Awake in the Now

*note* Interesting blog I found..wrote by whom?..I have no idea,he doesn't give a name.But ..he grasped the truth mostly...love to the unknown pilgrim.
-added by Danny-
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Awake in the Now

Awake in the Now When I was a child I was quite sensitive. I wasn't happy go lucky. I was a worrier. I remember once when I was about 9, I was getting off the bus, coming home from school. It was one of those old double decker buses with the open back platform like they have in London. The bus had pulled up a bit too far from the kerb and I jumped off. A car had to stop quickly to not hit me (and the bus). Looking back at it now I think the driver in the car must have been day dreaming and the driver probably would have probably felt that they were totally to blame for the incident. But instead, I mentally took the blame for the situation. I walked home that afternoon thinking that I was going to get in trouble and that the police were going to come to my door. I worried all of that night, and for the next few days. The pain and the anguish was terrible. And that pretty much symbolises what I was like until my twenties. Caught in a trance with my thoughts and emotions. Another time in my twenties, when my wife and I were back-packing around europe for a year, we got tired of continuously traveling from one hotel to another. So when we arrived in Venice we decided to get a little apartment and live there for 6 weeks. My wife wanted to do italian lessons, so she did that several days a week. I just wanted to paint. So there I was, doing what I always wanted to, painting from morning till night, everyday! The perfect life I was always after! However, it wasn't that perfect. There I was, without a problem in the world. But what happened was, as I was painting, the thoughts would come up. "So and so is this, so and so is that. If only things were this way, if only the world was that way.” Memories, judgements, nonsense thoughts. Bla, bla, bla, bla, bla. On it went, driving me crazy. I kept trying to not ‘go off’ with the thoughts, and I wouldn’t for a short while, but before I knew it I’d drift off with the thoughts again. Instead of feeling relaxed by the end of my day of painting I was all wound up! So there I was in my supposedly perfect existence, tortured. Those two incidents pretty much symbolise what I have made it my mission to overcome. The trance like state in which you are hopelessly caught in the happenings of the mind (or the 'Thinking Mechanism' as I have come to call it). So why is it that you can actually not have a problem in the world yet be living out an anguished hell? Why is it that you can find it so difficult to escape whatever the mind decides to blurt out? ............................................................................ Throughout my twenties and thirties I became increasingly aware of the power of positive affirmations and visualisations. I started to think, affirm and visualise things that were positive and it made a difference in my life. I experienced a lot of success and got a lot of what I was after. However, this trance-like hypnosis in the thoughts that I was talking about hadn't really stopped. I was now just being hypnotised by positive thoughts instead of negative ones. I was experiencing greater levels of happiness, but somehow always knew that I wasn't out of 'jail' yet. The jail cell was just looking better. I continued the positive visualisations and affirmations for over ten years. But somehow I was still searching for my ultimate truth. I was what you would call a 'spiritual seeker' for about 18 years. I was essentially a really 'good' kid and I never got in trouble much. And being a good kid I assumed that my elders knew more than me. I just took it for granted that my parents, my teachers, my society, knew what was right. So I took on all of the rules that society and my elders had given me and lived that out as best I could. However, it didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. By the time I was 23 I essentially had a break down. I'd taken all of the rules that society had given me and put them into that little mental computer of mine and lived it out, and essentially it didn't work for me. It had lead to a build up of internal tension and anguish that eventually led to an internal 'crash' at the age of 23. For 2 weeks I think I was actually mad. If things had gone the wrong way maybe I would have ended up one of those people who just walks the streets just talking to themselves, that's how mad I went. But somehow I miraculously went the other way. It was like I'd hit the lowest I thought you could go, and just as I was on the metaphorical floor so to speak, a trap door (symbolically speaking) opened up into a whole new world of possibilities. I had totally lived out the way my society had said I should be, saw what it led, and was now looking for something that worked for me. It wasn't like I had all of the answers all of a sudden. That was just the beginning of my eighteen years of seeking. That was when I got into the new age techniques of positive affirmations for quite a few years years, followed by getting interested in Hinduism and repeating the Hare Krishna mantra for up to 2 hours everyday for seven years. And then finding out about Non-duality, Advaita, Zen, Dzogchen, etc. But please understand, I am not saying that you have to do what I did. Everyone has a different path and I am not saying that you have to have walked my path to get to what I am talking about. Not at all. That was just my journey so there's no need to try and copy it. Anyway, as I said, it was all a journey. A journey which led me back to right here and now. The same Now that I had always been in for my whole life, but the difference was that now I was AWAKE in it. I wasn't in a trance anymore. I'd awoken from the hypnotic trance of identification with the thoughts and emotions. Sure, there were times that there was a going back into the trance of being 'in' the thoughts... but essentially the spell had been broken. Gone were the days of being trapped in a mental cage of anguish, pain, worry. Gone too were the days of living in positive thoughts. Sure they are much more desirable than the negative thoughts, but if you buy into them, then you are still in the world of thought. And that world of thought, even though it has its place and use, is not where true peace is. I'm talking about a simple yet core paradigm shift. Finally I was sitting in the place that is prior to it all. Finally I was awake in the HERE & NOW. .......................................................................................................................... So what changed for me? Essentially, there was a realisation that I was not the thoughts and emotions but I was what was witnessing the thoughts and emotions. I started to discern the difference between the seeing of the thoughts and the actual thoughts. And it’s this discernment between the seeing and the seen which allowed me to be free from the mental cage. These days I pretty much abide as the seeing of the thoughts and emotions. I realise that my deepest level is actually prior to the thoughts and emotions. And it’s this realisation which allows me to get some distance from the thoughts and emotions. They still happen, but they are seen as something which is happening ON me, they are not me. There are times when I still get entranced by ( go off with ) the thoughts, but it happens less and less. Essentially, once you realise that you are what’s prior to the thoughts and emotions then as long as the PRIORITY is to abide as the seeing of those thoughts and emotions then you don’t get dragged off with them. However, if something is really important to me, then when the thoughts occur I will get dragged off with the thoughts and emotions... because the priority was with them. So once there has been the realisation that you are the seeing of the thoughts and emotions, the exercise is to keep the priority as abiding as the seeing and not drifting off with the thoughts (the seen). People talk about being ‘enlightened’. To me enlightenment is not a state that once it is achieved it's set. It is an ongoing thing, moment by moment. To be enlightened is simply to be truly awake. To be awake to the thoughts and emotions and not in a trance with them. That is enlightenment. And at any one moment you are either awake or in a trance, so at any one moment you are either enlightened or not. It's a moment by moment thing. Enlightenment is simply being present with that which is present. You may think that isn't very amazing... but how many people can actually STAY PRESENT TO THAT WHICH IS PRESENT for the majority of the time? Very few. The average person is forever drifting off into a trance with their thoughts and