Do years of searching lead up to enlightenment?

How can it? There is no time and therefore of course no 'years'. Many people awaken to their true nature without having had any such desires to become enlightened. Meditation - a tool that calms down the buzzing of the mind - has no claims on enlightenment. One cannot 'become' something that is already the case. Enlightenment is a myth - a fairy - tale. Another carrot dangled by the ignorant mind. People imagine a state where one is blissfully happy and continually in a state of absolute peace and harmony. But since there is no time - there is only that which arises presently - there can not be anything permanent - as in a permanent 'state of being'. There is only 'Being' /God. Liberation is the simple case of seeing this Truth and seeing through all the stories to such an extent that seeking ends and life is simply lived as it arises.

Is it Nonduality' Advaita or Neo-Advaita???

I really dislike all these 'labels' that are put on teaching like 'Neo -advaita' . Truth is just what it is - Truth! It belongs to no-one and no 'school of thought' can pretend to take ownership of it. Therefore Truth is ultimate Freedom!

When we talk about Truth/ God, it HAS to be clear; absolute and radical. It has to GIVE YOU NOTHING so that the mind has NOTHING to grab on to. Otherwise, it's all just concepts and empty descriptions, which will entrap the mind and keep it trapped. It really is ONLY, when the mind isn't given anything it can use, that it has the potential to give up, and that's when seeking drops away and Life as it arises, may truly be ‘seen’.

Procrastination

Sometimes the question is raised regarding procrastination. A lady wrote in recently saying how she frequently puts things off and spends lots of time watching tv or surfing the net for hours. But because she then gets very angry and frustrated with herself, she tried many self-help techniques but none of them worked permanently.(But that's also because there is no 'permanently')

But these kind of feelings can then go on to depression, despair, lack of self-respect and ultimately self-loathing, so let's look at what's really going on, because the absolute Truth, is always the opposite of that which seems to be the case.

Procrastination happens to anyone whether they are Liberated, awakened or whatever you want to call it. And it's true, that whatever arises, arises for no-one, and anything can arise - for better or for worse. However, the act of judging yourself for what ever you are doing or not doing, that's what is seen through and can fall away.

When I believed in a personal identity, I continually judged myself and beat myself up for not getting on with things . My constant 'mantra' was: " I should be doing serious stuff - I should be more productive" .

The only difference now is that there is no-one here giving itself a hard time. So for me, telly is often watched because I love telly! Things either get done or not done; but there's no longer anyone naming that behaviour, like: 'procrastination', 'laziness' or 'distraction' etc. - It just is what it is.

It's only the mind that lays value-judgements on absolutely everything. Can you imagine how relaxing it would be just to drop self-judgement? 'Being' is not judging ITself is it? How can the 'I' judge 'Itself? And also, who is there to say that one activity is more precious than another? That idea only comes from a belief in time. There is only this present moment and it cannot therefore be 'wasted' or 'spent'. It is always NOW.

And whereever you are, you are always here - you can never get away from now and here. Even when you are apparantly busy and moving - you are actually not really doing anything and going nowhere. Your true Being can never leave itself.

For 'me', sometimes things get done and sometimes they don't, but if I don't do some things I don't get paid - so then I may get on and do something - or maybe not.

There is no continuous picture of 'me' as an unmotivated person. There is only whatever is currently arising."

How is it that everything appears to be in motion yet NOTHING HAPPENS?

I was once performing music with my band for a wedding. We were playing Eastern-European tunes for the guests because they wanted to do circle dancing.

I was playing the accordion. We'd played for a long time and by the end we got progressively faster and the dancers were moving at such high speed around us that they became a blur. Yet within that motion I experienced a profound stillness and yet the music, which was now very fast and loud and the running dancers, all seemed phantom-like and peripheral, and having absolutely no reality, no real substance. The only reality was the stillness in which nothing moved and no sound perceived.
It was suddenly seen that all this apparent movement was mere ripples on an otherwise still Ocean. The movement was only happening in thought and nothing was really moving.

