Your real identity is this simple naked awareness

Q: This morning the mind was all just "naturally" seeming to ask the right questions--who am I? Seemed on the "right track". Even had the feeling of freedom momentarily and the thought/feeling that true freedom is my destiny.

C: Okay, here’s where the mind is tricking you into believing there is “time”, a future when “things will be better than they are right now”. But where is “time” unless there’s thought that claims there is? Time is only a concept; a concept that arises and sets; just a story, an interpretation in thoughts-words that comes and goes, IN the ever-present awareness which YOU are.

Awareness is simply never absent. Regardless of what thoughts arise, they arise to you who are already always present and aware. You are awareness and in that awareness all the stories of time and a better future or a real past arise and set while awareness just allows/observes so to speak. YOU are awareness. That point must be firmly seen, and yet it is absolutely simple because before any “thing” or thought or concept or experience can appear, YOU, awareness, must be there first. And YOU ARE. That is what we mean by "I Am": Just that awareness that you are present before and after any appearance appears and sets again! In short YOU ARE AWARENESS and there is no “gaining” that or “contraction” out of that.

Regardless of what “the mind” tells you, know yourself right now as Awareness. Just that. That awareness is the required condition for any appearance; no things or states or thoughts or experiences can arise without you as awareness; YOU are here first; as the ever-unborn nonconceptual awareness. This IS what you really are. You must get that point sorted out first! Then if residual confusion (creating some experience of suffering) puts in an appearance, a little gentle looking to see if the “I” that claims to be “contracted” actually exists at all pulls the plug on the entire mechanism.

You will gain nothing; there IS no you to attain or not attain. All such beliefs are merely distractions, and yet even those appear to you who are there first. YOU ARE AWARENESS. Full Stop! That is not a concept to be believed; it is ONLY a pointer to what is eternally real and true. See that for yourself and resolve the point of knowing your real identity as this always present awareness, which is the conditionless stateless isness. e call this isness, or awareness, or being-knowing, but remember that the concept is not the actual; the word awareness is NOT awareness!

And “you” do not “get” awareness “someday”! You ARE awareness and you must realize this because nothing else  can ever appear without YOUR presence being here first; the appearance happens IN you who IS that awareness… that which knows all the comings and goings of states, like sleep, dream, the waking dream, perceptions, sensations, etc. …in other words, this entire universal show!

Q: I think this because of a sort of vision I had some 30 years ago during the time of "my" divorce. Who knows what that really all meant--but I had forgotten about this vision for awhile. Of course, when I think of it, I am the one who "interpreted" the vision. But then saying freedom is my destiny indicates that I don't have it right now, I guess. This probably doesn't make much sense.

C: Correct; it does not "make sense". And, that story arises and sets in the presence awareness which you are. You say "I think this". That's the false ownership asserting itself in thoughts. YOU do not think; thinking appears, then you falsely claim "I think". But when we spoke you saw that you do nothing, all just appears unbidden and uncaused! YOU are not "a thinker" or a thought; you are awareness. Look to see, who claims "I think"? You find no one in there; just a false and empty claim with no authentic evidence to support that claim.

Q: Another “teacher” talks of purging and of having to go through contractions--that that is part of the work.

C: Who needs to do that? Only an assumed “I": which is merely a thought with no actual substance or intrinsic separate reality. You are awareness, not some “contracted entity"! Such assertions of the reality of some "need to work on yourself" just keep you on the endless wheel of a “me” "becoming" and of "someday when". That stuff is all nonsensical and irrelevant noise, and a direct denial of the ever-present truth of who you are. We have pointed out that YOU are awareness and there is no separation, no "me", no entity that needs any fixing! Who cannot see this?

Working on a false entity is never going to bear any fruit! It’s like trying to fix a dream character; in the dream at night all manner of appearances arise including the feeling of a self, a center. But that dream character is not real! In the same way this waking dream character has no actual substance; hence the pointer to look, “who would do such ‘work’?”

Understand that these ideas are a teaching of ignorance, and that delusional teaching comes from the fabled “enlightened ego”, i.e. a false self that claims it is no longer a self, that “thinks it has vanished”, as John Wheeler puts it …and there is a real arrogance and lack of humility and patience for the seeker’s plight as the ego in such cases assumes IT has “got it” and YOU do not. It's the blind leading the blind, sorry to have to point out.

The one posing as a "teacher" may well seem to be sincere and mean well but the ignorant cannot point to what is real as they do not know who they are to start with. Proposing that there is a "person" who is somehow "flawed" and "needs work" is the hallmark of all false teachings. Paradoxically, that too is part of the infinite dance, the show; but sooner or later you have to stop dancing  to that discordant tune, and tune in to the real and vibrant song of who you really are. In my view, the one pointer that is most potent ultimately, is: YOU ARE AWARENESS; just That and nothing else but That. Period. And as Nisargadatta said, "Don't refuse to be what you are!" Being IS. There just ain’t no person to “get it” or “not get it."

