac"e. and beyond o$r t!o$g!ts' we are a"ready ree*

E-cer#ts rom t!e book***

A/THOR)0 NOTE I am not here to teach you how to become an awakened or enlightened person, how to have spiritual e periences or enter spiritual states. !ll states and e periences, even the most bliss"ul ones, come and go. #hey are beauti"ul, and very pleasurable, but they are time-bound, and so they come and go. #his book is about that which does not come and go. It points to a possibility that goes beyond your attempts to awaken, your search "or enlightenment, and your e periences o" states o" bliss, peace, $oy, silence, and so on% a possibility that goes right to the core o" who you really are, beyond who you think you are. It points to the wordless essence beyond the passing "orms o" this world, an essence which, in the "inal analysis, is not separate "rom the "orms that appear. #his is what I "eel is the true meaning o" the word &nonduality'. It takes no time to be what you already are, but it appears to take time to recognise what you are not. !s long as words are needed, this book meets you in your dream o" individuality, to remind you o" something that you(ve always known. !nd when words are no longer needed, well, that(s when the adventure really begins. )ith love "rom yoursel", Je Foster

*righton, +ngland, ,arch -./.

BE+OND WORD0 0ight at the heart o" li"e, there is a simplicity that is totally beyond words. 1et the moment we attempt to speak about this simplicity, the moment we try to put it into words, in a sense we've killed it. !s the #ao #e 2hing has been reminding us "or over two thousand years3

4#he tao that can be told is not the eternal #ao. #he name that can be named is not the eternal Name. #he unnameable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin o" all particular things.5 #his is really a book about something that cannot be put into words3 the "act that right at the heart o" li"e, right where you are, right here and right now, a miracle is happening. !nd what is that miracle6 It is the present moment. It is everything3 present sights, sounds and smells, bodily sensations, the heart beating, breathing... It is li"e itsel". It is everything and it is nothing3 No thing. *eyond the stories we tell about li"e, beyond our concepts, beyond our belie"s and ideas, beyond our ideologies and complicated philosophies, beyond time and space, there are no separate &things' in e istence. *eyond the dream o" duality, there is no separation whatsoever. 7ere is a timeless truth that goes right to the heart o" all religions and spiritual traditions, and ultimately right to the heart o" modern science too. 8nderneath all the dichotomies that de"ine our lives, there is a single underlying reality (call it the #ao, call it *uddha ,ind, or !dvaita, or *rahman, or 9i"e Itsel", or +nergy, or call it nothing at all:) and that reality is not separate "rom what we are. !s the ;uantum physicist +rwin <chr=dinger so beauti"ully put it3 4)hat we observe as material bodies and "orces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure o" space. Particles are $ust schaumkommen (appearances). #he world is given to me only once, not one e isting and one perceived. <ub$ect and ob$ect are only one. #he barrier between them cannot be said to have broken down as a result o" recent e perience in the physical sciences, "or this barrier does not e ist.5 *eyond thought, nothing is separate "rom anything else. 1et out o" that 8nnameable ,ystery, the words arise, the thoughts appear, the separation does its little dance, and this is the play o" duality within nonduality - and it is ultimately impossible to speak about.