It is only thought that appears as everything. The Bible says: 'In Him we move and have our Being'. Being is immovable and certain and perfect. Thoughts are the things that are in constant motion therefore uncertain and imperfect.

There is nothing outside of THIS. The aliveness is Source from which all arises and of which everything is made. Thoughts are merely fluctuating frequencies of energy which you hear in your own language as thoughts. All the pictures that dance before our eyes are a dream and have no reality. The only reality is God/Being/ THIS and is both the background and the foreground of everything. There is no true movement.

A few years ago, I was driving my little Micra car down a howling windy motorway on a dark night in Winter, and the car was literally being blown from one lane to another. and fear arose. However, in the midst of that fear - like in the centre of a hurricane - there was just a still core. I can only describe that there was no sense of an 'I' experiencing any fear - yet fear arose around me like a wide, high, transparent vertical tube, within which the sides never touched 'me'. No-one was feeling it. The gales no longer seemed real or harmful and there was only stillness, and then the 'windy dream' gave way to calm weather.

Nothing is truly happening except through erroneous mental perception. Birds singing are thought arising as sounds happening. This present glorious, loving Presence is all that's ever going on.

No Self - No Suffering

Over the years many people have told me some pretty horrendous and tragic life stories. These include violent and neglectful parenting; sexual abuse within families; alcoholism and drug abuse and even for some people those types of problems re-occurring time and time again in all their subsequent relationships.

Then the question comes: ‘so how does Nonduality fit in with all this and what use is it?’

There is no answer as such and Nonduality doesn’t have a ‘use’. There is only TRUTH. And the truth is that all these bad things never happened to a ‘you’.

Who you truly are is spiritual in substance. This has already been proved through Quantum Science. There is no truth in matter. Your true Being is utterly benign and perfect.

Your TRUE parents are God. Your TRUE husband, wife, child or partner is God.
The people who did all those awful things to you, believed so completely in their separate-ness that they were totally trapped within their own dark thoughts. Then all they were capable of doing was playing out their nightmarish dream scenarios over and over again and including you in their stories. This is the awfulness of seeing two – duality and separation, rather than knowing ourselves as ONE.

Non-duality is seeing beyond the veil of separation and knowing that all that’s truly going on is GOOD/GOD.

LOVE is all that is ever going on. That Truth is even scientific because it’s a fact – a fact that is an ever-present help in trouble. For example: the other day I accidentally poured a large mug of boiling water down the front of my leg. Excruciating pain arose, and after it was dealt with in a practical way, I lay down for 45mins. There was obviously throbbing burning sensations that took my breath away, but as I lay back in the immensity of my own benign Being and looked to who I truly was, the pain literally lifted up and out of my body and the pure love and nurturing that I felt was beyond human description. And this is because we are not separate human individuals made of matter that can be burned or destroyed, we are IMMORTAL and part of the ONENESS. And all that pain never actually happened in Being – in God’s kingdom so how could there really have ever been any effect from it?

We do not have to carry on being affected by nightmares from the past. In Being, there is no past or future there is only this present moment. All the characters in the dreams of past were only characters in a dream, and so they can have never affected who we truly are.

So if you have been carrying terrible images of what your parents did to you or how your violent partner or spouse treated you, just let it go now and know that those human parents were never your true parents – your true parent is GOD – your true partner is GOD. Your true Selfhood is GOD. You have no human ‘self’. And no ‘self’ means no suffering.

Am I enlightened?

For every speaker/teacher of Nonduality a question that arises very regularly is ‘Are you enlightened?’. It is a very valid question for the seeking mind to ask. After all, if I am not enlightened, who am I to be spouting off about it, as if I am? And, how would anyone know whether what I am saying could be trusted?

The people who ask this question demand a definite answer with verifiable proof. They ask if I am ‘Awakened’, Liberated, or Enlightened, then how do I define that? Has my sense of identity just partially fallen away,or has it completely fallen away so that there’s no longer a human experiencer? etc.etc.