emotions. Staying awake from the thoughts and not falling into a trance with them is actually a very rare ability in this current state of human evolution in the early 2000's. Go ahead, try it and you'll see how often you drift off with the thoughts. You'll soon realise that you don’t have much control of where you mentally are at all. Yet most people are not amazed by someone who has the ability to be present to that which is present. There isn't anything more amazing than a person who is always here and now. Yet when you first look at them, they look utterly normal. There isn't anything that makes them stand out from anyone else. Because they ARE utterly normal. They are here and now in life. It's those who are drifting off in trances with their thoughts (even though they are the majority) who are not normal. I don't care if you are into religion or which religion you are into. I don't care if you are an atheist. I don't care if you are into whatever spiritual belief. All I ask is that you be awake to the thoughts and not go into a trance with them. All I ask is that you sit there in the place which witnesses all of the thoughts. PRIOR to thoughts. Prior to any thought about anything. Just remain as the witnessing that is prior to any thought... and therefore prior to any thought about religion or there being a god or there not being a god or any belief at all. Don't try to stop the thoughts, let them be. Just remain as the witnessing of the thoughts, moment by moment, without falling into a trance with the thoughts and getting carried away by them. Witness all of the 'internal' happenings (thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations) and all of the 'external' happenings in the world as EXTERNAL happenings. They are ALL external and they come and go. You are the unchanging witnessing of them all. When there is a DISCERNMENT made between WITNESSING and what is being WITNESSED then this is what's known as an initial 'awakening'. At the moment in most people, because there is no discernment between the seeing and the seen, things can't help but get out of control. The thought process which should be the 'servant' of the witnessing is taking the role of the 'master'. And when the servant rules the master you're always going to get problems. But once awakening occurs then through continued abidance in that awakened state it will be possible to address the balance by giving priority to witnessing. Things will then fall into their proper place. It's not that the thoughts are to be stopped, it's just that they can't be allowed to run the show. Q: I don't understand what you mean by 'witnessing', do you mean it's like a physical 'seeing'? A: NO. It is NOT the same as physical 'seeing' or vision from your eyes. It is what is witnessing EVERYTHING, including your physical vision. It is what SEES (ie: perceives) all your actions, re-actions, thoughts, experiences, bodily senses, emotions. Q: I'm not sure I understand. A: Sit there and close your eyes for a moment and allow thoughts to occur. ( ... some moments pass) Ok, you can open your eyes. You know how you could 'see'... were 'witnessing' thoughts? Well, THAT is the witnessing. It is the PURE Awareness which is 'before' the thoughts, emotions, memory, sight, hearing, feeling, etc. It's 'upstream’ of every thought and experience. It is the ground on which the thoughts and all of the experiences appear and then disappear. Thoughts can only happen one by one in front of witnessing, in the instant. They cannot happen in the 'past' or the 'future', because the 'past' and the 'future' do not exist. There is only NOW. What you call the 'past' and the 'future' are only THOUGHTS about the 'past' or the 'future' which are being witnessed in the instant, in the NOW. This continual INSTANT or 'now point' is where your life happens. Q: But how is it that things change? In the past I was a little child, now I am an adult. Time has gone by. A: Change happened, but it happened in the Now. Everything is in constant change, it can't not be. Show me anything in the seemingly physical world that won't sooner or later change. It can't help but change. The body for example is in a constant state of change. However, all of that change happens in the Now. This instant you are in the Now, ten seconds from Now, you will still be in 'the instant', in the Now. Three weeks from now at 5pm you will be in the Now. You cannot be in anything else but the Now. So, to answer your question, when you were a child, you experienced that in 'the instant', in the Now. Now that you are an adult you are experiencing that in 'the instant', in the Now. It ALL happens in the Now. Now that you are an adult you can only bring up a thought (a memory) of your childhood. And that thought can ONLY be brought up in the Now. EVERYTHING can ONLY happen in the Now. Time itself is only a concept which happens in the Now. Q: What do you mean time is only a concept? Time passes. If we make an agreement to meet somewhere in two weeks then that meeting will happen in two weeks, not now. A: Yes, but at 'the instant' when we meet in two weeks, it will be Now. You can't not be in the Now! Q: Ok. But is it really useful to understand this? A: It's INCREDIBLY useful. Thoughts can ONLY happen in 'the instant', one by one, in front of witnessing. Once you are awake, then in 'the instant', thought by thought, you can remain as the witnessing of the thoughts and not be hypnotised by them. And that will lead to liberation from the thoughts. Humans are imprisoning themselves in the thoughts and emotions. They are unnecesarily living like BIOLOGICAL robots... 'living' out their lives in a trance, a hypnotic state. They THINK that they are awake because they are walking around and are not asleep in bed, but in actual fact they are not TRULY awake. Stopping the trance is ONLY possible once there has been an AWAKENING to the fact that you are the WITNESSING of all of the appearances (thoughts, emotions, etc). THEN, if, in the INSTANT, priority is given to ABIDANCE AS THIS WITNESSING ...and NOT the appearances ...then, and ONLY then, will the trance cease. Realise that you are NOT your thoughts or feelings, they are JUST a part of the bodies' apparatus. You are the witnessing which is looking at the thoughts, emotions, bodily senses, etc. Q: So I guess I just have to 'be here now'? A: You can never actually be out of the Now, so there is no need to try to get into it. Just don’t fall into a trance and drift off with the thoughts. Abide as the seeing of the thoughts. What I am talking about is not a belief system. It is MUCH simpler than that !!! It's prior to concepts... but because of that there is a paradigm shift which needs to occur for there to be an awakening. You can't 'get there' by logical or intellectual means. Some of the search may involve the intellect in the initial stages, but for the actual awakening to occur the world of thought must be transcended. That's not to say you try to stop thought, thoughts will continue. But there needs to be a realisation that you are what's prior to the thoughts, witnessing them. Q: I just want to be happy. How do I achieve that? A: Prior to the thoughts, in the witnessing, everything is actually always fine. To borrow the words of Sailor Bob Adamson (an enlightened teacher), 'What's wrong with RIGHT NOW unless you think about it?' Q: Well, I guess there's always something that can be improved... A: Yes, but, right now, THIS INSTANT... what's wrong unless you think about it? Q: I've got a few issues at work. A: OK. So if those issues actually need something done about them, wait for the appropriate moment and physically do something about it... but RIGHT NOW THIS INSTANT... what's wrong unless you think about it? Q: Well, right now, this instant, nothing is wrong. A: Yes, that's right. If you ask yourself that question regularly you'll see that 99.5 % of the time there is actually nothing wrong. Most problems are just perceived problems that do not actually exist in the now. Reminds me of a Mark Twain quote, "I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened." So you say you just want to be happy. Well, a good start is to not buy into any of the mental rubbish which is a very high percentage of what is projected from the Thinking Mechanism. Q: But just because I don't think about a problem doesn't mean it doesn't exist. A: If there is something you need to put right, wait for the right moment and do so. But in the meantime don't fester on it and wreck your life. Q: Mmm, but.... A: It's actually impossible to experience unhappiness unless a thought comes up in front of the witnessing which creates unhappiness. The pure witnessing is perfectly peaceful. I am not saying to ignore situations and hide from them. And I'm not saying you can't plan for things, like your retirement for example. If something needs