Everything is appearing in the awareness that you are and there are no “separate persons” in FACT. “Just the facts, ma’am!” The one fact you cannot avoid or deny is that YOU ARE and you know that YOU ARE. That, ordinary ever-present awareness, IS … It Is … awareness is what IS.... and that awareness is the Real You. LOOK. You are present and aware right now. That’s all this is pointing to!

Q: He would tell me that when one is in a "contraction" that one sometimes needs another being to help get you out (that may not be exactly what was said). He would tell me to call him if needed, but then lately, if I did--he seemed annoyed. So clearly, this relationship is not a healthy one anymore anyway. He was acting as counselor/teacher. He did teach many of the things you were saying in the recording...just in a different way, I guess. Where you are saying come back to "I am"--he would say rest in the present moment. But when I did--there would still be all this suffering in the present moment.

C: "One sometimes needs...” Right there we have the obvious delusions of all such "teachings of becoming" and of "need, lack and limitation"! There you see it; those blatant assumptions of there being a real "separate one" and of there being real "time"! That's a pair of totally false assumptions. First off, as John Wheeler has also elegantly pointed out, the notion of “teacher and student” is completely false; it assumes there is one separate “I” who is the “teacher” and another separate “I” which is the student. This whole construct is totally false!

I am not a teacher; I reject that and any other false identity. Even to state “I Am Awareness” is ultimately false! That declaration is ONLY a pointer to communicate from One to One so to speak. In the exact same way you are not a student. I invite you to also reject any such identity. I am awareness and so are you. Take the stand that “I AM AWARENESS, and know that the concept is only pointing to something ultimately REAL; the concept is NOT what the concept points to! The map ain’t the territory, the menu ain’t the food.

There is only The ONE AWARENESS.

There is no duality in awareness.

That, awareness, is absolutely nondual. One-Without-A-Second.

Now: Coming back to “I Am” means noticing what is already ALWAYS present! Awareness. Presence, The “open empty space-like true-self” so to speak.

LOOK: There is no suffering for awareness. Is there? Confirm that right here and now. Suffering is always mental, for a conceptual and fictional “location and entity”, the “I” which is merely a thought, believed. And any and all suffering is always and only arising as “self-centered thoughts” that drive “feelings emotions etc!” Make no mistake about this.

That’s why the necessity to resolve the issue of your actual identity as awareness is crucial. All other pointers are interim steps to help a deluded mind begin to get real about what is always present and awake regardless of what the mind’s contortions create. The core issue is twofold:

1. Stop believing your thoughts! No thought is true. None.

2. Resolve the knowledge of what you are; the final and first point is to know yourself as open clear awareness. You are That and nothing else.

Take the pointers, use them to just LOOK, and do not believe anything! The “believer” is an unreal phantom; an irrelevant and immaterial thought only. Look and see if you can locate any “believer” in there. You cannot. So this proves it just ain’t real! Regardless of what beliefs may arise and set, you remain as what you are: simple ordinary awareness, which lights the mind and all other appearances by the natural light of its own self-luminous eternal nature, Know this now: You are That, the natural open light of intrinsic naked awareness which illuminates and allows all that appears to show up and fade away in the dance we call “life”,

LOOK. Notice that awareness is always on, always here, always now, beginningless and endless. You must know that to be what you are, otherwise the mind’s convolutions will continue to plague you. But isn’t it clear that awareness itself cannot “suffer?” That’s where the sages’ injunction comes in: BE as you are. You are awareness, forever free and unborn. Stop believing the false and believe nothing; just BE the awareness you really are. You are already fully free. There is no way to “gain” freedom because Freedom is this awareness that you are. That’s IT.

The only purpose of nonduality is to know the truth of what you are. And while we use the word “awareness” to point to what you are, NO word can capture or lasso the essence of being-awareness that you actually ARE. The concept ain’t the reality; know the reality beyond any concept. Now. Here.

Just stop giving attention to concepts and see that you ARE  this aware natural naked presence which is never absent. This is what is meant by “you already are what you seek”. That is never NOT here!

Let this all sink in thoroughly then let’s talk again to nail down any residual confusion. I Love You.

‘A Closer Look at the 'l' Thought’, from John Wheeler

The 'I' thought or notion of being a separate person can be very subtle. If there is any belief going inro such notions as 'I have seen it' or' I do not exist' or 'I am enlightened' or 'I have it' or'I am a teacher'-that is still the 'I' sense. Any reference at all to any shred of a separate or special 'I' is just another reference point. Many have a desire to proclaim 'I am now free', but you can never really say that when you see that the 'I' is a total concept. There is no one present to be free or to be a teacher or have any position at all, positive or negative. Even any subtle sense of becoming, purifying or approaching a goal is just another subtle reference to an assumed separate person or 'I'. Even well-known teachers almost invariably fall into dualism by proclaiming themselves a specially awakened one or implying that this is a process of becoming. For example, some say that first you become awakened and then later become liberated. Hogwash! Who is to do such a thing if there is no one to do it?