<o you may ask3 )hy write a book about something that is too present, too alive, too intimate, and there"ore too paradoxica to put into words6 )hy try and use dualistic language to communicate that which is beyond duality6 )hy not simply stay silent and be done with it6 #his is a very good ;uestion> )ell, although words will never capture this simplicity, perhaps they can point to it. 1ou see, that's what all the words in this book really are3 pointers. Nothing more, nothing less. #hey point back to the <ource, to the origin o" all things, which in the "inal analysis is identical with what you really are, beyond your mind-made li"e story, and identical with li"e itsel", as it dances in emptiness. Appearance and essence are not!two" ?urther than that we cannot go in words. Pay too much attention to the pointers, and you'll end up missing what the pointers are pointing to. !s they say in @en, i" you pay too much attention to the "inger pointing at the moon, you'll miss that beauti"ul moon: Now, I'm sure that any hal"-decent philosopher would be able to tear many o" the arguments in this book into shreds. 7e or she might claim that many statements in this book are illogical, that parts o" the book contradict other parts, that the te t "lies in the "ace o" rationality and even common sense, that the ideas presented here are radical or even downright craAy. #hat is "ine. I am not here to convert anyone to a new way o" thinking, to impose a new belie" system upon anyone, or start a new religion. )hat is being communicated in this book goes beyond that whole &I have the truth and you don't' game that we love to play. It is a possibility that cuts through to the very heart o" things. It goes beyond &my religion versus your religion', &my Bod versus your Bod', or &my belie"s versus your belie"s'. #his possibility goes beyond everything that apparently separates us. It reaches beyond &I'm a 2hristian, you're a Cew', beyond &I'm black, you're white', beyond &I'm right, you're wrong', beyond even &I'm a man, you're a woman'. It is "ar beyond &I'm enlightened, you're unenlightened', &I'm awake and you're not', &I get it and you don't', &I'm nondual but you're still dual', or even &I'm here and you're there'. *eyond all o" these dualistic opposites - that's where the true "reedom lies.

*eyond logic, beyond rationality, beyond thought itsel", to the wordless silence at the heart o" things3 that is where all the words in this book are pointing. 1ou will need to leave the logical mind behind i" you are to go any "urther. #his is a $ourney into aliveness, into li"e itsel", not into the intellect. 0HARING THI0 I do not consider mysel" to be a teacher. 1ou see, I don't have anything to give you. I don't have anything that you don't. I simply don't have anything to teach, but perhaps, $ust perhaps, I have something to share. !nd i" what is being shared in this book is really seen, you'll also see that I'm only sharing this with mysel", because # am what you are" *eyond our li"e stories, there is nothing that could possibly separate us. #his is not a communication "rom person to person, "rom separate individual to separate individual, "rom teacher to student, but a sharing "rom li"e to itsel". <o ultimately, it's not really a &sharing' at all, but here we reach the limits o" language> 9anguage cannot say what cannot be said. *ut perhaps language, used in a certain way, can help point to that which cannot be said. Now, here's the good news3 you don't need to understand anything that is being said here. *eyond the attempt o" the mind to understand, and beyond any con"usion that you may e perience while reading, there can be a resonance$ a recognition$ a knowing that is deeper than any words. ! lot o" people read my books and tell me that they don't understand what is being said, but at the same time they know it, and they've always known it. #hey don't understand it, but they know it more clearly and more directly than they've ever known anything. I'm not here to teach you anything, but perhaps I'm here to remind you o" something that you already know. #his book may challenge your concepts about what &spirituality' is and isn't. It will ;uestion the idea that there is, in "act, anything in the world separate "rom anything else, that there is a &seeker' separate "rom what is sought, that there is a &me' separate "rom &you', that enlightenment is not already here, that the Dingdom o" 7eaven lies beyond, that Eneness is somewhere &out there'. #his book is really about the end o" seeking, the end o" striving, the end o" su""ering, the end o" the idea that you are a little person in a big world, somehow separate "rom wholeness. It points to a gentle e plosion into something "ar more power"ul, "ar more $oy"ul, and "ar simpler than anything we were promised by the teachings o" the world. It points back home.

#he end o" the spiritual search is an abso ute y radica acceptance of what is" !nd this acceptance, this seeing through, is not done by you, the individual. #his acceptance is not a doing, not an achievement, not the result o" anything. #his acceptance is in the nature o" things, as they already are. A ready, everything arises spontaneously, "reely, o" its own accord. A ready, the universe accepts everything, unconditionally, as it is. A ready, as the *uddha saw so clearly, there is no separate sel". #his is the mystery that we'll be e ploring.

