Sunday, September 27, 2015

When You've Seen No Self then "Lost It"



The sudden realization of no separate self isn't as elusive as some like to pretend it is. Teachings have spread like wildfire through the internet and people are waking up after just weeks rather than years of seeking.  But the truth is that I've run into quite a few seekers who've quickly seen it then run back to the safety of selfing claiming that they haven't.  It's a fairly natural response.  After all, how many of us really want to be exposed as an elaborate work of fiction or nothing more than character in some fantastic story?

Then there are those who clearly see that there is no central controller "inside" and the revelation brings a tremendous sense of openness, freedom, and a lightness of being.  For the first time, they feel real joy. Unfortunately, the bliss of initial realization may wear off rather quickly, leaving the seeker with a sense that they've lost something precious.

But that just can't ever be true.

No matter how many times it's seen, of course the self comes back.  There's no reason for it not to as it's as natural a part of life's function as the fact that it was seen to be false.  As Liberation Unleashed co-founder Ilona Ciunate says in her "I think I haven't seen it" post, life doesn't stop.  It was life that created the sense of self in the first place!

That there isn't a You is a fact, not a state.  It's a fact that can be looked at through all of "your" history.  Examine it.  Has the you ever been there?  Is it here right now, ready to be pointed to?  If not, rest assured that nothing has changed and that a separate self hasn't suddenly popped into existence.

Do you feel a sense of self now?  Where?  Take a look to see whether it can be found in this moment, and if you need to do it again in the next moment, do so.

Has it been located yet?  No?  Keep checking until you stop looking over your shoulder.


photo credit:  Light and Sound by ahermin on deviantart

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Rocking You Like a Cat 5 Hurricane



For those new to the idea that there may not be a central controller of the mind or body, to begin to understand this notion, you might want to take a look at a hurricane.  Make it a really very powerful one.

See that well-defined eye? 

It's made of an absence.  Just like you.  The hurricane itself continues to move and form but its core can't be found.  The round shape and seeming existence is entirely dependent upon everything else that's swirling around it.  The eye is quiet, calm, and welcome in any storm because NOTHING happens there.  Nothing happens in what is usually thought of as a Self, either.

Take a look.

See all of the things and people that are supposedly moving and forming around you?  Ok.  Then turn 360 degrees.

Yep.  "You" are the eye of a hurricane.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Enlightenment, The Robin Hood Spirit, and A Tale





There's just no way to not be heard as a radical voice when it comes to talking about enlightenment.  There was nothing mainstream about what Jesus or Buddha had to say about the nature of reality and in their time they stirred up enough controversy to get themselves shunned, tortured, or killed.  Since then, select groups of self appointed guardians have packaged, preserved, and placed select teachings high on shelves of churches and temples, outside the reach of  many.  That act effectively transferred the value from what was being pointed to, to what was pointing.  Since then, newer radical voices have dusted the cobwebs from the teachings and found ways to communicate the pointers, making realization available to many during their lifetimes. 

Oh, but they didn't have Oprah and DSL.


Within the past few years I've watched as new internet voices have joined in on a chorus to pull the teachings from their lofty perches, dust them off, then repackaged them in pragmatic wrappings meant for a hungry new line of guru-weary seekers.   Eckhart Tolle kicked off the mainstream discussion.  Sam Harris has thrown his spin on it.  But what's more interesting is the groundswell of everyday people who've added their experiences and pointers to the pool of information now freely available to anyone with a computer and connection.

This blog has been an attempt to add to those voices.  There are lots of folks who've taken offense to this movement, calling it disrespectful and not a TRUE awakening.   But they're the very folks who should know better.  What's their mantra?  Everything changes.  And yes, the secrecy and mystery surrounding waking up is also changing. 

When it comes to thought, change is exponentially accelerated by the internet.



That my family and friends kind of look at me funny when I mention these ideas surrounding self, time, space, and reality has stopped giving me pause.  The truth of the findings have held, and there's no denying the obvious.  You've heard the line...Once seen, this cannot be unseen.  There's no turning back and I don't think I'd ever want to.  Instead, I will press forward.

Today, I sat in a Barnes and Noble, reading books on blogging and growing an audience.  My intention in growing a blog following is one initiated alongside friends on and old forum... to make direct and pragmatic pointers into the nature of the self available to everyone, everywhere, free of charge.

That original 2011 intention remains.



The reason making this promise was bound up in the collective and then radical act of grabbing straight for the treasure of core realizations first, then freely distributing wealth.  The many posts on this blog and others listed in the right hand column of this page, have constituted just some of the everyday voices currently caught the act of trying to communicate what's been hidden, even though it's in plain sight. 

And then we have my own take on the repackaging.  It's just part of the direction I want to move in, and this blog's future direction is something I've been mulling over for quite a while.  The next questions too explore is what does this realization actually MEAN?  Because the implications are really extraordinary.

It's becoming clearer. 


In the end, this blog's purpose and direction isn't about pointers on the self.  Though that's the core of all "mystical" teachings, it's not enough unless thoroughly explored in the context of seeming to live in the world.  Friends and loved ones still get sick.  Babies are born.  Change comes.  Life doesn't magically begin bending to your will, simply because there isn't a you for it to bend to.  Ultimately, even when getting to the heart of enlightenment, the show does go on.  There' a return to the world.  After all, there isn't anything that lives outside of it

And there was never anyone here to leave it. 




I'm excited to explore ways to integrate and grow Tabula Rasa and Lill Inpsiration.  I hope they will become a fuller, richer communication not just about pointers on the core teachings of enlightenment.  There's more to explore when it comes to pointing to "the rest of the story" and how this new seeing affects the amazingly juicy experiences that make up this ALWAYS wide open world. 

delma (thassa)


photo credit:  Monk vol.1 by CenkDuzyol