“Here and now you are the truth. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Separation from immediate being, awareness, peace has never happened. Right now, you are what is being pointed to. There is no teacher, student or path, at all, just a simple pointing to what is undeniable, your own being. That is all. The 'I' notion is the assumption that you were some kind of entity apart from reality from existence-awareness itself.

Teachers and students invariably talk in reference to the reality of the 'I' concept. Both are playing in a conceptual illusion. Once you see this, you cannot play that game. It is so obvious when seen. But when it is not seen, whatever is said or believed, however noble it sounds, even if it be the highest non-dual verbiage, only perpetuates the false concept of separation. I was in non-duality circles for years and overlooked that everyone, including myself, was still functioning in reference to that subtle sense of self. Bob Adamson pointed this out to me immediately when I met him and I then realized what had been missed. Even the so-called enlightened teachers I had met, even the ones who proclaimed they had no 'me' or whatever, actually were still functioning in reference to that self-center and completely unconscious of it. I call it the 'enlightened ego', the self that thinks it has vanished. What I found was that in such cases the arrogance and lack of genuine humility were usually incredibly tangible and present around such people. In seeing there is no 'I', there is no one left to claim anything, even understanding anything. There is just what is.”

~ John Wheeler, in “The Light Behind Consciousness”. This is a VERY potent book and recommended reading for anyone still harboring any notion of a self apart from the infinite totality of what is.

All of "This" is appearing IN & AS What you Are

Follow-up from LG: 

Charlie, I felt like writting again because you were kind enough to respond to my last email! I always thought self realization would be the end so to speak but I can't help feeling like this is really just the beginning. There is definitely a strange process happening- sometimes I feel totally indifferent like I don't even see the sense in being polite anymore. Then there have been a few experiences of deepening connection to others where I feel totally blissed out!! It’s like there are no more pointers or guide lines from this point forward, it's all confusing and I'm right in the midst of it along for the ride! Any suggestions?

C:  ALL of that is happening by itself and ALL of that is appearing in the presence-Awareness that You are. All these experiences are That; there is no duality in nonduality; YOU are the One and the Many, the Exeprience-ING; YOU are The All, and that means, ALL. And for the Infinity of Being that you are, anything is possible and any appearance can appear. So the dream goes on as the organism is being lived by Consciousness, all the while though the Eternal Awareness love it all absolutely. No doer, no Knower, no one to Know One. It is all that! Oneness, appearing as separate yet One It IS ... and that is non-separation!

LG: THANK YOU this is more helpful than you know, i was confused because there’s no one left to be the person that I was before and i was wondering how to get some stability.  Thank you for shining some light on the matter. it's all good as it is. Very helpful Charlie.

C: You are very welcome. You see, YOU are all that appears, including ... No Thing appearing, Every Thing appearing, and so ... That Is Love, Loving ItSelf to Be... From Love To Love!

Whatever appears, appears in the Awareness that you ARE

Anything can appear, play its show for a while, and then fade away, in your dream at night while the bodymind is asleep and enters the dream state. Anything! The most bizarre, terrifying, endearing, wild, or very ordinary words and pictures can appear, including a self-center to whom the dream stuff is happening and who both participates AND observes, in that dream state. The dreamscape can contain mountains, cars, people, sensations, perceptions, and all the rest of it, but is any of it actually happening? No matter how realistic or even “lucid”, a dream is still ONLY a dream. And when the bodymind wakes into the livingness of the waking state, where does the dream go? Was it ever real at all? No.

Now consider what we call being awake. WHO is it that is awake? Who was “awake and aware” in the dream? Who is it that is awake and aware in this state? What is this “waking state” but a far longer DREAM? What the sages called “the dream of the Jiva”? ("Jiva" is a Sanskrit label used to denote an assumed “individual” or “'living entity”)

The dream-Individual in the sleep dream is not real and you know this beyond doubt. Yes? Then what is it that makes us assume, believe, be convinced that, this waking state “individual” is any more real than the dream-individual? Look into this. If you are still suffering from the delusion of egoic identity as “a me”, the false notion of being an individual apart from Oneness, then investigate the truth, or falseness, of that assumption. "I am an individual:" Is that TRUE?" Suffering is nothing but self-centered thoughts that evoke nasty sensations, emotions and so called “negative states” where the assumptions is “I am me and there IS something wrong with both what IS and ME”. Yet this self-center is a ghost, like the ghost entity in the dream! Understanding this is to understand the mechanics of suffering. When you were a kid you believed in Santa Claus. Now you know better. In the same way you must find out that like there is no Santa Claus, there is NO “me” in reality.