+O/R OWN AB0EN1E )e've all had at least a taste o" it3 the "alling away o" everything. It can happen anywhere, at any time3 during a walk through the park, or while listening to your "avourite piece o" music, or perhaps while looking into the eyes o" a loved one. !ll past and "uture "all away, all ideas o" a "uture attainment, a "uture happiness, a "uture &enlightenment' simply dissolve into the vast open space which embraces everything. In that "alling away, there is a simplicity, an intimacy, a "reedom without a name. It's totally beyond words, and yet it's as obvious as breathing. It's a glimpse into what you really are, beyond any story about what you are. )e've all e perienced it. )e call it &love', but it is so much more than our concepts about love. Er we call it &peace', but it is really a peace that goes beyond any ideas we have about peace. It is also &beauty', but it is beauty without an ob$ect. It is &"reedom' too, but it is a "reedom without anyone there to own "reedom. #o the mind, these moments (although we cannot really call them &moments' because they are beyond time altogether) are without worldly value. #o the mind, in a sense what we are talking about here is nothing. #o the mind, what value does its own absence have6 No value. )hy6 *ecause there is nobody there to claim any value> E" course, what the mind could never see is that nothing is everything. 1our absence is identical with the presence o" the world F this is what the word &nonduality' really points to. !gain, we must leave words behind. #t is because there is no so id$ separate person at the centre of ife$ that ife can appear as it does"

#his book is a $ourney into that absence, an absence which "inally reveals itsel" to be li"e in its "ullness, a per"ect presence. +mptiness is "orm, as the *uddhist 7eart <utra reminds us. At this point the seeking mind says$ %&hat's a we and good$ but what's in it for me(' 1ou see, the mind always wants something more F some new content, some new idea or belie" system, something new to chew on. It hunts around the world, "eeding itsel", ingesting secondhand concept a"ter second-hand concept "rom books, "rom teachers, "rom perceived authorities. #he mind is a seeker% it is always hungry "or more. )hether it's the search "or worldly success, or happiness, or permanent pleasure, or eternal peace, or spiritual enlightenment, it's essentially the same movement o" thought. ! search always implies that something has been lost, that something here is not ;uite right, that there is something acking in the universe. #hat is why the search "or enlightenment is essentially no di""erent "rom the search "or worldly success. #his is a very hard pill "or the spiritual seeker to swallow> #he lack seems to be in"inite. No matter how much you "ill the void, there is still more o" it to "ill> No wonder we are always le"t "eeling unsatis"ied, discontented, incomplete. #his book will not e acerbate the problem and give "ood to an already in"lated ego. 9ike a @en koan, it will not add any content, provide any new concepts or belie"s with which the ego could bolster itsel". #his re"usal to provide something concrete "or the mind to chew on can be very "rustrating "or a seeker looking "or something. 1es, this is really a book about nothing, but still, sometimes a book about nothing can be the most help"ul thing F especially when the search "or something has only ever led to "rustration and bitter disappointment, and taken you away "rom what really matters3 that is, the present appearance o" li"e, and the wonder o" *eing.

0TOR+ OF A NOBOD+ I don't want to dwell on my past, because really it has nothing to do with this message, and very little to do with this present li"e. 7owever, some history (&his story') may help to put this book into conte t. Do remember, this is $ust a story, no more or less important than any other story. <everal years ago I embarked on a "ull-blown spiritual search, "uelled by the desire to escape the pain and misery o" a li"etime. ,y li"e had become unbearable, and I was desperate "or a way out. ,odern psychology hadn't worked "or me F it only seemed to deal with sur"ace issues. I didn't want to &"it in' or &adapt to society', I wanted to wake up. I didn't want to be com"ortable, I wanted

