Wednesday, 27 July 2011 17:19 Written by Nirmala
Someone contacted me on Facebook to share and ask the following:
I was searching for truth and peace for quite a long time, but at a certain point I felt that there was nothing to search for as everything is just happening of itself. There is nothing else other than what is and it is just exactly this truth. There is nothing to search for anymore. And now I see myself as this in which the search arose. At the same time I was this who was searching, the search itself and that 'nothingness' which was found. Here it stops and what remains is just what has ever been: life is just what is. And the question: what meaning does satsang and pointing to the obvious have in all of this, if everything is just happening spontaneously? Everything has become (or always was!) so easy and simple and yet there are so many teachers and gurus and words making it complicated.
Here is my response:
Thanks for your very good question. I will answer it very simply at first and then I will also use your question to, as you say, "make it more complicated."
So your question is, "What is the point or the meaning of anyone giving satsang or offering spiritual teachings if everything is already fine just as it is?" Why give or attend satsang when everything is already spontaneous and perfect? And from the very big perspective you mention, there is no particular meaning to anything we do. I receive many forms of the question you have asked where someone wonders something like, "If everything is just unfolding as it should, then why would I go to work, try to understand anything, save the world, etc.? And sometimes the question is in the form of "Why not?" If everything is always perfect, then why not just sit on the couch all day, quit my job, or even jump off a cliff?
The best answer to any of these questions is the opposite question. Why give satsang? Why not give satsang? Or, why not jump off a cliff? Why jump off a cliff? The biggest perspective on life does not hold onto making anything special, but it also does not hold onto any resistance to anything. If everything is unfolding just as it should, why would that not include satsang and gurus and words that make things more complicated? It is in this willingness to ask both sides of the question that things can become simple again. Of course it is fine if you personally never go to another satsang or read another spiritual book. But it is also fine if you or anyone else does do these things. And while it is ultimately fine if someone chooses to jump off a cliff, there is almost never a good reason to bother doing so!
It is just a part of this whole process that when we discover this really big truth where everything is already fine just the way it is, that sometimes our ego latches onto this bigger truth and uses it to question something we do not personally agree with or find useful anymore. There is nothing wrong with this, and I have yet to meet someone who does not sometimes use their bigger perspective in this way. But when we are willing to ask the question in both directions (i.e. Why have spiritual gatherings and teachings? Why not have these things?), then there is a recognition of space around all possibilities, and there is room here for all kinds of spiritual and non-spiritual expressions. And of course this means there is room here for you to enjoy the simplicity you have found that appears to have little need for spiritual teachers.
So that is the simple answer: Why not? Or if the question is "Why not?", then the simple answer is "Why?" Because ultimately there is no reason why and no reason why not, these two questions cancel each other out, and leave lots of room for everything else. And please know that you can stop here if you just want the simple answer :)
However, there is still a possible dilemma. Seeing that it does not matter what we do or don't do does not change the fact that we still have to decide either to do something or not do something. There are several levels to truth, and while the biggest truth is that it does not matter, there is still the human practical level of our existence where to some degree it does matter whether we go to satsang or not, whether we go to work or not, and even whether we brush our teeth or not! These different levels are not separate and ultimately they are all part of one thing. And because they are all part of one thing, the different levels do affect each other. (Just to be clear, it is totally arbitrary where we divide the levels and even how many levels we describe.)
The different levels are not separate, but they are different. And so the truth that operates on one level is not always the most important truth on another level. On the ultimate level of truth nothing really exists and so nothing really matters. On the relative level of our existence, everything exists and everything matters, and so it is important to develop a sense of values or morals to guide our actions. On this level we all get to create or choose the values we will live by, and there are always values and morals we can create that work better to create any particular outcome. If you want to be comfortable and well-fed, then valuing work and practical matters will serve you. If you want to be spontaneous and live a materially simple life, then they may not matter as much. If you want to deeply understand and explore the truth, then spiritual teachings may have their place. If you just want to live without lots of subtle spiritual distinctions cluttering up your awareness, then they may not matter as much.
