This is an absolute gem Robert. I can't possibly love it or think it is more spot on than I do. There's a key point in it that is almost hiding, but it's not. It's right there in the middle, and it is, I would say, the most important part. It isn't really because all the logic you describe supports all the rest, but I'll point it out anyway.
It is that "something begins to quiet" when you are no longer seeking an answer. Why? You say it but I'm going to accentuate it. The reason "something begins to quiet" is because you are OK with yourself in the world exactly as they are. EXACTLY. In my parlance that is the ultimate definition and goal of what is meant by "liberation" and "freedom." That's "all" it is, though that runs a big risk of diminishing how different a life of total acceptance of what is (which does not preclude acting to change circumstances) actually is from the bondage of delusion in the form of belief in my own fundamental lack and incompleteness.
The difference is why people use words like "extraordinary" and the like in order to describe what is actually most ordinary, most stable, least modifiable. In fact, it is unmodifiable. There is no way to induce insecurity, and fundamental unworthiness in someone who unequivocally, gratefully accepts reality (the seeming meeting point of what IS and what HAPPENS) AS IT IS.
That individuals fundamental well-being is no longer tethered to the endless change that is life itself and one's own life. That, I suggest, is what the "quieting down" you refer to actually is. It is that untethering, never to be tethered again. I'm calling that well-being, your "strange liberation."
What's "strange" about it is it isn't something attained or gained, it is something recognized, known to be so, and yet nothing at all changes once known. However, though "nothing at all changes," there is something that isn't there anymore, the absence of which is appreciated quite a bit.
This isn't something you made up. It is something there for the noticing, just like the weather, entirely impersonal, and that's the wisdom that has true value. Impersonal, un-concocted, and unadorned.
Righto, V.G. It's simple. Not hard to understand. But for most of us, it goes against the grain. We just keep imagining a "myself" who can stand outside of reality and do something about it.
Yes Robert. I agree. It does go against the grain. I think when one is ready to embrace that perspective, it feels more like the flow than against the grain, but getting to that point oneself is not something that can be forced. I do think that knowledge, such as you are presenting in your article, is the most valuable thing one can offer another, since the essence of the standpoint you are presenting is "knowledge."
Robert, sin palabras, perfecto, un gpt de las cosas como son el tema es que es muy difícil aceptar esto . He aprendido mucho de Ud y ahora ando por el mundo revoloteando su espada con una sonrisa ❤️
As with many of your writings, Robert, there are phrases in this piece that deliver a sensation that I can only describe as being similar to being slapped in the face...a sudden recognition or familiarity like when we remember something that we've been trying to recall without success but now - having given up trying - pops into our awareness. POP!
Thank you Robert. A similar realization had come to me. The spiritual scene is still selling a brighter future, rather than being in the present, now, as it is.
Yes…”The spiritual scene is still selling a brighter future”. It is a sales pitch that keeps spinning seekers around and around. It’s a relief, a breath to finally get off. Robert expresses how ‘things are’, so simply.
It’s always so disappointing how you take us on a deeply insightful journey thru the useless, unpleasant mental gymnastics we ceaselessly waste our time doing in our heads … leading us to the door of liberation, yet failing to open it. I suggest we can do a whole lot more than cease doing anything with the moment … that we can open the door and step into a life of abundant, enjoyable fulfillment after we cease our efforts to create it in our minds.
And that’s the point … it seems that if you are offering a way out of our conditioning (admirable aspiration for sure) … you should be able to speak from a place of liberation … but you’re always coming from your head. Your bottom line seems to be — we’re locked in our heads, but you can find a measure of peace by accepting that there’s no way out of perceiving the world thru the mind’s conditioning.
You seem confused. I'm not offering a way out. I am telling you what I see. There is no way out. This is it. You can call it liberation if you want to, but that's just a word for the end of wanting things to be different.
Coming from my head? I have no idea what that means. If you mean using my intelligence, there's no choice in that.
Not name calling at all. You are the one giving the lecture, not I. Of course there are different ways of perceiving the world. My point is that no one gets to choose how to see the world. The world you see IS you and you see what you see when you see it.