to be "ree. !nd so I turned to the teachings o" enlightenment. ?or over a year I shut mysel" o"" totally "rom ordinary li"e. ,y only goal was to awaken once and "or all, to shed the sense o" being a separate person and live as Eneness. Nothing else had any meaning to me. I became obsessed. I did not realise then that the desire to escape my pain and misery was the very thing that was giving li"e to it. In resisting the present appearance o" what I "elt to be su""ering, that very su""ering was being maintained and strengthened. In "ighting lack, I was creating lack. &hat which is resisted is given power" #his seems to be a universal law. +ventually, a"ter months and months o" intense meditation and sel"-en;uiry, o" ;uestioning my thoughts and attempting to see through the ego, o" mind-blowing spiritual e periences and states o" deep bliss, I "inally came to believe that I was in the state spoken o" by the spiritual masters as &enlightenment'. I believed that enlightenment was a state which only a lucky "ew throughout the ages had ever reached, and that I, through my e""orts, had "inally done it. 7owever, what I didn't realise then, was that the belie" that I was enlightened was ultimately $ust that3 another be ief" ! truly enlightened person (and I realise now that there is no such thing) would never "or one moment claim to be enlightened, as the belie" &I am enlightened, others are not' is $ust another way to separate human beings "rom each other, another act o" violence, another way to maintain the very ego which is supposed to be ended in enlightenment. #he belie" in personal enlightenment is $ust another way to maintain a strong sense o" sel"3 how very un-enlightened> I came to see that &enlightenment' is not a state reserved "or the lucky "ew, attained only by those who have been on the spiritual path "or years, and who have carried out all the relevant practices and rituals. It is instead our natural condition, available to all o" us, all o" the time, and so no e""ort (or lack o" it) is re;uired. Indeed, it is the very e""ort or non-e""ort to reach enlightenment which obscures the enlightenment that is always already present. It is our search "or &something more' which seems to obscure the utterly obvious3 the present moment$ and everything that arises in it$ is a there is" Don't believe this6 2heck - it's always now. )hatever happens, happens now. Is there ever a time when you cannot say &it is now'6 2an anything happen i" it is not happening now6 +ven memory the story o" a past - is that not $ust a bundle o" thoughts arising presently6 !ll the seeking, is that not $ust a bundle o" conditioning - memory and its pro$ections into the "uture - appearing right now6

It is so obvious3 what I was looking "or all those years was not something that could ever be "ound, because it had never actually been lost. Indeed, it is not really an &it' at all, not a thing amongst other things, but the very condition that allows the possibility o" &things' in the "irst place. +nlightenment is where we always already are, and in searching "or it, we apparently lose it. 8n"ortunately, almost everything we do throughout our lives is part o" this search, because almost everything we do implies that our salvation lies in the "uture, that peace and happiness and "reedom are things that can be attained by us at some "uture time. #hese days, the search "or enlightenment, "or happiness outside the present happiness, "or any sort o" &sel"-improvement' whatsoever, has simply "allen away. 1ou see, what had gone right to the root o" all my seeking and depression had been the sense that I was a separate person, someone over here who lacked something, and who was looking "or something over there. It was the sense o" being a separate individual that had been at the core o" all my worldly su""ering. )hen that sense turned out to be an illusion, an assumption and nothing more, when it was seen in utter clarity that there is only li"e, and nobody here separate "rom li"e, then the search crumbled to the ground F and something e traordinary was revealed right where I was standing. It had nothing to do with &somebody becoming enlightened'% it had nothing to do with awakened people, with trans"ormations o" consciousness or energetic shi"ts or special spiritual e periences o" any kind. It was in "act something so e traordinarily simple that I had overlooked it my entire li"e. )hat is le"t6 Is it still possible to live in this world when the desire "or something beyond the ordinary has dissolved6 #his book attempts to e press this wordless seeing, that belongs to nobody and there"ore is totally "ree.

NOTHING WRONG WITH 0I2EN1E &his is the unnameable mystery - yet we give it a name. 7aving named the unnameable mystery a thousand times over, and taken those names to be the reality, we then live according to that reality, "orgetting that the names were arbitrary, and a product o" the mind. #hen the names torture us. )e are caught between the polarities, imprisoned by the dualistic opposites3 good and evil, love and hate, right and wrong, rich and poor, ugly and beauti"ul, sacred and pro"ane. #his dualistic prison is o" our own making, although it's not really a prison at all, because it doesn't e ist outside o" thought. We spend our ives trying to escape a prison that isn't rea y there"

