Unconditional Acceptance

That which is unconditionally accepting is not attached to your expectations.

That which is unconditionally accepting has always been with the you that has been constantly changing throughout your life.

That which is unconditionally accepting is the silent detached Self, within the you that is always changing, and it has always been your innermost Self.

That which is your innermost Self is that which you long to be.

That which is your innermost Self is separated from you only by your belief that your mind and body is yourself.

That which is your innermost Self is the true Self of all appearances: you and your world.

That which is your innermost Self is the innermost of all that appears to you because all that appears is within you.

That is the Self.

And you are That.

Excerpt from "Relationship Inquiry"

Reality Free of Concepts

INQUIRY:

Hi,

Of course i don't need to go to India to "find myself."

I have no concept of reality..... there is no way to find it within my own personal consciousness.

How amazing!

What to do, what to do..?

My own paltry notions of comfort and happiness.... how small they must be in the light of Truth.

So...i cant find it with my mind.

But i keep watching and seeing ever more subtle aspects of what i currently call "me".

and so on and so forth...


Response

To have no concepts about reality - how wonderful! Whatever is
happening, whatever appears and disappears (including the notion of an
experiencer), IS the Real when there are absolutely no
preconceptions superimposed upon what is Now.

Now! Reality is living without reference to thoughts which compare, analyze and interpret.

And there is nothing you can do ultimately to find yourself because
you are not lost. You reference an "idea" of needing to find yourself
because the perfect Self that you already are, here and now, is hidden behind thought - like the sun behind clouds.

Better to be more interested in Consciousness ItSelf, than what you are conscious of. Just breathing in "I AM" without referencing an object - I am this or that, or, I am watching this or that, is quite enough. Just this.

Otherwise, the endless subtle aspects of the "me" with which you currently misidentify, will manifest even more subtle aspects in order to perpetuate the idea of a "me." Simply be "I Am" without an object.

There was a time when I realized that anything, and I do mean anything!, that I could add to any sentence beginning with: "I am ..." was absolutely false.

The mind imagines a greater "me." For some this can be the beginning of a spiritual quest. Like Narcissus looking at himself, the mind turns inside to its source and becomes annihilated.

And so on - it's all a play of Consciousness. But so much more fun
when you know you're really not the character you or others are
pretending to be, on the mindscreen of life. Your happiness is not at the effect of events or conditions. Freedom is free of conditions having to be met. Unconditional Love is free from conditions like: I love you because, or I love you if, or I love you when.........

Being Love, unconditionally, is to be free of all preconceived thoughts that superimpose upon the present Now. Freedom is really freedom from thought.

Of course, there is no need to come to India but at the same time
there is no need to feel lost wherever you are. Better to be in an
atmosphere which supports your natural state of unity.

Jyoti

Spiritual Retreatants

Living in Tiruvannamalai offers seekers many opportunities for retreats and satsangs. Here one sees the full spectrum of spiritual aspirants: the newly curious, the monks, the new-agers, etc. The 
diverse paths from which they come are revealed by behaviors ranging from concentrated introspection to flamboyant extroverted expressions of spiritual community and togetherness. Some time ago I immersed myself in solitary retreat at a center in southern Colorado. Many many years later while at the Ramana Maharshi Library in Tiruvannamalai I happened to read an interview with Father William MacNamara, the head of the Spiritual Life Institute whose retreat center I had attended.

He exposes the variety of pre-conceived beliefs people bring with them to retreats in a relevant, uncluttered, matter of fact way. We have all had the occasion to witness these personality types. Some readers may even see themselves being described! I offer this quote to poke fun at the personal baggage many retreatants still carry with them into the inner sanctuary, a place where all needs to be discarded.

During satsangs, I used to have a sign at my door which read: Leave all your concepts at the door, along with your shoes.

The following quote is from that interview transcribed in the book "Speaking of Silence," Christians and Buddhists on the Contemplative Way, edited by Susan Walker. 1987, Paulist Press, New Jersey.

Some people find it difficult: the overly fastidious who aren't rugged enough; the health food "freaks" who fuss over what they eat, the pseudo-pious who like to hold hands and "share" prayer, who wallow in unctuous grooving on Jesus and talk casually and glibly about him; the excessively horizontal people looking for chummy rap sessions, blissful camaraderie and hugs and kisses at the sign of peace; the "psych-idolaters" who turn psychology into religions and tell you "where I'm at" or "where I'm coming from" and try to bulldoze their way into your inner sanctuary; the pseudo-independent who have no appreciation of the centrality of obedience in the spiritual life; those who use contemplation and prayer as a cop-out, an escape from reality, or a painkiller.

When Sadhana Goes Wrong

Making extreme distinctions between what is "sadhana" and worldly life creates an oppositional and unfriendly world - the more extreme the distinctions, the greater the proportion of separateness.

At some point the tension between the two is unbearable, as in the case of a sadhu who was my neighbor at one time, and she began to see the world as hostile to her and "her sadhana."

The irony is that by definition sadhana would imply a seeking of Self, or Oneness, non-duality Consciousness; but, constantly reinforcing distinctions between what is considered "spiritual" and non-spiritual creates an even greater duality field with a stronger ego to see and project itself as good (interpreted as spiritual) opposed to forces bad (interpreted as non-spiritual).

She polarized even to the extent of not living a satvic lifestyle: not taking care of her living space, rationalizing that even maintaining cleanliness, etc. took time away from sadhana.

It took on at last a messianic complex: her spiritual ego. At some point the pretense of acting "spiritual" was not able to be sustained. The fall from Grace was anti-climactic. And it was a hard fall. She had to be taken away to a mental ward. The very obstacle from which sadhana is hoped to set one free from, the mind, became her prison in the end.