FROM A SITE VISITOR: When we say that, constant practice and remembrance is needed to stay firm in who we really are, it must mean that, all along, it should be a practice to be undertaken by something that is not ultimately \"me\". Its the mind that has to engage in practice and not \"me\". And When we say mind should practice, what exactly should the mind do? Is it that the mind should always look at it\'s own falsity and completely understand that its a false entity that\'s at work? So.. is it something like, the very act of \"looking\" and \"understanding\" that everything is false is tantamount to all the practice needed? This is what makes it difficult. Because the very nature of transactions of the world makes me feel lonely if I am not involved. I am afraid of my own Absence in the world. I feel comfortable in my presence because of desires. How to feel comfortable about my own absence? When I feel embarassed, I might find it comfortable to disappear, but when the environment around me is so loving and beautiful, I want my presence to go on. I find it difficult to shift my identity to some level where knowingness no longer comes with us. I am 24/7 trying to please someone who does not exist - the \"I Am\". Even though its intellectually understood that the one who is fearing his own absence is a non-existent entity, the fear is still there. How to overcome and find the courage to be what one truely always is? The notorious Ego even tries to make use of this understanding that \"one never exists\". Yours, Vigneshwar again (please excuse me, badly feeling the need of question-answer sessions and physical presence of someone who is stabilized in the Absolute)
F.: Hello again, Vigneshwar. Your comments and questions will be responded to in sections:
V.: When we say that, constant practice and remembrance is needed to stay firm in who we really are, it must mean that, all along, it should be a practice to be undertaken by something that is not ultimately \"me\".
F.: First, if You know Who/What You Truly Are, why would You have to practice to remember that? To the contrary, You cannot forget it; therefore, the proper invitation is to move along the “path” to full awareness and then be done with the “doing” and the “do-er” (rather than fixating at a point prior to Full Realization and "doing practices" there). The shift from identification with the “I” to Realizing the Absolute happens in seven steps. On that “path,” focusing on the I-Amness in order to be free of the I am this lies or the I am that lies might happen for a period, but it is not required for the entire remainder of the manifestation. This pointer was offered in September of ’06 regarding “practices”:
Pray all the prayers that you think you need to pray; knell, bend over, stoop, or lie prostrate as much as you think you need to kneel, bend over, stoop, or lie prostrate; read all the “holy” books that you think you need to read; visit all the “sacred” sites or “sacred” men that you think you need to visit; chant or hum every chant or hum you think you need to chant or hum; ring every bell you think you need to ring; and burn every stick of incense that you think you need to burn. But when you are done with all of that, realize that you—and all persons who are fixated in a stage and are playing their religious or spiritual roles—are mistaking the dawn for the noon. Realize that praying and knelling and bending over and stooping and lying prostrate and reading and visiting and chanting and humming and ringing and burning (and every other external thing you try to use to be more spiritual or to try to demonstrate how spiritual you are) will actually block you from finding the truth which can only be found within after certain pointers are taken into quiet and solitary consideration.
Similarly, practice until you don’t practice; practice until no “one” remains to practice. As for your comment it must mean that, all along, it should be a practice to be undertaken by something that is not ultimately \"me\", that is correct at a certain point on the “path.” After Full Realization, it is realized that there is no “Practicer,” there is no “one” who can practice anything, and there is no “do-er” who could do practices.
Next, do not mistake a pointer offered to a protégé at one particular point on “the path” as a pointer that is relevant for all protégés at all other points on the “path.” The reason that so many have trouble with grasping the simple teachings is that the teachings often seem contradictory. They are not. It is merely that a protégé at one point on the “path” will be invited to consider one pointer while a protégé at a different point will be invited to consider a totally different pointer. Each pointer is only relevant for a particular protégé that is at a particular point on the "path." Finally, if a practice is undertaken by something that is not ultimately \"me\," then wouldn’t the practice have to be just as bogus as any not you that thinks it’s a do-er and is doing the practice?
V.: Its the mind that has to engage in practice and not \"me\". And When we say mind should practice, what exactly should the mind do? Is it that the mind should always look at it\'s own falsity and completely understand that its a false entity that\'s at work?
