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Click here for tips to avoid spam filters. Question: I am a bit puzzled about one question about what Tony Parsons says...for him, nobody is awake nevertheless there are "awakening" and "liberation": awakening means for Tony the loss of the I thought and liberation the "falling in love" with this...Nathan Gill says there is already awakeness no regard if there is mesmerization with the I thought, sudden or progressive dropping of this I, suffering, blissfulness or just an ease...for Nathan all of these happenings arise presently in awareness...so as far as you know Tony and Nathan, and you know their teachings or non teachings well, perhaps you could put some light on this confusion??
In fact there seems to be a golden carrot in what Tony says, the carrot being "falling in love with this"...and it could be misleading because there seems to be something yet to happen, this love!!...so teachers who don't speak about this 'falling in love" are half baked??...what is confusing in this is that "I" think the penny has not dropped, but is there a penny to drop??
Answer: The answer to all this is not in the mind. The mind deals in concepts and as such it is duality in action. In other words, the mind is the knife that divides; not the glue you're looking for. Each concept has its counterpart. We may for example say that IT is everything, or that nothing exists, we may say you are THAT, or that there is no you to be THAT. All this is true and yet it all fails to grasp the simplicity that exists prior to the mind..
The value of the 'golden carrot' you mention may be that it exposes a willingness to still go after it. If it is truly recognized as such a carrot, there will be no longer the inclination to chase it. Saying this is tricky, because now the wish to recognize the falseness of the carrot may become the new golden carrot. The mind, by its very nature is occupied by projecting patterns in the clouds of existence and it can even turn 'stopping the search' or 'non-doership' into a new goal to achieve.
Presently, something that is not a concept, something that cannot be made into an object, is aware of the mind's activity. It is simple, pure, and present as that what knows the breath going in and out, the reading of these words and the thoughts and feelings as they rise and fall. This Knowing Mystery is the treasure you're looking for; it is THAT what knows the looking as it occurs.
It also knows the confusion you mention without the slightest confusion. It is not something to get or to become; It is unborn, fully present as the Presence That Is. You cannot move a way from it, nor can you get closer to it. The you that would accomplish this is a fleeting object, which appears to -and in- That-What-Is.
No need to think about this -there is no thinker anyway- no need to figure out which apparent character 'has the goods'. Whatever is said, it is just a pointer, and when the penny drops it is seen that there never was a penny to drop. This is the gateless gate: When standing in front of it, it appears, when stepping through it, the gate and the one stepping through it are both recognized as nonexistent.
The Presence-That-Is will not be reached, grasped or lost by a non existing you, this is as impossible as it is for an object in space to leave or reach space. When the grasping of the mind stops, or when it is recognized -by no one- for the duality it is, it will be seen that IT was never lost and thus it needs no finding.
If the seeking and looking continues, then look for what it is that is looking. What a surprise... no one is looking, but the looking is looking at itself! When the mind generated division is no longer there or believed in, it turns out that there is no you, no penny, no gateless gate, no Tony, Nathan or Leo, but only THIS appearing AS this whole dance and YOU are THAT.

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...the divine expression exactly as I am, right here, right now. You are the divine expression exactly as you are, right here, right now. It is the divine expression exactly as it is, right here, right now. Nothing, absolutely nothing, needs to be added or taken away. Nothing is more valid or sacred then anything else. No conditions need to be fulfilled. The infinite is not somewhere else waiting for us to become worthy.
I do not have to experience 'the dark night of the soul', or surrender , be purified, or go through any kind of change or process. How can the illusory separate self practice something in order to reveal that it is illusory?
I don't need to be serious, honest, dishonest, moral or immoral, aesthetic or gross. There are no reference point. The life story that apparently happened is uniquely and exactly appropriate for each awakening. All is just as it should be, right now. Not because it is a potential for something better, but simply because all that is, is divine expression.
The invitation to discover that there is no-one who needs liberating is constant. There is no need to wait for moments of transformation, to look for the non-doer, permanent bliss, an ego-less state, or a still mind.
I don't even have to wait for grace to descend. For I am, you are, it is, already the abiding grace.

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Be Free
If you want to be free,
Get to know your real self.
It has no form, no appearance,
No root, no basis, no abode,
But is lively and buoyant.

It responds with versatile facility,
But its function cannot be located.
Therefore when you look for it,
You become further from it;
When you seek it,
You turn away from it all the more.

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"It is right in your face.
This moment,
the whole thing is handed to you."

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~ Yuanwu ~
(1063-1135)
Art by: Pierre Bouret Title: ' A Moment Exquisite'
Found at: http://www.artkauai.com/
Fair Use Notice


Principles of Jewish Buddhism
1. Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as the wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with such round shoulders.
2. There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?
3. Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.
4. To practice Zen and the art of Jewish motorcyclemaintenance, do the following: get rid of the motorcycle. What were you thinking?
5. Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.
6. If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?
7. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.
8. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao is not Jewish.
9. Drink tea and nourish life. With the first sip, joy. With the second, satisfaction. With the third, Danish.
10. The Buddha taught that one should practice loving kindness to all sentient beings. Still, would it kill you to find a nice sentient being who happens to be Jewish?
11. Be patient and achieve all things. Be impatient and achieve all things faster.
12. To Find the Buddha, look within. Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers. Each flower blossoms ten thousand times. Each blossom has ten thousand petals. You might want to see a specialist.
13. Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?

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