#he mind is interested only in the opposites. It is not interested in the mystery, because the mystery cannot be an ob$ect o" knowledge. Indeed, it is that "rom which ob$ects o" knowledge arise% it is the <ource, the "ertile void which gives birth to all li"e. )ithout it there is nothing. 2all it the #ao, call it Bod, call it spirit, call it consciousness, call it li"e, call it nothing at all or even deny its e istence% even the denial o" it is simply it denying itsel". No proo" is needed "or it. )hy6 *ecause this moment is. 1ou are here. It is now. #hat, and $ust that, is the ultimate reality. #here is no need "or belie". )ou don't need to be ieve in something if that something is staring you in the face" )hen this is seen, how ;uiet everything becomes> !ll mental noise dies away, and is recognised "or what it is3 a "alse reality, an illusion, nothing more. When the prison is seen through$ so is the prisoner" #hen you are no longer a person3 not a man, not a woman, not +nglish, not !merican, black, white, 7indu, 2hristian, ,uslim, atheist, rich or poor, good or bad, happy or sad. 1ou are not any o" these things. 1ou are not this, not that, not any ob$ect o" consciousness. 1ou are not the body, not the mind. #hose "eet are not yours, those hands, those legs. #hat "ace doesn't belong to you. #hat head is there, but you do not own it. No eyes, no tongue, no nose, no throat, no heart. No "orm. *e"ore you are all o" these things, you are. 1ou are consciousness, awareness, an open space, a vastness in which the world is allowed to arise. 1ou are li"e itsel", not an individual cut o"" "rom the whole. 1ou are one with all things, and all things are mani"estations o" what you are. #he illusion o" individuality arises, yes, but it is seen that this too is a mani"estation o" the divine, and you are not doing it. It is not persona . !nd the mani"estation need not be denied. No sel"-denial is necessary. Eneness is everything and includes everything, even the appearance o" the separate individual, and you cannot get rid o" an appearance> )ho would get rid o" an appearance6 !nother appearance6 0emember, what you deny, you a""irm. )hat you re$ect you give li"e to. #he apparent individual arises. Let it be" It is an illusion, a"ter all, a construction o" thought. 1ou are the openness in which the construction arises. #his is not clever wordplay but the actuality o" things. I" you wish, you can look "or yoursel" right now. ,editate on it. 2ome back to present awareness (and this is true meditation). Is there anything solid there called &sel"'6 Is there any clear distinction between &you' and &not you'6 2an you really pinpoint the place where you end and the world begins6 )here is the boundary6 )ithout re"erring to the past, can you know who you are6 )ithout using thought, can you say who you are, really6 8ltimately it's "utile, this attempt to name the unnameable, to describe that which is prior to all description, to put words to the wordless. 0eally, there is nothing more to say. <ilence is the only honest way to go. Ence you reach this point all words are $ust noise. Noise to "ill the silence which is prior to, and envelops, all noise. )hy do we pay so much attention to the noise6 )hat is wrong with silence6 G <ilence. We reach the point of creation" )hy is there anything at all6

)hy isn't there nothing6 )hat is wrong with silence6 G #he noise comes, anyway, but now we see it in a new way. It has no particular purpose, in the sense that it is e;ual to silence. Neither better nor worse, but it is undeniably there - so we honour it. )e do not deny it. 9i"e then becomes a play, a game, a divine, purposeless dance, e isting "or no reason other than to be itsel". Noise and silence are inseparable. *eing and non-being are inseparable. ,e and not-me are inseparable. +verything e ists in divine union, not as "ragments but as aspects o" a whole, each part important, each part enabling every other part to be. Nothing is out o" place, nothing is unwanted, nothing is disposable. *eing and non-being are the two aspects o" consciousness, the two "aces o" the divine. !h, but the words are $ust ripples on the sur"ace. Plunge back into the silence. No words are needed. No words are really necessary. Cust the simple "eeling o" being is enough, the simplicity and aliveness o" this. Cust a simple rela ation into what you already are. G #here is only this. #here is only ever this. #he sound o" breathing. #he hum o" the computer. #he creaking o" the radiator. ! tingling in the toes. 7ands moving over keys. )ords coming out. *reathing. ! sense o" deep ease, a sense o" (okayness( with the whole world as it arises and dissolves. #his is ife, damn it> 7ere> 0ight here> )ords do not even scratch the sur"ace o" things. 1et we spend our lives scratching on the sur"ace, thinking that we have the answers. )e do not realise that there are no answers, because there are no ;uestions. #here were never any ;uestions, because this moment is always already per"ect the way it is. !ny ;uestion would take you away "rom the per"ection, although every ;uestion is part o" the per"ection too. Nothing is e cluded. Not even e clusion itsel".