I mentioned that the different levels affect each other. One of the effects of contact with the biggest truth of the inherent perfection of everything is that it tends to dissolve any rigidity we have in the values and morals we hold on the relative level. If it all ultimately does not matter, then it tends to matter less what I choose to make matter on the relative level. The ego is simply the rigidity in all of the emotional and belief structures we developed to sort and handle our relative experience. As we experience more and more of the ultimate perfection of everything these rigid structures are not needed as much anymore. And contact with our ultimate nature does naturally dissolve the rigidity.
This dissolving of our ego structures can bring the dilemma or question of "What to do?" to a new deeper level of questioning. If we truly do not hold any rigid views anymore on what is right or wrong, how do we decide what to do? At this point, we often swing back and forth between a kind of hiding in the absolute perspective that it does not matter, or returning to some rigid old egoic view of what matters. There is another possibility. There is another level of our Being which is our Essence. This is the purer, subtler expression of our Being that includes the qualities of love, compassion, wisdom, clarity, joy, peace and much more. Again, ultimately even these things do not matter, but on the more relative level they matter much more than the daily concerns of life including the practical questions of what to do. Yet by contacting our Essence and these wonderful qualities of our true nature, we can then make relative choices based on the wisdom and clarity and loving kindness that naturally come with this contact with our Essence. Again, this creates a particular outcome in our personal experience. It creates the outcome of more ease, growth, evolution, beauty, freedom, love, and peace in our life.
When the question of how to live from Essence is important, this also happens to be a place where spiritual guidance and teaching can serve. This is because spiritual teaching at its best is an expression of a flexibility to move between the different levels of reality, and to some degree an ability to evoke that same flexibility in others. It may or may not serve your personal outcomes to develop contact with Essence, but a spiritual teacher or teaching can be helpful in doing so. Ideally, they serve to help put you in touch with your own Essence and your own inner guidance. To be clear, it is definitely not necessary to have a spiritual teacher to develop more contact with Essence, and yet it can be helpful. Again there even is ultimately no reason to live from Essence, and yet our Essence exists and is here to help guide and unfold our life. Why live from Essence? Well, why not live from this deeper place within you? Why not experience all of the limitless peace, joy and love available within you? If a spiritual teacher or teaching helps you do so at this point in your unfolding, then why not use them?
Saturday, 23 July 2011 15:17 Written by Nirmala
Someone contacted me on Facebook and shared the following:
Desire is gone, I move thru the days almost like a robot. No agenda and lacking much action. Foods, activities, come and go in an instant. Never know what I'll be doing next. Passion is dormant. Hard to like anyone especially, hard to decide what to eat or buy, yet easy to take just whatever or hang out with whomever. I am alone and enjoying it, not lonely any second. Don't miss relationship but but do miss someone around to talk and do things with. Any pointers?
Here is my message back to them:
What you describe is very common when desire falls away. There can be a kind of dry emptiness when the usual sources of passion no longer move you. Sometimes this arises when there has been an opening or awakening, and yet the dryness suggests that there is still a habit of living in the mind. There is nothing wrong with this, but when emptiness is tasted by the mind, it is very.....empty.
Another possibility is to drop into the Heart and experience the emptiness from there. Often this can bring back a sense of moistness and even passion, without returning to the ego types of desire and passion. When emptiness is tasted by the Heart, it is very full.
You can read more about this kind of tasting in my book, Living from the Heart.
As for the question of relationships, I would suggest dropping into the Heart and simply relating to whatever is present right now. You can be filled with love by loving the floor, the furniture, the sounds in the room and anything else that is present including of course other people. Again it is the mind's habit to look around and see that there is no one to talk to. The mind is conditioned to notice what appears to be lacking. In contrast, the heart notices the endless possibilities for relationship. You can even fall in love with empty space! And if no one else is around, why not talk to your true love? Why not talk to the emptiness itself?
I hope this helps.
More info about this book.
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