to be done then do it at the right moment. But always remain awake in the now. Stay present to that which is present. Don't get lost in thoughts that make you experience unnecesary emotions about something that is not actually happening. Q: But you can't stop thinking and experiencing and acting in this world. A: Yes, of course. Thoughts won't stop and we can't help doing things in life. Thoughts are an essential part of our functioning. They have their role and they can be very useful, but they are NOT YOU. They are just a tool. And if they are indulged in in an unawake way they can wreck your life. The important thing is to remain as the witness of the thoughts and feelings, they are a passing parade. Use them for the tool that they are, but stay awake to them. You are what's SEEING them. Happiness and unhappiness are both experiences. They are different sides of the same coin. They happen ON the witnessing. Even peaceful silent thoughts are just a conceptual experience which happen on the witnessing. It's not about achieving peaceful thoughts, it's about realising that you are the witnessing which is PRIOR to even peaceful thoughts. Don't be so concerned with trying to have happy thoughts. Once you understand that you are not the thinking then you will be able to abide as the natural peace which is PRIOR TO ANY THOUGHT. IT'S NOT A MATTER OF STOPPING THE THINKING (or even having 'enlightened thoughts!) but knowing that you ARE NOT the thinking which is the important point which SETS 'YOU' FREE. Don't fight your thoughts, just let them be, whatever they may be. FIGHTING THEM BINDS YOU TO THEM. Know them for what they are and STOP BEING INTERESTED in them, that is how you can be free of them. At first they may seem difficult to overcome, but if you simply know them for what they are (dead symbols) and are DISINTERESTED in them they will get no energy and dissolve. They are only a passing appearance, they are not you. Q: Thoughts are dead symbols? A: Yes. They are just symbols for the actual. They are not the actual. If you were dying of thirst and I offered you either the thought of water or an actual glass of water, which would you take? Q: The glass of water of course. A: Why? Q: Because the glass of water will quench my thirst, the thought can’t. A: Yes, because the thought is just a symbol right? It’s not the actual. So don’t ever forget... that whole world of thoughts that you spend all of your time so engrossed in is nothing more than a pile of symbols, they are not the actual. So don’t treat them as if they were the actual, because they aren’t. Q: Mmmm. A: Being the SEEING of the appearances is a natural state of uncaused peace. It is not a peace which depends on getting your way. It is a natural peace which exists when there is no identification with the thinking. Thinking happens, great, just use that for the tool that it is, and it can be very useful. Just DON'T identify with it as being YOU. Q: But how can I go on without the thinking? A: It's NOT a matter of not thinking. The thinking will still be there. The point is to DISCERN between the Witness and the thinking. You are the Witness. The thinking is just an 'onboard tool', it is NOT you. Q: I saw a great little saying on someone's fridge the other day. It said... "Enjoy this moment, because this moment IS YOUR LIFE" A: Yes. Your life can ONLY happen in THIS moment. It can't happen in 'the future' or 'the past'. THIS MOMENT is where your life happens... so if you want to be happy, be happy THIS INSTANT, because THIS INSTANT is the ONLY moment that you can actually be happy ! Q: To not have schedules in life. Is that what is meant by 'being here now'? A: No, but plans can still be made. There's nothing wrong with being organised or planning for something. Just be awake in the now as you do it. 'Being here now' is about being 'awake'’ in the Now...moment, by moment, by moment... not being 'lost' in the thoughts. It's about GIVING PRIORITY to abiding as witnessing, moment by moment, and therefore staying awake. Q: So it's about priorities? A: YES. Once the witnessing has been realised it's about GIVING PRIORITY to abiding as that witnessing. When priority is given to abiding as the witnessing as opposed to abiding as the appearances then there will be an awake living. You will not get 'lost' in the thoughts and emotions. Q: Ok, so I am not my conscious thoughts, but maybe I am my subconscious thoughts. You know, very often we will live out patterns which are in our subconscious which we are not even consciously aware of. Aren't we this deeper subconscious? Isn't it this subconscious which is the real 'captain of the ship'? A: No. Conscious or subconscious, they are all just thoughts which have no independent nature, no life of their own. No matter whether thoughts are conscious or subconscious they are only dead appearances which only have a limited life span. You are the witnessing which is SEEING the thoughts no matter whether they be conscious or subconscious. Q: But I have had experiences where I had subconscious thoughts which I was unaware of that were basically running my life! But as soon as I became aware of them then I could change them, and then my life changed. A: Yes. For example you may have had an experience very early on in your childhood, before you can even remember. It may have been a traumatic experience. At the time you may have formed certain attitudes about life because of that experience which you are now not even aware that you are carrying. And it can be beneficial to uncover these hidden programings. BUT, these subconscious programings that you are carrying are only that, programings. They are only recordings in the memory. They may stay with you your whole life or they may not. But they are JUST recordings, just impressions. They may be hidden, but that doesn't mean they are the core you. You are the witnessing of it all, no matter whether it's conscious or subconscious. Q: So can I see the witnessing? A: The witnessing is what's DOING the seeing. Q: So why can't I see it? A: Just like physical eyes have never seen themselves because they are DOING the physical seeing, the witnessing cannot see itself because it is what's DOING the internal seeing. It is actually the one and only see-er so it has nothing which can see it. Q: I'm trying to understand... A: You can try as much as you want, but no amount of trying to see it will work because as I said... IT IS WHAT IS DOING THE SEEING. Q: So do I look for it in the mind or not? A: THERE IS ACTUALLY NO SUCH THING AS 'MIND'. There is the witnessing, and there is the Thinking Mechanism which appears on the witnessing. The concept of the 'mind' is a VERY limiting concept because it fails to distinguish between the seeing and the seen. And it's this failure to distinguish between the seeing and the seen which results in the hypnotic trance with the seen. Any attempt to look for the witnessing in the thoughts, the appearances, IS FUTILE. The witnessing is DOING the seeing... and that's where the difficulty arises. In this world when you try to find something you look for it... but with the witnessing YOU CAN'T LOOK FOR IT... because it is what IS DOING the looking. Q: I am thinking I'd like to 'know nothing' ... but I'm an artist ... there is something there! I am a little worried... unless perhaps it's time to jump into the abyss and I'm avoiding it? A: There is ABSOLUTELY no reason to not do your art if that's what you want to do. When you understand what I am talking about you don't have to just sit there and do nothing! In fact, if 'you' choose, you'll be able to create in an unrestricted manner because you won't be getting stuck in trances with the thoughts. You will be able to abide as the source out of which all creativity emanates. No matter whether you paint or not, are feeling creative or not, are feeling 'spiritual' or not, 'clear' or 'confused', no matter whether life is 'up' or 'down', ... they are ALL just 'appearances' which are happening on the witnessing. Just because you have realised the deeper self doesn't mean you can't get married and have a family or lead a conventional life. You don't have to become a guru or a teacher or lead a 'different' life. There is a Zen saying... 'Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.' Everything will be the same, yet profoundly different. You talk about 'jumping into the abyss'. That shows you are not really getting what I am saying. The witnessing which I am talking about is THE ORDINARY EVERYDAY AWARENESS which you know so well. There is NOTHING NEW to achieve... got it ? NOTHING NEW to achieve. The thing that you have been searching for is THE ORDINARY EVERYDAY AWARENESS, which you know so well, by which you are currently THIS VERY INSTANT perceiving everything. This 'abyss' you are talking about is a TOTAL mental concoction. Sure, the