THE DI3INE 4ARADO5 4# am not here"* #hat is a common pointer used in nonduality teachings. *ut what does it really mean6 )ell, what do you see when you look over here, at what you call &me'6 1ou see a bag o" "lesh and bone which appears to move and act and speak in "airly predictable ways. 1ou see this behaviour, and tell your story o" Ce"" ?oster. #hat is your &me'. #hat is me, to you.

*ut is there actually a &me' over here to which you are re"erring6 Is there a &Ce""' in here that you are somehow recognising and putting a name to6 Ever here, all I can "ind is an open space, "illed with sights and sounds, smells, thoughts and "eelings. *ut here's the great discovery F there is simply no &me' to be "ound at the centre o" it all, no &me' in charge o" things. #here is nothing solid here, only an openness to the constantly shi"ting scenery o" the world, and &me' or &I' or &mysel"' is $ust a story appearing in this open space. !ll I can "ind here, when I look a"resh at li"e, is the rumble o" tra""ic, the tweeting o" birds, the beating o" the heart, breathing happening, and the story o" a person called Ce"" ?oster. !nd this story can be a wonder"ul story to tell, but it cannot even begin to capture what I really am. G Now, when you look over here at this bag o" "lesh and bone and its associated behaviours, and when you address it as &Ce""', there is a response here, because that seems to be the appropriate thing to do. Not to respond would be socially unacceptable, and this bag o" "lesh and bone might then be cast into the loony bin, or at least heavily medicated. 1et, one can't help wondering that perhaps it is dishonest to answer to a name, to identi"y who I am with who the world says I am. *ecause I certainly do not e perience mysel" as a person, as an individual, as something separate "rom the world. No, i" I am anything, I am this open space in which the whole world appears, and indeed I am not separate "rom the world which appears. I" I am anything, I am what is happening, right here, right now, in this moment. I" I am anything, I am this$ this and this" #hat is the true meaning o" nonduality. !nd it's what the *uddha meant when he said3 4<u""ering alone e ists, but none who su""er% the deed there is, but no doer thereo"% Nirvana there is, but no one seeking it% the Path there is, but none who travel it.5 &Ce""' does not even begin to capture it. &Ce""' is a relic "rom the past, part o" a narrative that everybody seems to spin "or themselves and by themselves. Indeed, there appears to be as many &Ce""s' as there are people who know him> #his is not to deny that there is an idea here o" a &Ce""' "loating about in awareness, as thought. *ut that is all there is, over here. &here is no Jeff having thoughts of %Jeff' + that's the i usion" &here is on y the thought of %Jeff' here$ on y the narrative f oating through" It all happens "or nobody, it all arises in this open space, in the vastness that holds everything, lovingly, unconditionally, in the clarity that allows everything to be. !nd there is simply no &Ce""' outside o" the vastness, which is to say, there is no &Ce""' at all. I simply do not e ist. &I' am not here. ,o se f$ no prob em, as an old @en monk once said. G !nd yet, and yet... to all intents and purposes, I do e ist. In the eyes o" the world, anyway, there most de"initely is a Ce"" ?oster F he has a birth certi"icate and a National Insurance number and

