Leaving the World (and Yourself) Alone

[Beginner Mind]

I don't mean to step on anyone's toes with this post, but I've been reading "Perfect Brilliant Stillness" by David Carse and this quote made me think of the Actualized.org community:

"In spiritual circles there is great value placed on personal growth, personal improvement, becoming a better person, becoming more aware, teaching others how to become better, making the world a better and more enlightened place. The hope for a better future, the belief in an upward spiritual evolution that carries the whole race with it, is like the belief that there is something wrong and something that needs to be done. It seems hard-wired into the human mechanism but is in fact the device by which the 'divine hypnosis' operates, keeping the dream characters motivated and occupied in the dream. This belief is an illusion, and it is what creates suffering.

In Truth, in the Absolute, in All That Is, there is no evolution, no progress, no becoming better, no becoming. All is as it is. The idea that the world is in bad shape and that the present point in history is pivotal and that something has to be done, is as old as the human mind; it has always seemed thus, at every point in 'human history.'  In truth everything is in perfect balance; the world never gets better and never gets worse, although to the apparent individual instruments it may seem that it does."

Again, no disrespect intended to Leo or anyone else, but I just thought I'd offer this quote as an alternative perspective to the one that is generally espoused here.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Beginner Mind

[Consilience]

It is interesting, true. But let me point this fact out. In the most Absolute sense, this post is correct, however also in an Absolute sense, there are two “destinies” for humanity, if you will. Destiny 1) is the continued expansion of consciousness as we are doing in this community, and across time. If you look at humanity, particularly through the lens of Spiral Dynamics, it is quite clear that humanity is transforming, so in the relative sense there is transformation taking place or Destiny 2) which is total extinction of the human race. Perhaps this 2nd destiny is inevitable anyways. Here’s the key insight- there are only tw outcomes for humanity, continued expansion or extinction.  

 

Destiny 1 is the only way humanity isn't going to kill itself off through some mass scale ecological meltdown or through some irreversible war. We have to expand consciousness, awareness, love, self understanding as individuals and as a collective- how do we do this? Well actualized.org is a great resource and there are many others. Like I said though, Destiny 2 may be inevitable in the end. Maybe all of our efforts for growth are in vain but... yeah well we already knew that because we’re all gonna die. However, until that happens there’s literally nothing else to do besides try to raise the collective consciousness of humanity. Yeah you could sit on the sidelines and do nothing, watching by with the Truth that nothing really matters and all is perfect, or you could work your ass off at self realization and life purpose, thus raising the collective conscious of the world as you self actualize and give your unique individual gifts back to the Universe. Life Purpose and trying to “make a change” in this light is a form of gratitude, a recognition of just how precious an opportunity it is to be alive and able to give back to existence. You can either seize this momentously rare opportunity YOU have as an individual to help shape the collective Destiny towards 1 (or 2) or you can watch the world go by passively. Each option is equally perfect. Each option need not be illusory. This idea that there is nothing to do is valid yet it lacks taking Nihilism full circle.

There’s nothing to do is synonymous with there’s everything to do. Each is perfect. Each is not the Absolute and thus both are illusory in some way shape or form.

 

 - just a side note, it is a false dichotomy to think that self actualization work, life purpose, is antithetical to understanding Absolute Truth. All is Truth. 

[Beginner Mind]

1 hour ago, Consilience said:

There’s nothing to do is synonymous with there’s everything to do. Each is perfect. Each is not the Absolute and thus both are illusory in some way shape or form.

Bingo.  If you are moved to make a difference in the world, then that's a perfectly appropriate thing to do.  If you're inclined to hang back and watch all this messiness unfold, that's a perfect expression as well.

The author isn't saying that making a difference in the world is wrong, but rather, he's just saying that such efforts have nothing to do with spirituality/awakening.  It's perfectly fine to make a positive difference in the world...  Just don't spiritualize it.

I highly recommend "Perfect Brilliant Stillness" for those who haven't read it.  Best book on non-duality I've encountered.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Beginner Mind

[Consilience]

9 minutes ago, Beginner Mind said:

Bingo.  If you are moved to make a difference in the world, then that's a perfectly appropriate thing to do.  If you're inclined to hang back and watch all this messiness unfold, that's a perfect expression as well.

The author isn't saying that making a difference in the world is wrong, but rather, he's just saying that such efforts have nothing to do with spirituality/awakening.

I highly recommend "Perfect Brilliant Stillness" for those who haven't read it.  Best book on non-duality I've encountered.

I'll definitely have to check it out. Thank you for the recommendation

[Beginner Mind]

5 minutes ago, Consilience said:

I'll definitely have to check it out. Thank you for the recommendation

No prob!  Enjoy.

[Forestluv]

The author creates a duality between Truth and Non-Truth. Between absolute and relative. We might consider this “enlightened duality”. It is a very profound realization and there are many beautiful expressions in this area. 

Yet this duality ultimately collapses, just like all dualities. 

[Beginner Mind]

47 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

The author creates a duality between Truth and Non-Truth. Between absolute and relative. We might consider this “enlightened duality”. It is a very profound realization and there are many beautiful expressions in this area. 