witnessing is not a 'thing' in the usual sense, but it is watching a continual 'show' of appearances. What I am talking about will not lead to an abyss, it will lead to a natural life in which the appearances are still being perceived but you will not hopelessly be carried away in a trance with them. You also said you would like to 'know nothing'. It's NOT a matter of making the Thinking Mechanism blank as if it 'knows nothing', it's a matter of ABIDING AS THE WITNESSING. When awakened ones say they 'know nothing' they mean they are the witnessing which is prior to INTELLECTUAL 'knowing'... prior to knowledgeable thoughts. Q: So how can I find this witnessing? A: The witnessing is PRIOR to what it is cognising. You are aware of that building, so the building cannot be IT. You are aware of that chair, so the chair cannot be IT. You are aware of your clothes, so your clothes cannot be IT. You are aware of the body, so the body cannot be IT. You are aware of physical seeing, so physical seeing cannot be IT. You are aware of hearing, so hearing cannot be IT. You are aware of the senses, so the senses cannot be IT. You are aware of emotions, so the emotions cannot be IT. You are aware of imagination, so imagination cannot be IT. You are aware of the intellect, so the intellect cannot be IT. You are aware of thoughts, so thoughts cannot be IT. ANY'THING' that can be experienced, is not IT. IT IS what's SEEING it all. IT is the PURE SEEING... naked witnessing that just is. Q: What do you mean 'just is'? A: The witnessing is seeing everything just as it is, kind of like a video camera sees everything just as it is. A video camera doesn't make judgements or exclude things from what it is seeing, it just sees everything just as it is. The witnessing is the same, it sees everything just as it is. It is the Thinking Mechanism which then makes changes to 'what is'. The thoughts ALTER the pure seeing. Q: To me even the witnessing seems to be another experience. I'd say 'stillness' is an experience too. A: You can be witnessing a torrent of thoughts or few thoughts but no matter which of the two is occurring... you are the witnessing of them. Q: OK, so there is witnessing of this pen for example? How are the witnessing and 'experience' different? A: Yes, there is the witnessing of the pen but is there just a pen there? It's obviously on the table, which is on the floor, which has carpet on it, and it's all in a room. Your focus zeroed in on that pen, singling it out for special attention. But the witnessing is perceiving everything unaltered, just as it is. That pure, UNALTERED perceiving then hits the Thinking Mechanism which FILTERS the huge amount of information and simplifies it to "a pen, on a table, in a room." But the witnessing picked up a lot more than that. It would have seen all of the details of the pen, its colour, shape, nib ..... it would have cognised the bookcase, and the books in it, the tv and all its visual details, the fan, the stereo, the lamp, the vase and the plant in it, all the details of that plant, the cushions, the rug, the power plug and all the wires going into it, the tapes, the remote control, the wall and its colour and texture. It also would have perceived the sounds at that instant... the car going past out in the street, a bird chirping, music coming from somewhere, your breathing, a plane going overhead. That witnessing would have also been perceiving the taste in the mouth, some internal body feelings as it breathes, toes pushing up against the inside of the shoes, a range of other body sensations like clothes pressing against the skin, etc,etc,etc. The witnessing also would have been perceiving the cooling effect of the fan on the body. It would have been perceiving smells at that instant. The smell of cooking, the smell of the leaves on the trees outside, the grass. The witnessing also would have been perceiving the Thinking Mechanism, spitting out its thoughts... "there's a pen on the table, nice table, must remember to pay the electricity bill, there's my legs sitting on the seat, it's a nice sunny day today", etc, etc. Witnessing perceives everything that is in front of it, instant by instant. At THE INSTANT of cognition it is PURE SEEING, ... it is yet to be altered by the modifications of a Thinking Mechanism. It is PRIOR to the Thinking Mechanism. BUT THEN, in an instant this massive amount of information then hits the Thinking Mechanism and it is filtered, altered, modified and reduced. It is filtered SO quickly that most of it isn't really registered by the Thinking Mechanism as even occuring. The Thinking Mechanism takes this huge amount of information and then spits out at imperceptible speed IT'S VERSION of what just occurred... "there's a pen on a table in a room." And that's what you call your 'experience'. The witnessing is PRIOR to, UPSTREAM of the Thinking Mechanism. It is the PURE Seeing... BEFORE it is tampered with by the Thinking Mechanism. IT is the PURE Seeing before ANY thought whatsoever. It is there BEFORE any thought, including so called 'enlightened' thoughts ... it is there BEFORE all thoughts. It contains the thoughts, the thoughts do not contain it. There has NEVER been a thought EVER which has not been a mere appearance on the witnessing. So no thought can ever BE the witnessing. I am talking about what is PRIOR to ANY thought! The witnessing is not an appearance so it has overlooked itself. The thoughts, emotions, sensory inputs, are an appearance, ... so they SEEM more tangible, so the attention goes onto them and there is an identification with them. However, they are just passing appearances on the witnessing. Also, because the witnessing is the ONLY cogniser that exists ( ie: IT has nothing which can see IT ) it overlooks itself and the attention gets focused on the appearances. And the thing is that these appearances are changing every instant. It's quite a rollercoaster ride !!! Lots of thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations. They are all appearing and disappearing on the witnessing. But they are just appearances... they rise, stay for an instant, and then subside. It's this witnessing which is the constant. To give you an idea of the closeness between the witnessing and its appearances... the witnessing is like a mirror and the thoughts are like the images on the mirror. So it probably has never even occured to you that there is a distinction, .... that the witnessing even exists. You just took the witnessing for granted and then identified yourself with one of the first things it SEES. Q: You said a moment ago that each thought only lasts for a moment... but I can have thoughts which seem to hang around for days! A: Look at it closely... do they really? A thought can only last for the moment it is happening. After that there can be a memory of it, ... that is ANOTHER thought which is saying the SAME thing may occur. But this second thought is a totally new and separate thought. It SEEMS like the same thought which occurred a moment ago but it isn't, it's a copy of the other one. Each thought only appears for a short instant and underlying all of the thoughts is the witnessing of them which is always there so EVERY INSTANT IS A FRESH OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME FREE OF MISIDENTIFICATION WITH THOUGHT. A: You are aware that you exist aren't you? Q: Of course. A: Well put the attention on that sense of witnessing/existence, the pure 'I am',which is PRIOR to any THOUGHTS about existence. Q: But 'I am' are just words. A: Yes, the thought 'I am' is just a concept. I am talking about the wordless 'I am'. Thoughts and words are just dead things, they cannot be the actual, so don't get confused. You can think or say 'food, food, food' as much as you want, but will it take care of your hunger? Of course not. The word 'food' is just a symbol for the actual. So the same goes with the thought 'I am'. The words can never be IT. So forget about the words. You KNOW that you exist don't you? You don't have to think about it. It is this KNOWING THAT YOU EXIST which is the whole issue we are talking about. This is the Knowing that is PRIOR to words or thoughts. It is NOT an intellectual knowing, it IS a NON-CONCEPTUAL KNOWING, PRIOR to the thoughts. You are this non-conceptual KNOWING that you exist... This Ordinary Everyday Awareness. This witnessing. Q: But this witnessing, it's so ordinary... boring in fact. A: Boredom, excitement... happiness, sadness... agitation, peace... they're all just states. Whatever appears will sooner or later disappear. Under it all is unchanging witnessing ... which is the ground for it all... and that is neither boring nor exciting... it just is. You don't need to try and attain it... because it's here RIGHT NOW. Q: But that doesn't seem very 'special' at all. A: This Ordinary Everyday Awareness may seem like nothing