No matter how this is answered, any reply will be instantly dismissed by the mind that asks it, and deemed as a ‘cop-out’ . But there is no answer to this.

‘Reality’ or God, can never be qualified, quantified or proved. Who is there to verify something beyond human experience? No human mind can judge another’s experience because it is beyond the mind’s capacity to do so. The mind always seeks to categorise.

The mind also sees time as something that exists and is linier, therefore there must be ‘paths’, ‘journeys’, ‘stages’ and ‘levels’ of Spiritual attainment and Liberation, but these are mind-made judgements and descriptions. The human mind can not know no-mind.

If a person believes in Gurus. Masters, Buddhas, Lineages and complicated spiritual techniques, then they will expect a Nonduality teacher to have an impressive tale to tell regarding their final ‘liberation’. If not, they can be dismissed as not having the right credentials. Yet the dream of Gurus and lineages is simply part of that particular seeker’s dream, so nothing else will do for that person, except a story of Liberation that fits within their rather narrow, totally intellectual confines. The mind also craves theatre,ceremony and distraction.

There is only the eternal Now – everything that has ever happened is happening now (although in Being, nothing is happening) and no span of time is involved. There are no separate identities, there are only trillions of mirror-like facets of Being (that we see as ‘people’) that reflect the Source back to itself. Life is vibrant and alive and yet each facet of the one Being forgets what it is. Our chattering thoughts are believed in, and the dream of being a separate identity is upheld.

In true Liberation there is no longer just an awakening or a ‘seeing’ of this Truth –there is no longer any ‘see-er’. And IT’S NOT PERSONAL! It doesn’t happen to a person – the person part of it, is what drops away completely.

Do not believe anyone who tells you they are Enlightened,Awakened Liberated or whatever. This can only be a prideful, egotistic lie because it doesn’t happen to person!! When all sense of identity drops away and there is a return to the Ocean of Oneness, there is no identity to say 'I' am enlightened! The ego's dissolved.

Now this will ruffle a lot of feathers. It will be said that I am ‘splitting hairs’ – or being deliberately confusing to disguise the fact that I am not enlightened. And this is correct : ‘I’ am not enlightened. When people come to my meetings , God is definitely in the room with us! There is a huge expansion into Being, but it DOES NOT COME FROM ‘ME’ - it comes because when people come together to remember their Oneness, that Oneness always, and without fail, lovingly responds. It is tangible. We feel our Source. There is a strong resonation. As it says in the Bible: ‘Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I AM among you”.

The life that is lived through the facet of Being known as Mandi Solk is light and peaceful and no longer dependent on people, money or possessions for that peace. The sense of being a separate entity is long gone. Other than that, life is lived as it arises without anyone doing or choosing, although doing and choosing happens. There is just the vibrancy and aliveness of Life itself. And that’s kind of liberating But looking at me no-one would ever know that. What is there to know anyway? Who cares? It’s all totally un-important. I’m certainly nobody’s idea of an enlightened being. There’s no magic aura or radiating light emanating from Mandi! And that’s because ‘Mandi’ is not enlightened! PEOPLE AREN’T! And when you stop going after that ‘dangling carrot’ then there’s a chance that the Truth will shine through and melt down the barriers of separation. But you don’t need to go after the carrot – you ARE the carrot! Really. But if you prefer, you can spend the rest of your life trying to verify who ‘is’ and who ‘isn’t’ enlightened, but then you’ll miss the ride home! 

Just One Mind - Not Two

Sometimes Nonduality teaching can be perceived as hard, cold, uncaring about the human condition and without compassion. If this is how it is seen, then it is completely misapprehended, as God – Oneness – is the height of compassion, indeed the only true compassion.

There is only one Mind – not many minds. God cannot descend, or come down to the level of the human mind, it is always the human that has to step up, or ‘ascend’ to God . When we look upwards and rest back in our glorious Being then we are ascending. When we look downwards and steep ourselves in the mire of our thoughts and rigid beliefs, then we are de-scending, and God, Being, can not be found in that place. Of course actually, there is no place where God is not, but in the mire, God is veiled from our awareness.