everything> #o "unction in the world, a basic assumption seems to be necessary3 that there is an individual here, a person. *ut it is an assumption, an idea, nothing more% it has no deeper reality. )ith that realisation, the entire world sel"-liberates. ?reed "rom the stranglehold o" thought, "reed "rom the burden o" &me and my problems', there is a great ease which permeates everything. ?reed "rom goals and meanings, every moment is a goal in itsel", everything is intrinsically meaning"ul, because every moment is all there is, or ever was. <et "ree "rom sel"-consciousness, anything is possible3 there is no authority, there are no rules, and whatever happens $ust happens. 7owever, that doesn't mean you go round beating up old ladies. No, when it is seen that there is no separate sel", it is also seen that there are no separate &others' either. No others separate "rom yoursel", at any rate. <o this is the end o" violence, the end o" me-versus-you. *eyond that me-versus-you illusion, there is such intimacy, such unconditional love and acceptance, that the idea o" beating up old women, or anyone else "or that matter, simply "alls away. #hat old woman is mysel", and I don't "ind mysel" beating her up. I "ind mysel" helping her across the road. #he parado 3 there are no others, and yet there is such love "or others, such spaciousness to allow them to be e actly as they are. *eyond the sense o" separation, there sti may be pain, anger and sadness. 1et a "unny thing happens3 pain, anger and sadness are no longer owned by anyone. #hey are no longer claimed by a seeker hungry "or an identity. )e could say that they still happen, but because they now happen "or nobody instead o" somebody, they simply don't matter anymore (since there's nobody there to whom they could possibly matter>) #here's pain, anger and sadness, but since there is nobody there at war with e perience, these sensations $ust dissolve o" their own accord, in their own time, as they always have done. #here's pain, anger and sadness, but there's no prob em whatsoever, and there"ore no desire to be &"ree "rom su""ering'. +verything being talked about here is a ready the case, "or all o" us, and yes, that includes you, o" course. !lready, there is "reedom. !lready, there is nobody in control. !lready, things simply arise o" their own accord. Look3 #he heart beats, and you are not doing the beating. *reathing happens, and you are not doing the breathing. <ounds in the room happen, and you are not making them happen. Pain arises, and you are not causing it. Coy happens, and you have no choice. #he sun rises and sets, "lowers grow, wither and die, seasons change in the blink o" an eye, and you are not in charge o" this astonishing dream world. #he play o" opposites plays itsel" out, and there is an undetectable silence that continuously embraces it all, allowing everything to arise e actly as it does. #he entire world arises in this open space, in this vastness which is utterly "ree "rom separateness and solidity, but which embraces separateness and solidity the way a mother embraces her newborn baby. #he secret is there in your heart beating, in your breathing, in the sights and sounds and smells mani"esting themselves e actly where you are, right now. &he secret is here" -o you see(

G #his cannot be understood intellectually. *ut somewhere beyond the words, there can be a resonance, a recognition, and that is the place to which these words are pointing right now, a place that has no location - which is to say, it is nowhere, and everywhere. It's there in your heartbeat. It's there in the breathing. It's there in the sensations in your body and the space around those sensations. It's there in your thoughts and the gaps between them, and in the sights and sounds and smells in the room. 1es, all li"e asks o" you is that you see it "or what it is.

J/0T A THO/GHT 4#here are no steps to sel"-realiAation.5 - Nisargadatta ,ahara$

No wonder the search "ails. Being what you a ready are has nothing to do with time, with e""ort, with somebody doing something to get somewhere. It has nothing to do with understanding. Nothing to do with process, nothing to do with pra is. Nothing to do with lack o" process or pra is. It is not about seeing anything new, or getting rid o" anything old. It is not something the mind could ever grasp. Nor does the mind need to give up its grasping. It is nothing personal, nor does it have anything to do with the &impersonal'. It cannot be e pressed using concepts. Nor will it ever be e pressed in the absence o" concepts. It is not about words. Not even these words.

It is not about getting anywhere. It has nothing to do with any kind o" "uture achievement. It is not about "ollowing a path3 there is no path, although there may be the idea o" a path. It is not about reaching some higher state3 there are no higher states, although there may be concepts about higher states. It is not about becoming something special and rare and uni;ue, although belie"s about that may arise too. It is certainly not about &putting an end to the I'. Enly an &I' would want that. It is most de"initely not about &becoming more present' F presence was never lost in the "irst place. It is not about waiting "or an event called liberation - that would re;uire time, and a &me' who would eventually become liberated. It has nothing to do with going &beyond' anything F there is nothing to go beyond, and nobody who could go beyond even i" they wanted to. It is not about enlightenment. #here is no such thing as personal enlightenment. It is not about awakening. #here is no such thing as an awakened person. It is not about enlightened individuals passing on their understanding to non-enlightened individuals. #hat's a good story, and a compelling one, but it's $ust a story, and has no deeper reality. It is not something that could be o" any use to anyone. It is not something that anyone would ever want. *ut no matter F the &me' who would want this is $ust a thought anyway.