Robert I loved this post. It seems right on the money to me. It might not resonate for every one but it sure as hell does for “me “. Thank you again for a great post.
are you saying Robert suggests to "cease doing anything with the moment" ? I have not read or heard him ever say that. Cease doing sounds like a layer of interpretation to me. Do you mean cease becoming? Please clarify.
You're just getting better and better, Robert. Like VG says, this is an absolute gem. And the image of gurus squirming ... my coffee nearly ended up over everything!
Talking of coffee, of the to go kind, and sitting in the park, I might be coming to TS more regularly from now on, and would love to share coffee with you once again. You up for that?
Great post. My view is this: when we are born, we are pretty much a clean slate. We then have all our experiences... the ones we 'let go' of or we don't cling to don't create 'us' nearly as much as those experiences that are more impactful/scarring/bring us joy. But if we can in time come to terms with those impactful events, they become 'less' of us and leave us more open to reality. There is less of a filter that all our new experiences are going through. I have no idea if there is a 'me' that views my thoughts or if all of it is me. In the end, the less I cling to, the better life seems to be.
Perhaps it’s the fear we all carry in what seems the dominant branch of our nervous system. Running from the bear, as it were, is exhausting but one forgets that the bear is no longer chasing. To truly let go and be is quite a feat in a world designed to scare the sh_t out of humanity.
I left something out that I thought was perhaps most important. You said "in the end I would rather have uncomfortable thoughts than not be here at all." That sentence implies that simply "being here" is valued above all, which means you are what you value most, because there's nothing IN "being here" besides you - in every and simultaneously the only way sense could possibly mean.
This is an absolute gem Robert. I can't possibly love it or think it is more spot on than I do. There's a key point in it that is almost hiding, but it's not. It's right there in the middle, and it is, I would say, the most important part. It isn't really because all the logic you describe supports all the rest, but I'll point it out anyway.
It is that "something begins to quiet" when you are no longer seeking an answer. Why? You say it but I'm going to accentuate it. The reason "something begins to quiet" is because you are OK with yourself in the world exactly as they are. EXACTLY. In my parlance that is the ultimate definition and goal of what is meant by "liberation" and "freedom." That's "all" it is, though that runs a big risk of diminishing how different a life of total acceptance of what is (which does not preclude acting to change circumstances) actually is from the bondage of delusion in the form of belief in my own fundamental lack and incompleteness.
The difference is why people use words like "extraordinary" and the like in order to describe what is actually most ordinary, most stable, least modifiable. In fact, it is unmodifiable. There is no way to induce insecurity, and fundamental unworthiness in someone who unequivocally, gratefully accepts reality (the seeming meeting point of what IS and what HAPPENS) AS IT IS.
That individuals fundamental well-being is no longer tethered to the endless change that is life itself and one's own life. That, I suggest, is what the "quieting down" you refer to actually is. It is that untethering, never to be tethered again. I'm calling that well-being, your "strange liberation."
What's "strange" about it is it isn't something attained or gained, it is something recognized, known to be so, and yet nothing at all changes once known. However, though "nothing at all changes," there is something that isn't there anymore, the absence of which is appreciated quite a bit.
This isn't something you made up. It is something there for the noticing, just like the weather, entirely impersonal, and that's the wisdom that has true value. Impersonal, un-concocted, and unadorned.
Righto, V.G. It's simple. Not hard to understand. But for most of us, it goes against the grain. We just keep imagining a "myself" who can stand outside of reality and do something about it.
Yes Robert. I agree. It does go against the grain. I think when one is ready to embrace that perspective, it feels more like the flow than against the grain, but getting to that point oneself is not something that can be forced. I do think that knowledge, such as you are presenting in your article, is the most valuable thing one can offer another, since the essence of the standpoint you are presenting is "knowledge."
I hear you…a poignant response indeed.
Robert, sin palabras, perfecto, un gpt de las cosas como son el tema es que es muy difícil aceptar esto . He aprendido mucho de Ud y ahora ando por el mundo revoloteando su espada con una sonrisa ❤️
As with many of your writings, Robert, there are phrases in this piece that deliver a sensation that I can only describe as being similar to being slapped in the face...a sudden recognition or familiarity like when we remember something that we've been trying to recall without success but now - having given up trying - pops into our awareness. POP!