special, something mundane. But, could anything even exist or be witnessed without this Ordinary Everyday Awareness ? It's this simple Ordinary Everyday Awareness, this witnessing, which is the amazing miracle, but, because it's ALWAYS there, it's been overlooked and taken for granted, ... but it's this Ordinary Everyday Awareness which is IT. It seems almost too simple, I know. And because of that you will probably keep looking for some time after you understand what I'm talking about because it is just SO SIMPLE and 'normal' or 'everyday' that you keep thinking that there must be more to it, but there isn't. This 'COMMON EVERYDAY AWARENESS' which you have RIGHT NOW is the witness in all. Q: Can the mind see the witnessing? A: Don't forget, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS 'THE MIND'. There is the witnessing, and there is thinking which appears on the witnessing. THOUGHTS CANNOT COGNISE, they cannot see. THEY HAVE NO AWARENESS. Can the thought 'I see' see? Thoughts are actually dead things, they only SEEM to have life because the witnessing is lending them its life. Thoughts have no independent nature of their own. That means that without the witnessing shining that thought could not exist. However, the witnessing exists without thoughts, it in no way depends on thoughts. The witnessing contains the thinking, the thinking does not contain it. Q: I'm lost. A: The witnessing is what's SEEING the thought "I'm lost". And the only reason you feel like you are lost is because you are identifying with the THOUGHT that you are lost. But you are not the thoughts. Q: Are there any techniques I can do? Repeat a mantra? A: A mantra can be of help in breaking the identification with the Thinking Mechanism. But if a mantra is repeated know that you are the witnessing which watches the Thought Mechanism repeat a mantra. So if a mantra is repeated, abide as the SEEING of the mantra. When a mantra is repeated, emotions can come up. There may be feelings of calm and peace, or there may be unpleasant emotions. Some old hidden limiting mental programmings that have been effecting your life may show themselves. This is a good thing because once they are seen then they are out in the open and will begin to lose their power over you. But any way, whatever happens just remember that they are ALL JUST APPEARANCES and THEY ARE NOT YOU. Stay put as the SEEING of the mantra (or any other appearances), because that seeing is you. Q: Did you ever repeat a mantra? A: Yes. I repeated a mantra everyday for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour or 2 each day, for 7 years. It helped put the Thinking Mechanism into a loop and allowed the spell of misidentification with that Thinking Mechanism to stop. It was what allowed it to go from just an intellectual belief that I am not the thoughts to a DIRECT, NON-CONCEPTUAL KNOWING that I am not the thoughts. So for me, repeating a mantra was very helpful. Basically, continued repetition of a mantra allowed the realisation to occur that I was what was looking at (ie: SEEING/WITNESSING) the repetition of the mantra. It allowed the realisation (ie: awakening) to occur that I am not the Thinking Mechanism. And once this has been realised then the whole house of cards starts to fall. It lead to the Non-conceptual DIRECT KNOWING that I am the Witnessing. Which is VERY DIFFERENT to just THINKING that you are the Witnessing. Non-conceptual KNOWING is 'enlightenment' ......whereas just THINKING you are 'already there' and therefore 'enlightened' is JUST AN INTELLECTUAL thing and is NOT 'enlightenment' AT ALL. It may feel like it and the poor sod may totally believe that they are 'enlightened' but it's just a psuedo-enlightenment, a SEEMING 'enlightenment', TOTALLY in the area of thought and therefore NOT ENLIGHTENMENT AT ALL. Q: So it's ok to repeat a mantra? A: It worked for me. But don't use mantra repetition, or any spiritual practice, to reinforce the illusion that THIS ordinary everyday awareness which is doing the seeing is not IT. Because this ordinary everyday awareness is IT, so there is actually nothing new to achieve! A mantra is just A THOUGHT, repeated. The mantra is an appearance on the Witnessing. That's why I say abide as the Witnessing of that mantra. A mantra can be useful because it blocks out conceptual thoughts, which, because they are concepts can get 'sticky' ... i.e they drag THE ATTENTION to them more easily than a repetitive mantra. I found it easier, particularly in the beginning, to abide as the Witnessing if there was a repetitive mantra playing in front of it rather than involved conceptual thoughts playing in front it. Q: But I was reading a spiritual book the other day and this teacher said that repeating a mantra was unnecesary. A: Some current day so called teachers have made it politically incorrect to repeat a mantra or to take part in any spiritual practices. They argue that enlightenment is possible by just believing that 'you are already there' so you therefore don’t need to do anything. And it IS true that 'you' ARE already 'there'... but that can't be properly understood unless there is a DISCERNMENT between the Witnessing and what is being witnessed. And that discernment that you are the Witnessing IS NOT an intellectual exercise. Q: But this book I was reading the other day, it was by a very well known and charismatic (Neo-Advaitist) teacher. He said that you are already 'there' and that you don't need to do anything at all. He scoffs at people who say that you need to do anything to become awakened. What do you say about that? A: It's true that the true self you are seeking you already are and there is nothing new that you need to gain. When awakening occurs it will be realised that what you were seeking you already have and are. BUT ... and I repeat BUT... he has oversimplified the situation. To say that you don't need to do anything is incorrect and misleading. You see, yes, you ARE already there and there is nothing that needs to be done.... BUT... if you tell that to a person that is misidentified with his Thinking Mechanism he will then just take this INTELLECTUAL information, STAY MISIDENTIFIED with the Thinking Mechanism, but BELIEVE that he is Self-realised. This is what I call an intellectual or a PSEUDO-AWAKENING. A Pseudo-awakening is when THE CONCEPT that you are already 'there' and that you therefore do not need to do anything to become enlightened is taken on... so you do exactly that... nothing. What you then get is a person which is STILL IDENTIFYING WITH ITS THINKING MECHANISM taking on THE CONCEPT that it is self-realised. This leads to one of the most deluded kinds of humans you can get. It's no good to just take on A CONCEPT that 'you are already there and that there is nothing that needs to be done to achieve awakening' because THIS IS NOT FREEDOM FROM THOUGHT, IT IS JUST ANOTHER THOUGHT ! And when spirituality settles for the THOUGHT instead of the actual it is then just a BELIEF SYSTEM. As Bankei ( a famous Zen master ) said, “What we call a ‘thought’ is something that has already fallen one or more removes from the LIVING REALITY of the Unborn. If you priests would just live in the Unborn, there wouldn’t be anything for me to tell you about it, and you wouldn’t be here listening to me.” And I’ll just add a little comment of my own at the end of that… Enlightenment is not as simple as you THINK…. it’s MUCH simpler than that! Q: Are attention and the Witnessing the same ? A: No, they are not the same. The Witnessing is always there SEEING the appearances, whereas 'attention' can shift from the Witnessing to the appearances and vice-a versa. But, like the appearances, 'attention' could not exist without the Witnessing. Q: So abidance as the Witnessing is all I need to do? A: Yes, abidance, mindfulness, that's all that needs to be done. Abidance and 'mindfulness' are the same thing. Mindfulness is resting as the Witnessing which is there always, prior to any thought. There is nothing to achieve because that pure witnessing is always there. It's just that it can (seemingly) become contaminated by identifying with the appearances. That's why you need to practice abidance or 'mindfulness'. And that practice of abidance or 'mindfulness' is both the practice and the end goal. It just becomes the way you live your life. There is no higher level of Enlightenment to strive for than continual abidance (or 'mindfulness'). Once there is continual abidance then there is nothing to improve on. Q: But surely the great enlightened masters were at some higher level? A: That exact same witnessing which is in any enlightened person is flowing in you RIGHT NOW THIS INSTANT. This plain and simple ordinary everyday awareness which is invisibly 'shining' in you this instant, seeing every thought, emotion, sensation, etc .... is IT. IT is there when you are