Cust a thought.

ON 2O3E AND A2ONENE00 4*ind me like a seal upon thine heart3 love is as strong as death.5 - .ong of .o omon /01

I am alone in the garden. #he sun is rising. ! little robin tugs at a worm in the grass. In true love, there is no ob$ect o" desire, a""ection and tenderness, "or the beloved has collapsed into the lover. #he ob$ect has collapsed into the sub$ect, and there is only love. Enly love, and nobody to be aware o" it, nobody to know it and nobody to deny it. Enly love, both radically alone, and intimately connected to all things. ! sub$ect and an ob$ect can never be in love. #hey are "orever divided "rom each other, split "rom each other. #hey can only gaAe longingly into each other's eyes across an unbridgeable divide, with the "ervent hope that one day, perhaps one day, love will bridge the chasm, and the isolation o" multiplicity and "ragmentation will give way to the $oy o" intimate companionship, togetherness, and unity. *ut no, love cannot and will not bridge the gap, "or the gap is inherent in the sub$ect-ob$ect split. Indeed, the gap is the sub$ect-ob$ect split, and nothing can "ill a gap which is so deeply engrained into the very "oundations o" our e perience. No, love cannot bridge the gap, because a sub$ect and an ob$ect, a lover and the beloved, are inherently, "undamentally separate. It is unlikely that they will ever truly meet as people, as human beings. #rue love is the death o" this terrible divide, and with it, the ending o" all division between two people. #his will never be achieved through e""ort. #he very e""ort to end the division strengthens the division, gives power to the division. &his is because the division is not there . It has never been there, and it will never be there. #he division is an illusion, and when you "ight an illusion you are bound to lose. 9overs can never meet through e""ort, although they may die trying. G <o, our lovers continue to gaAe longingly at each other across this unbridgeable divide, a divide that, in their innocence, they have created "or themselves. 7ow to help them6 !ny e""ort they make to come together will pull them more strongly apart. !re they doomed to live and die like this6 Is there a way out6 1es there is, but it involves death. Not physical death, but death o" the ego, death o" everything that separates, death o" everything that "ragments, death o" everything that divides, death o"

everything that isolates, death o" everything that has been carried over "rom the past, death o" everything that pro$ects into a "uture. -eath of the idea of ove itse f" ?inally, it will involve death o" the beloved, death o" the lover. Death o" you and me, and with it, death o" all that comes between us. ! descent into pure nothingness, a plunge into the unknown. 7e who plunges in this way may taste it, the sweet and simple $oy o" radical aloneness that is true love. 9ook> #he robin tweet!tweets as he hops over the dew-soaked grass, and the morning sun begins to warm and wake the slumbering creatures in this Barden o" +den that we have named 2arth, and nowhere can I "ind isolation, loneliness, separation, because all things are in all things, and everywhere is mother, everywhere is home. !nd I smile to mysel" with the realisation o" the utterly, utterly obvious. I have not "ound you, but I have recognised something that has eluded me "or a li"etime3 )ou are not out there$ but in here" )ou are part of the experiencing structure # take to be myse f" <o I do not love you, "or there is no &me' to love and no &you' to be loved. No, I do not love you, "or you are an integra part of that which oves" G #he great search ends here, now, in this moment. #here is only love, and you are that - you are love itsel". 1ou are what I "eel now, you are the thoughts bubbling up "rom nowhere and dissolving into nothingness, you are that robin over there, and the "resh dew on the morning grass, and the sun in all its radiance, and we are eternally, timelessly bound in this way, you and me, together with all things. + cept there is no &me', no &you', and no &things'. <o we will never be apart - no, we cannot be apart, not now, not ever. .o$ this morning$ # am a one in the garden$ and you are here with me to see it a "