Question: Hi, I hope you can clarify some thoughts of mine.
Since I (as an individual) do not really exist, how do I go about living in an environment of people who actually don't exist? For what purpose would it serve other than Pure Awareness experiencing its earthly dream of "being" different characters?
If everything around this "me" is the experiences of Pure Awareness, then anything "I" do really doesn't matter, right? If this is so, how do "I" as a conscious being, existing in a dream go about living this dream life with any joy?
I believe what you have said in your book is true. I just don't know how to go forward now that I realize I don't exist....... do I just suck it up, the good along with the bad and accept that my participation is inconsequential?
Answer: Please do not simply believe what I have said in the book, but verify it. Also remember that the words are only pointers to something beyond the reach of words; just like the lake is beyond the signpost that points to it. Obviously, when you want to go for a swim, merely believing, instead of following the direction indicated by the signpost, will not result in a refreshing dip in the water.
If it is actually clear that there is no individual, then who is there to believe what was written? Who needs to go forward, and who needs to participate?
The 'message' in these words may appear bleak from the 'I' perspective. It seems to suggest meaninglessness and helplessness, but this is not to where the signpost points.
When it is seen that all activity is of the One, then it is also seen that this has always been the case. We may say things like "I think." or "I breathe." but on investigation it is clear that every thought, every breath, every act, has never been done by a separate you and yet, here you are. Even the idea of a separate 'you' is 'done' by the One; just like a wave is 'done' by the ocean.
To the apparent character this may seem like losing the initiative, but in reality it never was the possessor of the initiative. You are not simply a limited character, but THAT to -and in which- the idea of such a character appears.
Seeing this is again not done by a 'you' but it is the One Seeing. For the 'person' this adds up to helplessness, and it is the end of who or what we think we are. However, since we are not what we think we are, it is only the end of an illusion. The separate person was never real in the first place, so it is the end of a non existing entity. It all adds up to zero.
When there is a falling back into the Source, it turns out to be liberation rather then obliteration; liberation from doership and authority, from blame and fame. Instantly life is known to be effortlessly living AS you, and no longer as being lived BY you.
Presently, the thoughts appear and disappear, there is breathing in and out, the heart beats and the metabolism does its job. All this is directly seen without a 'someone' making an effort. There is no 'you' who is doing any of this and there never was, yet everything is going on by and of itself.
Participating, as you call it, may or may not happen, but only as a play in Consciousness, as there is no real separation that allows for an independent participator or doer. Perhaps there will be a walk in the woods, a cup of tea, reading the newspaper, a dark mood, a smile, or doing the shopping; again, all happening AS you, rather then by or to you.
In and through all this spontaneous activity there might be the same surprised wonder as expressed by the Zen monk who, on finding out that there is no personal doer, wrote: "Miraculous power and marvelous activity! Drawing water and hewing wood."

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For goodness' sake let's give up all this objectivising nonsense! It has gone on altogether too long! Wasting our apparent lives objectivising from morning to night, and from night to morning - except for deep sleep when we go sane for a short respite.
Take the absurd idea people have about there being a moon in the sky! What is a 'moon', what is a 'sky', and where is either the one or the other to be 'inside' or 'outside' the other or the one? Did you ever hear such balderdash?
We know perfectly well, you who are reading this know perfectly well, where the so-called 'moon' comes from, where it belongs, and the so-called 'sky' along with it! They belong with all the other phenomenal objects we objectify day and night, dreaming 'asleep' or dreaming 'awake' - rhinos and roses, beetles and bodhisattvas, dandelions and dragons.
Aren't you heartily sick of them all? No? Very well, then, admire them, do what you like with them, but for Heaven's sake don't go on thinking that they 'exist' as such in some sort of way somewhere or other 'over there', 'up there', 'down there' or any other sort of 'where'!
You know quite well where they 'exist', how they 'exist', and that their only 'existence' is at home where they belong, which is where you perceive them.
That is living practice.

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A Root In Each Act And Creature
The sun's eyes are painting fields again.
Its lashes with expert strokes
Are sweeping across the land.
A great palette of light has embraced
This earth.
Hafiz, if just a little clay and water
Mixed in His bowl
Can yield such exquisite scents, sights,
Music - and whirling forms -
What unspeakable wonders must await with
The commencement of unfolding
Of the infinite number of petals
That are the
Soul.
What excitement will renew your body
When we all begin to see
That His heart resides in
Everything?
God has a root in each act and creature
That He draws His mysterious
Divine life from.
His eyes are painting fields again.
The Beloved with His own hands is tending,
Raising like a precious child,
Himself in
You.

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~ Hafiz ~
The Gift -- versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

Painting by: Jennifer Ridgeley Title: Summer Garden
Visit her at: http://www.artistsincornwall.com/jennifer-ridgeley/index.htm



What is Tao?
It is just this.
It cannot be rendered into speech.
If you insist on an explanation,
This means exactly this.

---

Lu Tung Pin (China 755 - 805)



Swami Beyondananda's FUN-da-Mental Pointers
1.
"Be a fundamentalist, make sure fun always comes before the mental. Realize that life is a situation comedy that will never be cancelled. A laugh track has been provided and the reason why we are put in the material world is to get more material. Have a good laughsitive twice a day and that will insure regularhilarity.
2.
Remember that each of us has been given a special gift - just for entering. So you are already a winner!
3.
The most powerful tool on the planet today is Tell-A-Vision. That is where I tell a vision to you and you tell a vision to me
4.
Life is like photography. You use the negative to develop.
5.
As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles tend to get caught between our ears, causing a condition called truth decay. So be sure to use your truth brush and mental floss twice a day. And when you're tempted to practice tantrum yoga, remember what we teach in the Absurdiveness Training Class: "Don't get even, get odd."
6.
If we want world peace, we must let go of our attachments and truly live like nomads. That's where I no mad at you, you no mad at me. That way, there will surely be nomadness on the planet. And peace begins with each of us. A little peace here, a little peace there, pretty soon all the peaces will fit together to make one big peace everywhere.
7.
I know great earth changes have been predicted for the future, so if you're looking to avoid earthquakes, my advice is simple. When you find a fault, just don't dwell on it.
8.
There's no need to change the world. All we have to do is toilet train the world, and we'll never have to change it again.
9.
Everything I have told you is channeled. That way, if you don't like it, it's not my fault. And remember,enlightenment is not a bureaucracy. You don't have to go through channels.
10.
Finally, if you're looking to find the key to the universe, I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is - there is no key to the Universe. The good news is - it was never locked."

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Swami Beyondananda
Visit him at: http://www.wakeuplaughing.com/index.html

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