doing the dishes, IT is there when you go to the bathroom. IT is there when you have a happy thought, IT is there when you have an unhappy thought. IT is there if you are awakened, and yes, IT is there if you are not awakened. But THE DIFFERENCE IS that a truly enlightened person is an expert at staying continually awakened as the witnessing and not drifting off with the appearances. Q: Yes, I keep getting lost in the thoughts. I seem to be able to abide as the Witnessing but then can't seem to keep it up and I just slip back into getting carried off with the thinking. Can a mantra help with consolidating abidance? A: Yes, a mantra is a form of Undistracted Meditation. It can help because, as I said before, it makes it easier to abide as the Witnessing because it knocks out 'sticky' concepts which grab attention so easily. When you repeat a mantra, abide as the SEEING of the mantra. Sooner or later, there will be a realisation that the Witnessing and the thinking that appears on it are actually separate... and that 'you' (your core Self) is the Witnessing, that Seeing, and NOT the thoughts that appear on the Witnessing.....this is known as 'awakening'. But a mantra is just one way to go about it. It isn't the only way, so you don't have to repeat a mantra if you don't want to. Q: Undistracted Meditation? A: There is "Undistracted Meditation" and "Undistracted Non-Meditation". Undistracted meditation is like when you repeat a mantra. You are UNDISTRACTEDLY FOCUSSING on a CONTROLLED mental image. This is meditation. This method is good for attaining control of mental focus and for aiding an awakening. BUT, it is only a training tool. HOWEVER, if the PURE SEEING has been recognised and there is a realisation that you are not the appearances.... THEN 'Undistracted Non-Meditation' is just the way you live every Now moment. There is no need for ‘meditation’ as I have described it in the previous paragraph. ‘Undistracted Non-meditation’ means to abide undistractedly as the Pure Seeing whilst not identifying with the appearancess. The appearances are allowed to appear, stay, and then disappear... That is, there is no attempt to control the thoughts... Hence it is called NON-meditation (ie: the thoughts are not controlled). There is no library of information that needs to be remembered to live this way, it’s just a moment by moment abidance as Pure Seeing. Whilst living life in an ‘Undistracted Non-Meditation’ way there will be MANY moments when there is a forgetting to abide undistractedly as the Pure Seeing of all passing phenomena... This is natural and will happen thousands of times... So just accept it. When it is noticed that you have been carried off with the thoughts again then that itself is an automatic re-adjustment back into ‘Undistracted Non-meditation’. Q: So it’s not wrong to have thoughts, it’s just that you shouldn’t get carried away by them? A: Exactly. Thoughts are necessary for the normal functioning of a human life. Things like driving a car for example, or even creative tasks, obviously need thoughts to occur. Thoughts are just as much a part of the bodily function as the functioning of the kidneys or the heart. There is nothing wrong with thoughts, they are just part of the bodily toolkit. Just DON'T get lost in them. Stay put as the witnessing of them. Q: I keep thinking I'm going to lose it, the Witnessing. A: What is witnessing the thought that you're 'going to lose it' ? Q: The Witnessing? A: Exactly. IT wasn't lost at all was it? Q: But I lose the focus and get lost in the thoughts. A: During abidance as the Witnessing there will be times when the attention slips away from the Witnessing and you get 'lost' in the thoughts. Simply refocus (without indulgence in guilt thoughts) as the Witnessing of the thoughts and carry on. There's a saying... "short dips... many times"... that is the way ! Q: Short dips, many times? A: Yes. Don't try to have a long unbroken abidance as the Witnessing and then get upset when it isn't achieved. Go for short periods at first. As soon as it is noticed that you 'got lost' in the thoughts again, simply re-adjust the focus as the Witnessing of them again. Just keep at it... the more short dips you have as the Witnessing the more there will be a consolidation into a longer more stable awake abidance which does not identify with the appearances. Q: But how can I do my work, if I am not my thoughts? If I can't use my memory. How can I function? A: As I said, thinking can be a very useful tool which you have access to, so by all means use it. My point is to not get ‘lost’ in them. And who said you can't use the memory? I didn't say that. The memory can be very useful, just don't become a victim of it. Your thinking, memory, intellect, etc are a very useful set of tools, but that is all they are, they are not the true you. Q: I was meditating and I saw a light. So this can't be the Witness you are talking about? A: No, whatever is experienced cannot be it, because the Witness is PRIOR to any appearance. So if you saw a light, you are what is SEEING that light. You are the PURE SEEING that is witnessing this instant. Q: I feel I need to get away from it all, society, and go and meditate. A: There's no need to leave society. These days you need to work to eat and live. You just need to integrate abidance as the Witnessing into your everyday life. Someone who goes to meditate in a forest yet still retains their misidentification with the Thinking Mechanism is achieving nothing. It is totally possible and natural to be enlightened whilst being a family person. Being 'enlightened' is just being normal. There's nothing wacky about it. Q: So it doesn't effect your ability to work and make a living? A: No, of course not! The only thing that changes is that the getting lost in the mental chatter has ended. The mental chatter will carry on to a degree, but you will be continually awake to it. So it doesn't mean you can't go to work or live a regular life. In fact you will probably be much more effective at work! Q: I have been putting quite a lot of time aside for my spiritual practices. I really love it. But my spiritual life and my normal life don't really seem to mix. When I meditate I feel so good. And work... well, work is work. A: Don't separate them. All of life is an opportunity to be awake in the Now. Q: But I feel like I have achieved so much from my spiritual practice. I have dropped so much. Had many beautiful realisations. A: In the beginning it can be useful to sit and practice. But the aim of the practice is to have your whole life become the meditation. Meditation is the moment by moment abidance as the Witnessing of the appearances (thoughts, emotions, bodily senses, etc) And this abiding as witnessing can happen no matter whether you are at work, or a party, or sitting meditating. Also, it's important to not confuse so called blissful 'spiritual' experiences with the Witnessing. You may be meditating and then have experiences in which you feel 'spiritual', blissful. THESE ARE ALL JUST APPEARANCES. They happen on the Witnessing like any other experience does. The Witnessing is the base which makes all experiences possible, no matter whether they are 'spiritual', blissful, totally mundane, or unpleasant. Often people will have some sort of so called 'spiritual' experience... And they will believe that that experience is Self-realisation. But it isn't, that's just an experience. This so called 'spiritual' experience will fade, like all experiences ultimately do, and then they will get upset, trying to regain that experience that they wrongly assumed was Self-realisation. People can sometimes even then spend years trying to regain this 'special' experience and get very frustrated and confused along the way. While the Witnessing was there all the time... witnessing the so called 'spiritual' experience, the losing of the so called 'spiritual' experience, the attempt to regain the so called 'spiritual' experience, the going to the bathroom, the walking down the street, the doing of the dishes, the 'clever' thoughts, the 'silly' thoughts, the emotions... EVERYTHING. Q: But I'd still like to improve myself. A: Make sure that as you are trying to ‘improve yourself’ you don’t just reinforce the belief in the false you. Start with the recognition of the Witnessing. Then it will be realised that this self which you are trying to improve is just a pile of programming and not the real you. Then, if you want to change some of the on board programming do so, but the difference is it will be coming from being grounded in the wordless knowing of your TRUE SELF. Q: I've read that the aim is to achieve stillness. But my problem is that I can't always achieve this stillness. It doesn't seem to fit in with the way my life is. A: 'Stillness' is a very misunderstood word. It's not a matter of stopping the Thinking