F.: You are still speaking from the “mind” level (which is only the second of seven steps on the "journey"). You still believe that you have a “mind” and that your "mind" is valuable. It is not. It will never serve your "cause." It will, instead, prevent you from ever reaching Full Realization. The space called “vigneshwar” has a brain. Be content with the brain functioning as designed but be rid of the fiction-filled “mind.” That which you call “your mind” is actually nothing more than an accumulation of thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of delusions, lies, and concepts. See each of those as nothing more than a distortion dreamed up by persons. Then, if those individual distortions are illusion, why would they be considered "real" or "true" simply because they are viewed collectively as "a mind"? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
F.: Hello again, Vigneshwar. Your comments and questions will be responded to in sections:
V.: When we say that, constant practice and remembrance is needed to stay firm in who we really are, it must mean that, all along, it should be a practice to be undertaken by something that is not ultimately \"me\".
F.: First, if You know Who/What You Truly Are, why would You have to practice to remember that? To the contrary, You cannot forget it; therefore, the proper invitation is to move along the “path” to full awareness and then be done with the “doing” and the “do-er” (rather than fixating at a point prior to Full Realization and "doing practices" there). The shift from identification with the “I” to Realizing the Absolute happens in seven steps. On that “path,” focusing on the I-Amness in order to be free of the I am this lies or the I am that lies might happen for a period, but it is not required for the entire remainder of the manifestation. This pointer was offered in September of ’06 regarding “practices”:
Pray all the prayers that you think you need to pray; knell, bend over, stoop, or lie prostrate as much as you think you need to kneel, bend over, stoop, or lie prostrate; read all the “holy” books that you think you need to read; visit all the “sacred” sites or “sacred” men that you think you need to visit; chant or hum every chant or hum you think you need to chant or hum; ring every bell you think you need to ring; and burn every stick of incense that you think you need to burn. But when you are done with all of that, realize that you—and all persons who are fixated in a stage and are playing their religious or spiritual roles—are mistaking the dawn for the noon. Realize that praying and knelling and bending over and stooping and lying prostrate and reading and visiting and chanting and humming and ringing and burning (and every other external thing you try to use to be more spiritual or to try to demonstrate how spiritual you are) will actually block you from finding the truth which can only be found within after certain pointers are taken into quiet and solitary consideration.
Similarly, practice until you don’t practice; practice until no “one” remains to practice. As for your comment it must mean that, all along, it should be a practice to be undertaken by something that is not ultimately \"me\", that is correct at a certain point on the “path.” After Full Realization, it is realized that there is no “Practicer,” there is no “one” who can practice anything, and there is no “do-er” who could do practices.
Next, do not mistake a pointer offered to a protégé at one particular point on “the path” as a pointer that is relevant for all protégés at all other points on the “path.” The reason that so many have trouble with grasping the simple teachings is that the teachings often seem contradictory. They are not. It is merely that a protégé at one point on the “path” will be invited to consider one pointer while a protégé at a different point will be invited to consider a totally different pointer. Each pointer is only relevant for a particular protégé that is at a particular point on the "path." Finally, if a practice is undertaken by something that is not ultimately \"me\," then wouldn’t the practice have to be just as bogus as any not you that thinks it’s a do-er and is doing the practice?
V.: Its the mind that has to engage in practice and not \"me\". And When we say mind should practice, what exactly should the mind do? Is it that the mind should always look at it\'s own falsity and completely understand that its a false entity that\'s at work?
F.: You are still speaking from the “mind” level (which is only the second of seven steps on the "journey"). You still believe that you have a “mind” and that your "mind" is valuable. It is not. It will never serve your "cause." It will, instead, prevent you from ever reaching Full Realization. The space called “vigneshwar” has a brain. Be content with the brain functioning as designed but be rid of the fiction-filled “mind.” That which you call “your mind” is actually nothing more than an accumulation of thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of delusions, lies, and concepts. See each of those as nothing more than a distortion dreamed up by persons. Then, if those individual distortions are illusion, why would they be considered "real" or "true" simply because they are viewed collectively as "a mind"? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
