F.: The knowledge that is already within and that is already known has been obscured by years of enculturation, by the accumulation of false knowledge, and by all the learned ignorance that now constitutes “your mind.” If it is knowledge that is sought, seek only the knowledge that will alleviate all suffering. Then, with that knowledge, all can happen…and can happen in peace. What is that knowledge?
The title of the book From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality) makes clear that the “journey” from being out of touch with reality to being in touch with reality is a “shift” away from the learned ignorance surrounding the “I” to knowing the Absolute truth. It involves a shift away from the belief in the “I” as well as away from the resulting insanity of being out of touch with the real. Find all the lies that support the belief among persons that the “I” is real and eternal. Within you already is the knowledge of the fact that the “I” is not the real. The fact that the knowledge is trying to rise above the darkness of enculturation and reach the light of awareness is made clear through comments such as, “I don’t even know who I am anymore” and “I can’t live with myself anymore.” More accurately, the claim should be, “I know I am not who I think I am or who they told me I am, and now I am going to find out Who I Really Am.” More accurately the claim should be “I cannot live with my false self/selves anymore, so I am going to discard all those false identities in order that I might follow the entire path from a belief in the false 'I' to knowing the true Absolute.”
If it is known that the “I” is not real, who or what knows that? That which knows the “I” is unreal is also that which can know what is truly real. No claim is made here that because I am real I know how totally false you are. The pointer is that both the “you" and the “I” are unreal and it is the manifested consciousness which knows that both are unreal. From that platform, That which Is Real came to be known, and I Am That and You Are That, but the “I” in those understandings is not at all the “I” that you take it to be. It is the knowledge within, actually the re-purified consciousness, which knows that the “I” is unreal and also knows What Is Real. That which perceives the presence of consciousness must be…consciousness.
One suggestion is that, after reading what you read, enter the quiet to contemplate each point until you simply abide in the temporary “I Am,” in this “I-Amness” or “Is-ness.” Yet the more significant pointer is to realize that You Are beyond anything temporarily-manifested. That Which You Truly Are is not the “I Am-ness” in which You must currently abide. Know that and then touch the inner awareness of the Absolute That You Are.
So, to return to your original question, it is you/You who should determine if (a) all that you have come to know from this site or from the books is nothing more than learned ignorance or if (b) it is the only knowledge worth knowing, namely, the knowledge of the Absolute and of “the no self, the no Self, and the no SELF” that is beyond both beingness and non-beingness. Only that knowingness can alleviate human suffering in the relative by assuring that you’ll no longer be fooled. Ultimately, however, even that knowingness is useless when the manifested consciousness reunites with the pool of unmanifested consciousness. No other knowledge than that need be known. In fact, what happens at the moment of Realization is not the gaining of more knowledge but the understanding that You Are the knowledge. From that point, all that happens in the relative existence can happen spontaneously. From that point, what appears to be "you doing something" will not be doingness or busy-ness at all. All will merely happen…or not. Whatever is required for the basic body needs to be met—food, clothing, shelter—can be met, but the “mind” will have dissolved so the chatter of a thousand monkeys that had previously marked your restless “mind” will quieten. Enjoy it. Or not. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
The title of the book From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality) makes clear that the “journey” from being out of touch with reality to being in touch with reality is a “shift” away from the learned ignorance surrounding the “I” to knowing the Absolute truth. It involves a shift away from the belief in the “I” as well as away from the resulting insanity of being out of touch with the real. Find all the lies that support the belief among persons that the “I” is real and eternal. Within you already is the knowledge of the fact that the “I” is not the real. The fact that the knowledge is trying to rise above the darkness of enculturation and reach the light of awareness is made clear through comments such as, “I don’t even know who I am anymore” and “I can’t live with myself anymore.” More accurately, the claim should be, “I know I am not who I think I am or who they told me I am, and now I am going to find out Who I Really Am.” More accurately the claim should be “I cannot live with my false self/selves anymore, so I am going to discard all those false identities in order that I might follow the entire path from a belief in the false 'I' to knowing the true Absolute.”
If it is known that the “I” is not real, who or what knows that? That which knows the “I” is unreal is also that which can know what is truly real. No claim is made here that because I am real I know how totally false you are. The pointer is that both the “you" and the “I” are unreal and it is the manifested consciousness which knows that both are unreal. From that platform, That which Is Real came to be known, and I Am That and You Are That, but the “I” in those understandings is not at all the “I” that you take it to be. It is the knowledge within, actually the re-purified consciousness, which knows that the “I” is unreal and also knows What Is Real. That which perceives the presence of consciousness must be…consciousness.
One suggestion is that, after reading what you read, enter the quiet to contemplate each point until you simply abide in the temporary “I Am,” in this “I-Amness” or “Is-ness.” Yet the more significant pointer is to realize that You Are beyond anything temporarily-manifested. That Which You Truly Are is not the “I Am-ness” in which You must currently abide. Know that and then touch the inner awareness of the Absolute That You Are.
So, to return to your original question, it is you/You who should determine if (a) all that you have come to know from this site or from the books is nothing more than learned ignorance or if (b) it is the only knowledge worth knowing, namely, the knowledge of the Absolute and of “the no self, the no Self, and the no SELF” that is beyond both beingness and non-beingness. Only that knowingness can alleviate human suffering in the relative by assuring that you’ll no longer be fooled. Ultimately, however, even that knowingness is useless when the manifested consciousness reunites with the pool of unmanifested consciousness. No other knowledge than that need be known. In fact, what happens at the moment of Realization is not the gaining of more knowledge but the understanding that You Are the knowledge. From that point, all that happens in the relative existence can happen spontaneously. From that point, what appears to be "you doing something" will not be doingness or busy-ness at all. All will merely happen…or not. Whatever is required for the basic body needs to be met—food, clothing, shelter—can be met, but the “mind” will have dissolved so the chatter of a thousand monkeys that had previously marked your restless “mind” will quieten. Enjoy it. Or not. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
Tomorrow: “Advaitans warn against roles, but aren’t you playing the role of teacher or jnani or guru?”