Mechanism so that stillness can be experienced. If that were the case then it would be necessary for all of us to escape to monasteries or the forest to achieve this stillness, because lets face it, ordinary everyday life isn't that still!!! But that is NOT the case. By 'stillness' what is meant is THE stillness, ...the Witnessing... which perceives BOTH the activity of the Thinking Mechanism and the lack of activity of the Thinking Mechanism. So the Thinking Mechanism could be quite active, and therefore not still, but YOU are 'the Stillness' ... the Witnessing ... which perceives that mental activity. Also, this 'Stillness' which I am talking about is not something which is 'achieved' or acquired. This 'Stillness' is here always, witnessing. You don't get it, you ARE it. Q: So I don't have to still my thoughts? A: In the beginning as you are consolidating your abidance as the Witnessing it can be helpful to quieten the Thinking Mechanism. But once you are established as the Witnessing then what the Thinking Mechanism is doing is always just an appearance on the Witnessing. Thoughts are ONLY APPEARANCES no matter whether they are numerous and agitated or few and peaceful. And the same goes for emotions. They too are JUST APPEARANCES, which stem from the thoughts. Q: Oh, okay, because I have been trying to still my thoughts which arise one by one by keeping myself alert, and nipping each thought in the bud, before that single thought becomes a chain. But very often the attention shifts back to the thoughts and I get caught in them again. I then regain my alertness and repeat the same process, regaining a state that is conscious that there are no more thoughts occurring. For example if a thought like 'I am likely to get a pay rise' arises in me I ignore it by saying mentally that I dont want that thought, immediately it dies in that stage itself. Before this thought would have led to a train of thoughts like 'how much will the amount be?', 'Will I spend or save it?' , etc, etc. However on the disappearance of this thought another one arises, so I follow the same method, and eliminate it also. Is this method correct ? Because you said that "It is not a matter of stopping the thinking but knowing that you are not the thinking which is the important point which sets 'you' 'free'." However, to know I am not the thinking I have to see my thought. When I try to see my thought, due to my alertness the thoughts cease to occur. I am only able to eliminate a thought. Is 'seeing thoughts' and 'eliminating thoughts' the same or different? A: It’s a matter of staying alert, awake. The thoughts may momentarily stop or they may continue, but either way STAY AWAKE to them without going into a trance and getting taken away by them. When we were little children and we had unpleasant dreams which upset us, our parents let us know that dreams aren't real, and because they aren't real there is no reason to be upset or scared by them. Well, the equivalent lesson for an adult is that thoughts are not real, they have no life of their own, they are only symbols... so there is no reason to be overly affected by them either. They are part of the bodily toolkit so use them, but stay awake from them. Q: I feel so frustrated. I have tried and tried to find my true self, but I'm stuck. Well and truly stuck. I can't seem to find this real me, no matter how much I look. A: The unquestioned assumption that 'you' are the mental chatter is the one thing that hasn't been dropped on this search for the true self, and it is this false assumption which is stopping the recognition of the true self from occurring. You say 'I thought this'... 'I thought that' ... 'I felt this beautiful peaceful feeling' ... 'I had that spiritual experience'. But what is it that is saying that it had that spiritual experience? Q: Me. My thinking? A: No, it's not 'you' .... it's just the mental chatter ... the Thinking Mechanism. NOT... 'you'. The unquestioned ASSUMPTION that 'you' are this mental chatter is what is stopping the recognition of the Witnessing from occurring. There is no think-ER, just think-ING. There is just a very quick thinking 'Thinking Mechanism' which has been assumed to be 'you'. But this Thinking Mechanism is NOT you. You are the PURE WITNESSING. Q: So the Witnessing isn't a physical seeing like I can see that chair? A: No, the Witnessing that I am talking about is NOT a physical seeing. The Witnessing that I am talking about is THE ORDINARY EVERYDAY AWARENESS. It is what is witnessing everything in 'you' right now THIS INSTANT. It is perceiving EVERYTHING... the physical seeing, hearing, touch, taste, sensations, thought mechanism, ideas (which are just thoughts), emotions, etc, etc, etc... everything. Q: If the Witnessing is always here, why can't I find it when I look for it? A: In the world that we live in, we are accustomed to looking AT things. You look AT a table, AT a car, AT a wall, AT a sandwich, etc. So, when you want to find something that's been lost in this physical world, you look for it. You go looking for your keys, for your car, for your sandwich, etc. And, in this physical world, if you look hard enough for it, sooner or later you will find it, and you will be back to looking AT it. SO. When it comes to the Witnessing WE FOOLISHLY USE THE SAME METHOD. However, because the Witnessing is what IS DOING the seeing... this same method that is employed to find things in the physical world CANNOT WORK. You can look for 'it' till you're black, blue and green in the face, in a jungle, naked, fasting, wearing orange robes, in a monastery, with a shaven head, with a really spiritual sounding name.... BUT YOU WILL NOT FIND IT if you use the method of finding things which is employed in the physical world. Why? Because the Witnessing is what is DOING the seeing. You are trying to SEE that which is DOING the seeing... and that can't be done. The SEEING CAN'T be seen. It IS the seeing. You can only BE the Seeing. You can't see the Seeing. Any thoughts, emotions, visions, god-like voices, etc, etc, etc.... ANY appearances which come up during a "search" are just appearances on the Seeing. You can never see the SEEING like you can see your car keys... SO you can never find the SEEING like you can find your car keys. The only way to find this SUPPOSEDLY LOST 'Seeing' is to realise that it is none other than the Normal Ordinary Everyday Awareness which is shining in 'you' RIGHT NOW, ......witnessing all of the appearancess (nice thoughts, not so nice thoughts, nice emotions, not so nice emotions, fearful visions, heavenly visions ,etc). Even when there were thoughts (and accompanying emotions) that 'you are lost, and terribly confused'.... what was there SEEING those thoughts and emotions? The Witnessing, right? There were thoughts that you'd lost IT, and they were believed, so it very convincingly SEEMED that IT had been lost.... but I ask you again... what was there SEEING the thoughts that IT had been lost? 'Seeing', the Witnessing, right? NO MATTER WHAT THE THOUGHT, you can't lose THAT which is SEEING the thought. So therefore ANY thought which says 'you've lost IT' ..... IS UNTRUE. Try this. Just sit there, get comfortable & relax, close your eyes, and just watch.... Watch the BODY. Watch the darkness behind the eyelids. Watch the hearing. Watch the sense of smell. Watch any bodily sensation that comes up. Watch the EMOTIONS. Watch the happiness. Watch the sadness. Watch the suffering. Watch the conflict. Watch the fear. Watch the bliss. Watch any emotion that comes up. Watch the THOUGHTS. Watch the nice thoughts. Watch the not so nice thoughts. Watch the torrent of thoughts. Watch the gaps between the thoughts. Watch the thought that you want no more suffering. Watch the thought that you want enlightenment. Watch the thought that says the voice in the head is you. Watch the thought that says the voice in the head is not you. Watch the thought that says you don't understand. Watch the thought that says you do understand. Watch the thought that says you will fall into an abyss. Watch the thought that says you won't fall into an abyss. Watch the thought that says you can now wake up. Watch the thought that says you can't wake up. Watch the thought that says you don't get it. Watch the thoughts that you've always been 'this' or 'that'. Watch the mental imaginings. Watch the spiritual thoughts. Watch the unspiritual thoughts. Watch ALL of the.... bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla,bla .... Watch ANYTHING that appears. ANY bodily sensation, action, re-action, experience, thought, feeling, emotion, vision, imagination, memory, appearance, ... JUST WATCH IT, do nothing else. Watch how ANYTHING that appears, sooner or later, disappears. DON'T fight it, just WATCH it... So what is it that is WATCHING it 'all'? Q: A 'seeing' I guess. A: Exactly, a 'seeing'. The