Yet this duality ultimately collapses, just like all dualities. 

According to the author, the ultimate truth is that no one exists, or as he puts it, "there's nobody home."  All there is, is Consciousness.

There's nothing ground-breaking about his message but it's the way in which he expresses it that stands out for me.  Have you read "Perfect Brilliant Stillness" yet?  At the risk of being a broken record, I highly, highly recommend this book.  The author has actually made it available for free these days so there's no reason not to check it out.

[Forestluv]

39 minutes ago, Beginner Mind said:

According to the author, the ultimate truth is that no one exists, or as he puts it, "there is nobody home."  All there is, is Consciousness.

The author gives beautiful nonduality pointers. Part of me wants to stop right here and just say they are beautiful nonduality pointers. Another part of me wants to take it a step further. Looks like this part wins out. . . 

Realizing the contrast between duality and nonduality is a profound awakening that few people realize. Yet it creates a new duality (dual vs. nondual) that also collapses. 

"In Truth, in the Absolute, in All That Is, there is no evolution, no progress, no becoming better, no becoming. All is as it is. The idea that the world is in bad shape and that the present point in history is pivotal and that something has to be done, is as old as the human mind; it has always seemed thus, at every point in 'human history.'  In truth everything is in perfect balance; the world never gets better and never gets worse, although to the apparent individual instruments it may seem that it does."

This is a great teaching toward deep and profound nondual realizations. This is a really important step and I can't see how someone can skip this step. Everything he says is true, yet it creates a new duality: If the Truth is All That Is, how can there be no evolution? How can there be no progress, no becoming better? The Truth is All That Is. The Truth is Everything - which includes evolution and no evolution. The above passage can knock someone off their conditioned grounding - a person may believe there is evolution, progress and becoming better. Orienting a person to see the opposite of that is a profound awakening: no evolution, no progress, no becoming better. The human mind is conditioned to perceive in opposites and will embrace this new opposite: no evolution, no progress, no becoming better. . . This is a deep awakening few humans realize. Yet there is more. . . This new duality of opposites also breaks down.  . . There is evolution and no evolution, there is progress and no progress, there is becoming better and no becoming better. . . This is the deeper insight, yet people first need to see the contrast between duality and nonduality before realizing the collapse of duality vs. nonduality. Once someone realizes the contrast of duality and nonduality, that ladder is discarded and the deeper level is revealed. . . 

[Beginner Mind]

10 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

Therefore, the author is saying the ultimate truth is not that things exist. If the truth is that "there is nobody home", then that means "there is somebody home" is false.

One key way to identify a duality is with the word "is". Whenever the word "is" is used, a duality is created. If a thing is this, then it is not that. If a sunset is beautiful, it is not a tuna sandwich.

Any word is a duality since it is not another word. That's why "it" is ineffable. The best we can do is use "pointers" in which it is not the dualistic words, it is what the ineffable that the words are "pointing" to. 

The author's quotes are great pointers. Yet one can still be attached to the words.  In the following passage:

"In Truth, in the Absolute, in All That Is, there is no evolution, no progress, no becoming better, no becoming. All is as it is. The idea that the world is in bad shape and that the present point in history is pivotal and that something has to be done, is as old as the human mind; it has always seemed thus, at every point in 'human history.'  In truth everything is in perfect balance; the world never gets better and never gets worse, although to the apparent individual instruments it may seem that it does."

This is a great teaching toward deep and profound realizations. It is pointing toward nonduality. Yet notice how the author points toward nonduality and away from duality. This is a really important step and I can't see how someone can skip this step. Everything he says is true, yet it is a truth within a larger truth. If the Truth is All That Is, how can there be no evolution? How can there be no progress, no becoming better? The Truth is All That Is. The Truth is Everything. The above passage can knock someone off of their conditioned grounding - in this case that there is a timeline, evolution, progress and becoming better. Orienting a person to see the opposite of that is a profound awakening: no evolution, no progress, no becoming better. The human mind is conditioned to perceive in opposites and will embrace this new opposite: no evolution, no progress, no becoming better. . . This is a deep awakening few humans realize. Yet there is more. . . This new duality of opposites also breaks down.  . . There is evolution and no evolution, there is progress and no progress, there is becoming better and no becoming better. . . This is the deeper insight, yet people first need to see the contrast between duality and nonduality before realizing the collapse of duality vs. nonduality. Similar to the author, I have this pointer to get people to the halfway point of seeing nonduality. Once someone realizes this, that ladder is discarded and a deeper level is revealed. . . The author may or may not have realized this, we can't tell by this quote alone.  

Hard for me to follow your posts sometimes, and I mean that as a compliment.

I wish the author were here to defend himself because I'm not smart enough to do so on his behalf, however, I will say this: the author does mention in the book that the truth is, as you said, ineffable, so the "ultimate truth" that he speaks of is expressed with that caveat.

