Spiritual Practice
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
The Indian sage Sri Ramana Maharshi taught how the paths of Vichara (Self Enquiry) and Bhakti (Surrender) lead to the same realisation of the Self. Let's understand this and see how these seemingly separate paths are not two. (This is about Non-Duality, of course.)
Self Enquiry is the practice of seeking 'Who am I?' It's not about just asking that over and over. It is about getting to the root of who we are. We have an assumption of who we are. Primarily there is an identification with the body: the mind thinks, "I am this body." As the mind develops it can reach a greater understanding about the spiritual nature of reality. The mind reaches a recognition that we are not the body. We can then come to think that we are a soul that inhabits the body and outlives the body. But we are not to stop at that understanding. There is a deeper recognition.
The practice of Self Enquiry is for the mind to analyse its ideas of who it is and look to the root where these ideas are perceived. The ideas of identity are not who we really are. We perceive the mind activity and ideas. Who is it that perceives? From that premise we can go deeper into the non-thinking recognition of self awareness. Ultimately the mind's idea of being a separate individual (whether a body or a soul) is dissolved in the clarity of the unlimited Self. The unlimited Self is all that there is. It is not separate or divided from others. There are no others. There is only This, complete and content. It's what we call Being-Consciousness-Bliss.
The practice of Surrender is one of surrendering oneself to God. This could be in selfless service and prayer, always giving, with kindness, peace and love. Traditionally in India this would have been in service to a guru, but really it is service to God, or service to the whole. God is the Whole. It is not to serve some and dismiss some others. It is a surrender of all selfish urges and attachments to this or that. It is the surrender of boundaries between 'me' and 'them' and 'God'. There really are no boundaries, but the physical practice of surrender assists the breaking down of mental barriers and boundaries that are believed to be real. Ultimately in Surrender the mental ideas of 'me' and 'mine' dissolve. Leaving what? Just What Is.
So you see, the path of Self Enquiry leads to the dissolving of identity through knowing, and the path of Surrender leads to the dissolving of identity through selflessness. The two paths are one. They are paths for the mind's idea of identity to choose, though each is the same practice of dissolving the selfish self. This dissolving of the mental notion of being a selfish limited self unveils the freedom of the true Selfless Self. This is the true nature of who we are, yet there is no 'who' about it. The True Self is no self. The way of selfishness is the opposite of Truth, and the True Self is not limited or defined as this or that.
There is no true identity, because identity requires otherness. Identity and otherness are the reflection of Truth. The Truth of Unlimited Undivided Oneness. We are That.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
It requires no effort to make no noise, or at least in theory it shouldn't require effort. In theory it should also require no effort to be still. And no effort should be needed just to be aware. But the world is topsy-turvy. It seems that we need to exert effort to do nothing, to be still and to remain alert. If you consider meditation, a common aim is to do nothing, to remain alert, still and steady. Really this should require no effort, but it can seem like hard work trying to keep still for a length of time.
Truly it doesn't require any effort to be still. The nature of being is perfect stillness and clarity. It requires no effort just to be. But when there is identity with the body it seems that 'we' need to do something to reach this natural state of effortless enlightenment. It seems to require effort to keep the body quiet, still and alert. The body is so used to moving about, making noise, being distracted and falling asleep. The aim in meditation then is to bring some peace to the body-mind. Even when the body sits still and comfortable the mind will wander.
But all this apparent movement, activity and change is okay. That's how the world appears. It doesn't change the nature of being, which remains unmoving and alert. Being doesn't move about when the body goes for a run or travels in a plane. Being is placeless and timeless. It has no location. Its stillness is effortless. It's not something that we can reach. It's where we would be reaching from, and it is where we are reaching through. It cannot be grasped, in the same way that silence cannot be heard.
So this is why enlightenment is effortless. Enlightenment is the natural state of aware being. It is right here now. It is Aware Being that is the heart and whole of all experience. It seems to be at the heart, but within the heart it is the whole, because it has no form and no limits. Imagine a sheet of paper with many circles drawn on it. Each apparently separate entity is like the circles, and the heart of each circle is the whole paper in which the circles appear. Beingness is shared by all seemingly limited separate beings, and it is in the heart that we find the limitless Being that pervades all.
Take this insight with you into meditation and into daily life, knowing that you are already That. What the body-mind does or thinks is not you. You remain timelessly effortlessly as you are throughout the appearance and disappearance of the world. You don't talk and walk. You don't fall asleep. You perceive the movement from the eternal place of Stillness, Aware Being.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
Much of what we consider as spiritual progression is about diminishing the ego, letting go of the sense of being a separate self and realising Oneness. It starts with recognising that we are not this body, we are not the apparently limited human form. We recognise that there are no real limits to the body anyway. We couldn't really say where this body ends and the environment begins, because the body is a flowing part of the environment. The vague sense of identity we have attached to the body is flawed. Our real spiritual nature is formless and limitless.