Witnessing. And that Witnessing is your home, IT IS YOU. It is the only UNCHANGING factor, everything else is just a movable feast of appearances which come and go. ABIDE as that Witnessing and act from there. Stay put in the Witnessing. That is the way to live your life. You can chase whatever you like in life, but it is all just appearances. They will never satisfy for long, because they are not the AWARE REALITY. Stay fixed as the Witnessing, then no matter what you do, it will be grounded in the alive core of life. Q: Can the Thinking Mechanism choose to focus attention on the Witnessing rather than on the thoughts and identify with the Witnessing rather than identify with the thoughts as me? A: The Thinking Mechanism makes choices, that's part of its job, and one of those choices can be to focus the attention on the Witnessing. But BOTH that Thinking Mechanism and the 'attention' could not exist without the Witnessing. The Witnessing IS ALWAYS DOING THE SEEING, no matter whether the attention is on it or not. Q: Does the Thinking Mechanism become less dense or less of the ego so that the witnessing that is flowing through it can be more aware of itself? A: The Thinking Mechanism can drop false concepts and take on more 'truthful' concepts which allows the Witnessing (which is ALWAYS here) to be recognised. But don't forget, at the end of the day even the most enlightened thoughts are JUST a projection on the Witnessing. The Witnessing is PRIOR to these so called 'enlightened' thoughts. There can be NO ENLIGHTENMENT unless MISIDENTIFICATION with even 'enlightened' thoughts STOPS. Q: What is the 'ego'? A: The ego is not a thing, it is just a LACK OF DISCERNMENT which leads to a MISIDENTIFICATION with the body and the Thinking Mechanism. Once awakening occurs (and settles in permanently) the 'ego' (misidentification) ceases to exist. The body is seen simply as a vehicle for the Witnessing (there can be no witnessing without something to house it) and the Thinking Mechanism is seen simply for what it is... a Thinking Mechanism... an onboard tool. Q: There's a spiritual teacher, a woman. She has many students who idolise her. Some even faint in front of her because they are overwhelmed they are near her! What's your opinion about that? A: The only reason she is idolised is because they have forgotten that 'they' are just as much the Witnessing as she is, and therefore they think that the truth is 'out there'... which it isn't. Some people go to see spiritual teachers. But at the end of the day, in my opinion, if they're a good one, all they can teach you is to stand on your own two feet and be awake in the now. It's a very real, normal, practical thing, and doesn't need to come from a spiritual teacher. Q: What does Self-Realised mean? A: Self-Realisation is when the true Self is realised. Self-Realisation occurs when through proper DISCERNMENT the MISIDENTIFICATION with the appearances ( thoughts, emotions, actions, re-actions, etc, etc) STOPS. The appearances will still continue, but it's the STOPPING OF THE MISIDENTIFICATION with them which allows Self-Realisation. Q: Is it possible to be awakened yet still be swayed by the appearances? A: Yes. It’s a moment by moment thing. Because even though there has been a realisation that you are not the appearances, there still may be, at any one moment, more priority being given to the appearances than the Witnessing. So therefore the appearances still hold sway. An initial awakening is good but it isn't enough. A FIRM abidance as the Witnessing which does not misidentify at all with the appearances must come about. Abidance as the Witnessing must be made the TOP PRIORITY, all else comes a distant second. This is a very important point because people will become awakened... but then once this awakening has occurred the top priority must be to abide as the Witnessing, otherwise there will be a continued slipping back into being 'lost' in the thoughts. Some purists will say that this doesn't matter because no matter whether you're awake or lost in the appearances you can never not be the Witnessing. And yes, it's true that the Witnessing is always here, BUT, to slip back into being lost in the appearancess after the initial awakening is the same as waking up to the fact that you have a billion dollars in the bank, but then you keep forgetting again. Yes, sure, you've ALWAYS got the billion dollars in the bank but what's the use if you keep forgetting? That's why, after the initial awakening, making 'abidance as the Witnessing' the top priority, above any external priorities, will allow the life to be lived in an awake way, moment by moment. By abiding as the Witnessing... the thoughts, emotions, actions, re-actions will continuosly be seen yet not take you away into their dream land. It's an INSTANT BY INSTANT thing.... THAT'S WHERE THE CONTROL IS. Stay present INSTANT BY INSTANT and you will always be present. But equally, when you slip back into being lost in the thoughts, it's not a big deal, just resume the abidance as the Witnessing. To go on a guilt trip every time there is a remembering that there has been a slipping back into getting lost in thought-land will just keep you stuck in thought-land ... and is the opposite of abidance as the Witnessing. So, whenever it is realised that there has been a slipping back into being lost in the thoughts be happy that it has been noted and just simply re-focus as the pure Witnessing which is prior to ANY appearance. This habit of getting lost in the appearances is quite engrained and will keep persisting for a while... there will no doubt be thousands of times that there will be a slipping back into being lost in thought... SO DON'T GO ON A GUILT TRIP EVERYTIME there has been a remembering that there has been a slipping back, otherwise you'll be on a continual guilt trip! ... and that is NOT abiding as Witnessing. The fact that there has been an initial awakening is wonderful and the fact that there are continued realisations that there has been a 'slipping back' is also wonderful because it is a continuing opportunity to re-focus as your true self. Just keep at it, and the habit of getting lost in the thoughts will begin to lose its grip and ultimately go. Q: So there needs to be a re-adjustment of the priorities? WITNESSING becomes much more important than the appearances? A: Yes. Abiding as the Witnessing becomes the top priority. Whatever you are doing externally takes second place. Eckhart Tolle goes into all of this with wonderful insight and detail in his book 'A New Earth'. It's a good book. Q: So it's all about priorities? A: Yes. Once awakening has occurred the top priority is to enable abidance as the Witnessing to flow in whatever you do, ...... whatever the outside goal, it is always secondary. But please DO NOT understand this to mean that you just sit there and physically do nothing but abide as the Witnessing. It's all about acting in the world, yet keeping ABIDANCE as the Witnessing as the top priority. In this way your whole life is lived consciously, awake... not trapped in the world of thoughts. In this way even standing in the queue at the supermarket can be used to further consolidate abidance as the Witnessing and therefore it goes from being a tedious experience to an action which is infused with an awake presence, full of life in the present moment... fully awake. That's what true success is! It's a TOTAL FLIP on the way that the average person lives their life. But it won't necesarliy mean you change how you physically live out your life.... it may, it may not... it will be different in every case. As Eckhart Tolle say's..."don't let a mad world tell you that success is anything other than a successful present moment. There is always only this one step, so give it your fullest attention." Q: But why is it that I need to stay present if I can, as you said before, never actually be out of the Now? A: Yes, it is never not Now. But while it is never not Now you can either be awake in the Now, present to that which is present, or, lost in the Now, lost in the world of thought. When you are lost in the thoughts you are a prisoner of the thoughts. When you are lost in the thoughts you act unconsciously and just robotically act out the thoughts. There is no control. On the other hand when you are awake in the Now the thoughts are put in their correct place. They are JUST A MENTAL TOOL, they are NOT the master. If we UNDISTRACTEDLY abide as the Seeing which is PRIOR to the thoughts... then when the thoughts happen they are seen in an awake way AS THEY HAPPEN. They are NOT being MISidentified with as being 'you'...... So they don't have any power anymore to drag you into a trance. They just happen... can be used or discarded... they are just a tool.... and have lost there 'master' status. Finally the tail does not wag the dog anymore...