[Forestluv]

33 minutes ago, Beginner Mind said:

I wish the author were here to defend himself because I'm not smart enough to do so on his behalf, however, I will say this: the author does mention in the book that the truth is, as you said, ineffable, so the "ultimate truth" that he speaks of is expressed with that caveat.

The author gives beautiful descriptions of nonduality. He is not wrong and there is no need for defense. His pointers are great for revealing nonduality.

Another way to describe it. . . imagine being conditioned your entire life to see a coin as "heads or tails". This is a duality of heads vs. tails. To point to nonduality, we might say "There is no tails, there is no heads. It is all one coin". A person who has been conditioned their entire life to see heads or tails would have a very difficult time seeing this. Then they may realize "Ahhh, it's all the same coin!!! It's all One!!". This is a major nondual breakthrough and it is true - it is all one coin. Yet the mind operates in opposites and will create a new duality: "The coin is one. It is not heads/tails". Now we have "one coin vs. heads/tails". This too breaks down. It is all one coin and heads/tails. . . The reason we push so hard toward nonduality in the beginning is because the mind is conditioned and grounded in duality. . . 

[Beginner Mind]

1 hour ago, Serotoninluv said:

The author gives beautiful descriptions of nonduality. He is not wrong and there is no need for defense. His pointers are great for revealing nonduality.

Another way to describe it. . . imagine being conditioned your entire life to see a coin as "heads or tails". This is a duality of heads vs. tails. To point to nonduality, we might say "There is no tails, there is no heads. It is all one coin". A person who has been conditioned their entire life to see heads or tails would have a very difficult time seeing this. Then they may realize "Ahhh, it's all the same coin!!! It's all One!!". This is a major nondual breakthrough and it is true - it is all one coin. Yet the mind operates in opposites and will create a new duality: "The coin is one. It is not heads/tails". Now we have "one coin vs. heads/tails". This too breaks down. It is all one coin and heads/tails. . . The reason we push so hard toward nonduality in the beginning is because the mind is conditioned and grounded in duality. . . 

So are you suggesting that when the author makes a statement such as "there's nobody home", that in fact the opposite of that statement is also true?  There does, in other words, exist an ego as a separate entity?  It certainly feels that way to me, and to 99.99999% of humanity.  Nonetheless, I suspect that the author is probably right about there being "no one home", as an Absolute Truth.  It feels right to me, even though it goes against my current experience.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Beginner Mind

[Forestluv]

@Beginner Mind I think you are on the interface of a big expansion into nonduality. . . It’s hard to discuss because language is dualistic, so there are all sorts of “pointers” and metaphors we use to communicate. . . Carse seems like a great nonduality teacher. I’m not disagreeing with him. It’s as if he is saying there is one whole elephant - there are no ears, tail etc. It’s all one giant elephant. I do’t disagree with that. I’m saying the ears, tail etc. is also the elephant. Setting up “either / or” opposites is a new form of duality - yet it is inevitable since all language and imagery is dualistic. 

3 hours ago, Beginner Mind said:

So are you suggesting that when the author makes a statement such as "there's nobody home", that in fact the opposite of that statement is also true?  There does, in other words, exist an ego as a separate entity? 

This boils down to “exist”. We now have a new duality: existence vs. non-existence. We could spend years exploring what is existence , grey areas between existence and non-existence and inter-relationships between the two. 

Personally, using imagery of opposites doesn’t resonate with me. Rather, I would imagine more like this. . . Imagine a timeline along a horizontal axis. This timeline is the past, present and future that we are all familiar with. It is all of our memories. It is history. It is the life story of “me”, the construct of a self, ego. . . . Next, imagine a vertical axis of Now. What is actual right Now. Presence. Most people are so mesmerized by thought stories of past and future, they don’t awaken to Now. It can seem boring and uncomfortable. Yet this vertical axis of Now is infinite. The horizontal timeline represents personal growth and vertical Now represents awakening. Yet as you wrote, 99.99999% of humanity is contracted within the horizontal timeline. . . Carse is saying there is no horizontal axis - this is helpful to orient on the vertical axis and awaken to infinite Now. . . . If we are Now, what happens to the timeline? It dissolves and there is no past or future, there is only Now. What happens to the story of “me”? Without the timeline of past and future, what happens to all my memories? All my life experiences? . . . It is all occurring Now. All those thoughts about my life experience are appearances happening Now. . .Just like all the other appearances happening Now. From the perspective of Now, the whole ego collapses, because the ego requires a timeline of past and future to be a real thing that is continuing through time. From this perspective, Carse is right on: “there is nobody home”. Home is infinite Now and there is nobody Home. A deep human desire is to return home to Now. The reason it feels right is because it’s true. What do you know to be true more than anything? . . . That what is actually happening Now is happening Now. The ISness of Now. We don’t need any evidence to prove Now is Now. We don’t search around trying to validate that Now is Now. It seems overly simple and obvious, yet it goes deep. Infinitely deep. And all dualities collapse in Nowness.

[cetus]

@Serotoninluv

[Beginner Mind]

16 hours ago, Serotoninluv said:

@Beginner Mind I think you are on the interface of a big expansion into nonduality.

I hope you're right!