It stands to reason that the less selfish our identity becomes, the less material, the less limited and the more spiritual we seem to become. It's not really that we become more spiritual. Rather it is that as the mental association of being a limited physical being is reduced, the natural free spiritual nature shines through. It's like removing layers that seem to cover and limit our true being. This usually happens gradually. As the strength and hold of the selfish ego is reduced, the more the true free nature of being is revealed. It's a simple peace and contentment that is always here but seemingly hidden.
So let's look at some techniques for reducing the ego, cutting down that sense of being a separate, limited self. It's worth noting that although we're discussing the ego here, it's not a real thing. It's not a real entity, only a thought-based presumed identity, that seems to have a monopoly on human life.
The aim is to let go of selfishness. That means letting go of belongings. Belongings bolster the sense of being a separate self; but ownership isn't real. Nothing belongs to anyone. Let go of the sense of ownership. Nobody owns anything. Let this understanding permeate through. There are no separate things, no separate beings, and no ownership of things. It doesn't mean you have to give things away. Just let go of the attachment to objects or others. It doesn't mean you have to turn your back on people. Just let them be as they are. It allows a greater openness and freedom to flow.
Recognise how drama and emotional turmoil rock around the ego. Let it go. Let go of the drama of life - reactions and retaliations, gossip and accusations, blaming and complaining. The ego loves getting caught up in it all. It strengthens the ego's sense of being separate and different. Let it go. Let the drama play on without getting caught up in it. It's not who you are. You are witnessing the world's play; you're not a character in it.
Accept life as it is. It's not that life deals you a hand and you have to accept it. You are Life. The Whole of Life is played out through the seemingly many separate perspectives. All perspectives are the One Life. It will play out how it plays out. Resistance to life just builds up walls of limitation. Let those walls come down. Let life just flow as it is, and know that you are not one who flows with it or is rocked about by it. You are the ever-present Stillness in which the flowing is perceived. That doesn't mean allowing illness to go unchecked when there are doctors who can help. It doesn't mean leaving someone to suffer if they have fallen. It is more like accepting what appears to happen and allowing the natural responses to life's events without objecting and complaining. If work needs to be done, accept it. If something fails to happen, accept it. Accept the flow of life.
Help others. Now, there really are no others. There is only One Infinite Being appearing to divide itself into many. But helping 'others' naturally breaks down the mental barriers that the human mind has built up. It breaks down the barriers that seem to divide, thus weakening the hold of the selfish ego. The most selfish ego doesn't want to help others; it would sooner fight them. The least selfish ego will put others first and look to help them. So this is what we should do if we wish to weaken the hold of the ego. But it should be understood that there really are no others. What happens when 'others' are helped is that the oneness of love comes through, breaking down the barriers of division.
There will come a time when the ego is released and is seen to be nothing other than a dream of separation and identity, an imagined persona that has disappeared. The reality is One. The Whole of Life is One.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
A lot of people go through life not really questioning reality, life and the universe. That's fine. But humanity is evolving. Evolving to an increased awareness. There's has been a movement from animal nature to thinking. Thinking has developed and allows the human mind to consider mental concepts about the universe. Further still, thinking can also question what it is to be.
So the human mind progresses, developing theories and ideas about the world and humanity's place in it. Theories develop. Religions rise up. Spirituality is considered. Many people find themselves becoming interested in reality, life and the universe. People become spiritual seekers. They seek to find the answers to life's mysteries. They seek to find truth, the truth about the nature of reality, the universe and their place in it.
There are lots of answers out there. But the ardent seeker will come to realise that answers don't satisfy. We can accept answers and live our life by them, but that's not the true answer. The true answer for the seeker is in realising who the seeker is. We call it awakening, enlightenment, nirvana, and self realisation. What this really means is the unveiling of the mystery of being. What is this mystery? Well, if I tell it then that answer still won't satisfy. The real answer is in clearly knowing being. Being aware of being aware.
There are many ways to this Self Realisation. The many are one. Letting go of beliefs, ideas, theories and concepts will reveal what is always here. Surrendering to God, who is the Heart of Being, will give up all attachments and reveal that the nature of God is always present, and nothing else is needed; there is nothing else. Self Enquiry, or the seeking of the nature of 'I', will bring the seeker to find that there is no separate seeker, and what is sought is here all along.
So this is the goal of the spiritual seeker. The culmination of the seeker's search is in finding that there is no seeker. There is only This. We can call it God, What Is, The Self, Infinite Consciousness etc. It is the sense of being separate from This that gives rise to the seeking. The separate being seeks fulfilment, completion, peace. That peace and completion is in the dropping of the sense of separation. It is then that the Fullness of Life is realised, right here now.