Always accompanied by a smile. 😉
Thank you Robert. A similar realization had come to me. The spiritual scene is still selling a brighter future, rather than being in the present, now, as it is.
Yes…”The spiritual scene is still selling a brighter future”. It is a sales pitch that keeps spinning seekers around and around. It’s a relief, a breath to finally get off. Robert expresses how ‘things are’, so simply.
It’s always so disappointing how you take us on a deeply insightful journey thru the useless, unpleasant mental gymnastics we ceaselessly waste our time doing in our heads … leading us to the door of liberation, yet failing to open it. I suggest we can do a whole lot more than cease doing anything with the moment … that we can open the door and step into a life of abundant, enjoyable fulfillment after we cease our efforts to create it in our minds.
Really? Then what’s stopping you? Serious question.
Nothing!
And that’s the point … it seems that if you are offering a way out of our conditioning (admirable aspiration for sure) … you should be able to speak from a place of liberation … but you’re always coming from your head. Your bottom line seems to be — we’re locked in our heads, but you can find a measure of peace by accepting that there’s no way out of perceiving the world thru the mind’s conditioning.
You seem confused. I'm not offering a way out. I am telling you what I see. There is no way out. This is it. You can call it liberation if you want to, but that's just a word for the end of wanting things to be different.
Coming from my head? I have no idea what that means. If you mean using my intelligence, there's no choice in that.
Disappointing Robert, the name-calling.
I persist here, because I see so many folks commenting here that seem to be buying your fantasy that “this is it”
There are many ways to perceive Reality, besides thru the filter of your conditioned mind.
You have more than the intelligence of your mind. You have a choice there.
There’s everything right about following one’s curiosity to experiment, to see if there really are different & helpful ways to perceive the world
Not name calling at all. You are the one giving the lecture, not I. Of course there are different ways of perceiving the world. My point is that no one gets to choose how to see the world. The world you see IS you and you see what you see when you see it.
Robert I loved this post. It seems right on the money to me. It might not resonate for every one but it sure as hell does for “me “. Thank you again for a great post.
are you saying Robert suggests to "cease doing anything with the moment" ? I have not read or heard him ever say that. Cease doing sounds like a layer of interpretation to me. Do you mean cease becoming? Please clarify.
Great writing, Robert. Thanks for a wonderfully clear explanation.
Yep, here we are. Nowhere to go and nothing else to do. A little lonely and at the same time accepting...
Yes, this is it! :)
Beautiful, so clear and simple. Thank you Robert!
Beautiful Robert, thank you 🩷🦋🪲🌺
You're just getting better and better, Robert. Like VG says, this is an absolute gem. And the image of gurus squirming ... my coffee nearly ended up over everything!
Talking of coffee, of the to go kind, and sitting in the park, I might be coming to TS more regularly from now on, and would love to share coffee with you once again. You up for that?
Always, amigo. We can sit in the park together.
Great post. My view is this: when we are born, we are pretty much a clean slate. We then have all our experiences... the ones we 'let go' of or we don't cling to don't create 'us' nearly as much as those experiences that are more impactful/scarring/bring us joy. But if we can in time come to terms with those impactful events, they become 'less' of us and leave us more open to reality. There is less of a filter that all our new experiences are going through. I have no idea if there is a 'me' that views my thoughts or if all of it is me. In the end, the less I cling to, the better life seems to be.
Thanks a lot, Robert!
Perhaps it’s the fear we all carry in what seems the dominant branch of our nervous system. Running from the bear, as it were, is exhausting but one forgets that the bear is no longer chasing. To truly let go and be is quite a feat in a world designed to scare the sh_t out of humanity.
I left something out that I thought was perhaps most important. You said "in the end I would rather have uncomfortable thoughts than not be here at all." That sentence implies that simply "being here" is valued above all, which means you are what you value most, because there's nothing IN "being here" besides you - in every and simultaneously the only way sense could possibly mean.
Yes. There is nothing else to value. In terms of this discussion, it's ALL "you."
That’s not what I truly wished to share…but it’s ok. It’s done.