From Atma Bodh

I am limitless, nondual, pure awareness.

Because I am other than the body

I don’t suffer its changes.

I am not born, nor do I die.

I have no sense organs, so I am not involved in the world.

Because I am other than the mind

I am free of sorrow, attachment, malice and fear.

Scripture says I am pure,

without thought or desire, and so I am.

I have no attributes.

I live without breathing.

I am eternal, formless and ever free.

I am the same in all,

and fill all things with being.

I am limitless, nondual, pure awareness.


Atma Bodh is a Vedantic text written in the 8th century by the sage Adi Shankara. Vedanta is the ancient science of self-inquiry.

Optical Delusion

Question Everything

Revolution #2

Better than Excellent

There are few things more enjoyable in life than lazing around on a summer’s day, drinking tea and listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival, and reflecting on the fundamental goodness of life, in your pants. That’s not to say that the goodness of life is necessarily limited to your pants; far from it. But it can be a useful place to start.

An even better place to start is here, now. This is where life takes place. Yesterday hasn’t just gone: it never happened. It only exists as a number of similar but unconnected thoughts appearing in the mind, giving an illusion of continuity. From this we build our story. “I am so and so, from such and such. I think this and I think that. This is what has happened to me in my life. This is who I am.”

This is not who you are.

On the subject of time, and just to belabour the point, the future isn’t real either. The future hasn’t happened yet, and it will continue not to happen. Why? Because it’s just a random bunch of thoughts projected by the mind (as if you didn’t already know the answer to that one). And they have no basis in reality.

If you think you will be happier at some ill-defined point in an imaginary future, when circumstances are more in line with what you want, you are wrong. Even if – by some dumb luck – you get what you want, you won’t be any happier.

That’s because happiness is not found in objects: it is our true nature.

The only reason we’re all so miserable and desperately hunting round in the world for money/stuff/security/love/prestige/experience and on and on is to try and alleviate that sense of lack; of incompleteness. The fact is that we are already complete and lack nothing, but we’ve apparently forgotten this because we are so identified with the person on our passport; the individual that we take ourselves to be.

Drop it. You’re not an individual. You’re not the person on your passport. You are not what you think, feel or believe; you are not the sum of your experiences. You are not your job, your sex, your race, your creed or your colour. You are the limitless awareness in which everything has its being; that which is the witness to everything, and you are better than excellent.

Apple Pie

With Your Ups and Downs and Swings and Roundabouts

I noticed this morning that somewhere down the line I fell in love with life. It was a sudden realisation. I probably hadn’t noticed it before because of the ups and downs; the swings and roundabouts. But this morning was calm, silent and still, and I realised: oh yes, I really do love you. With your ups and downs and swings and roundabouts.

I noticed as I was rolling a cigarette that I was rolling a cigarette.  I remembered a morning with no cigarettes, with unsteady hands, with a future all morbid and bleak. I used to think that life had gone terribly wrong somewhere; that this was not how things were meant to be.

We go through what we have to go through.

We go through what we have to go through to get to where we are, which is exactly where we’re meant to be.

Yes?

Not only that, but we couldn’t have done anything different because we did what we did, which brought us to here, which is exactly where we are.

Perfect.

This post first appeared over at Not Too Likely.