Look. The test is, IS there an individual in the dream? You absolutely must know that there is not. On waking you look for, where is the “me” that dreamed it was in a car going off a cliff and was terrified it was about to die?  (That was one this organism called charlie had a few times! Imagine the relief felt when it was seen as “only a dream, whew!”) Now in the same way LOOK for the “self”, the assumed “center” called “me” right now, wherever you are, and really see: IS there such an animal in here anywhere? OR is this just an assumption, a false belief in a “me-believer”, a “me-the-doer”, a “me-the-thinker”. Where IS that me? IS there one or is THIS also “just a dream?”

Looking in this way reveals the absolute NON-existence of any “entity “with substance, power, free will etc… or any authentic reality. The assumption is NOT true; you can find no authentic evidence for the existence of a separate entity other than a mental affirmation; and reaffirming a falsehood does NOT make it true (despite what the politicians say!) It is obviously a dream! The waking "dreamer and the dreamed me" are no more real than your nighttime dream of a "me” in action experiencing all that arises in that dream.

So: ALL that appears, dreams, waking dreams, deep dreamless sleep, appear TO you, the Awareness which never EVER changes! Since all that appears TO you it cannot BE You. You in FACT must be the Awareness IN which the appearance APPEARS.

Seeing this is very, very simple. You obviously cannot be ANY appearance. Yet YOU ARE. That, Being-Awareness-Aliveness, is the Reality. And there is ONLY That, appearances notwithstanding. Understanding that is all that is needed. As Sri Nisargadatta said, "Understanding is all". 

This, Self-Knowledge, is the only true cure for the ignorance of false identification, the incorrect assumption that "I am this individual me”. Knowing your True Self as This Awareness is so simple the “mind” cannot grasp it, nor does it need to. Regardless of whatever dream-appearances arise, you are always and only THAT, Being is That, Awareness is That, Aliveness, Life Itself, is That ... and know NOW that YOU are That.

And THAT, dear ONE, is LOVE. The Unconditioned/Unconditional and emptyfullness of Infinite Love, which has the threefold function of observing it all, being iut all, and transcending it all. That Love just IS and That Love allows the appearance of the dualism of love vs. hate, love vs. fear; that “human love” is a mental state not the True Love which Awareness-Aliveness-Peace IS.

And so, That’s That. End of story!

Pointers

What we call “mind” is merely a collection of momentary linearly appearing thoughts; movements of pure energu which arise unbidden and disappear again into the Awareness in which they appear. Awareness is obviously the ever-present backdrop on which any and all thoughts and other movements of energy such as emotions, sensations, feelings and states appear. Since Awareness is awake as Consciousness, which is prime, every appearance must be facets, or aspects, OF that very Consciousness, and Consciousness itself must be the manifest appearance of infinite Awareness, since without Awareness and It’s formation of energy and intelligence as Consciousness, nothing else could BE. So is it not clear that Consciousness IS? Because undeniably, YOU ARE, and there is the abiding Consciousness THAT You Are? Seeing this as it is and deeming THIS to be true, as the ancient and current sages have reiterated; to recognize the truth of this rather than believing what was imagined in the mind, pulls the plug on the mind and leaves what was never missing from the start: Awareness, Consciousness, Silence, appearing AS nothing and everything. THAT is Completely simple and ever present as your True Self.. Sat-Chit-Ananda!

'Who Am I'?

One of the most powerful works of art in Nonduality is a small book of prose written by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi early last century. The book, "Nan Yar", or "Who Am I?", is timelessly potent: I have linked to the book so you can download it.
Right Click Here and select 'Save' to get it now.  
I have also recorded the text as an audio mp3.
Listen now or right click and save to download. 
Enjoy, and may these pointers guide you back to the home you never left!

Some ponderings for this week....

"To see oneself as the one conscious presence in which the world and all beings appear is what love is. Love is the non-conceptual recognition of “oneness”, meaning no separation. All appearances are that one essence. In the final analysis, consciousness as an experience or state also emerges from the one ultimate source. There, all words and pointers turn back". ~ John Wheeler

Also on http://www.naturalstate.us/ ... "I am not addressing you as a person, as an individual. I am addressing you as the expression of consciousness. Whatever concept occurs to you, in including the primary concept 'I am', is not the eternal state". ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Notes to the Sincere Seeker:

John Wheeler's newest book, "The Light Behind Consciousness", is a bombshell of nonduality which can completely obliterate any remaining confusion about what you are not, and the Eternal love that you truly are. Get it HERE.

So: BE The Love that you Already ARE. The Eternal State is your very Self! It's a matter of not taking your Self to be ANY concept or experience which comes to pass and not to stay. What it all comes along and appears withing is Love, that one conscious presence, as John so elegantly elucidates it. There are no worries for That!