Many people come to Nonduality hoping for answers to their human condition – for a soothing or a solving of their problems and suffering, and get very cross when this is not given. But they are coming to the wrong place. If help is needed for extreme fear or an obsessive mind, then a specialist in human mental conditions is the person to seek out. Because God/ Being/ Love – has nothing whatsoever to do with the human condition, because God is not human and neither are we.

Who are we then if there is only ONE Mind and no separate minds?
We are all aspects or facets of the One Mind, and when this seen, it’s amazing how just about everything we could possibly be concerned about just falls away. If God, Good, is All – if there is only one Mind, then how can there ever be anything really wrong?

As I said in a previous Blog article, (P.N.D.D- Post Non-Duality Depression), ‘the Truth acts on us because it is True.’

I use to suffer from the most terrible depression also anxiety, anger and deep sadness for such a very large part of my life, until I was literally touched by the Truth, the ONE Mind.

Nonduality is simply another term for Truth – the non-two-ness of everything. I became completely intimate with this Truth; I literally saturated myself in it; by reading about it; going to Satsangs; listening to tapes and watching videos etc. I couldn’t get enough of it because it resonated so deeply that the seeking mortal mind just fell away chunk by chunk, and the aliveness of this unquestionable Truth shone through like the Sun until the clouds had no choice but to give way and dissolve. There was no argument – I couldn’t argue with my own Being - there was just nothing left to seek for. God is the Love that we are comprised of and therefore is always Present. There can be no absence of Presence.

There are no answers to human problems because as real as they may feel, they are a horrible masquerade, masking the Truth of Perfect Being, which is always, unruffled, unwavering, rock-solid and harmonious. It is ultimate Good and is ALL in ALL. There is nothing that is not God. This is such a relief! Here’s where the JOY is!

One time when I had neighbour problems, I remember being so angry and resentful about this woman. The lies my mind was telling me was that she and I were separate individuals with our own separate identities and points of view. This was the great lie, of course. Things went from bad to worse and it was a horrible situation. Then one day, the Truth just shone right through and tore down the walls completely. Any belief in two separate minds just dissolved. All I could see was the One Mind in operation and which had been operating the whole time, and I was just one aspect of this Oneness and my neighbour was another. ‘We’ were drops of the same Ocean so could not possibly be at war with each other, since there had never been an ‘each other’.
Within minutes of this profound seeing, there was a knock on my door and my neighbour gave me a big hug, followed by a lovely heartfelt conversation and we have been friends ever since. ‘I’ am friends with 'MY- self' – how could I not be? Just ONE Mind – not two.

Resting back in the Vastness of Being we automatically ascend to our true nature - our ONE-NESS, but God cannot descend to help us, as God does not recognize anything unlike ITSELF - it does not recognize another mind outside itself.

The True Nature of Valentine's Day

This post is a bit belated, since Valentine’s Day was actually two days ago! However, the point of writing this blog is in response to various emails I have received around this subject. Single people have written to discuss the feeling of loneliness on Valentine’s Day – despite knowing there is only One-ness. Married people have written about how lonely they feel within their relationship, especially when they didn’t receive a Valentine’s card!

Anything which is made up of need, fear, expectation and insecurity is nothing to do with the true nature of ‘relationship’, of love.

Well it all may sound quite trivial to some people, but I think it raises an important issue about love and partnership.

‘Relationship’ is not an exclusive thing and therefore we can have no personal expectations from it. Love is about inclusiveness - it is who we are – Being is Love. So the best thing you can do on Valentine’s day and on every day of the year, is to love lavishly . Rest back in the immensity of Being and enjoy your relationship with your true Self-hood, with God. This is true completeness.

If you feel lacking in Love, then love all the more, and know that there is no lack of any kind in Being. No matter how it appears on the surface, there is no truth in the story of lack.

For instance, if you see a couple walking down the street hand-in-hand and so ‘in love’ , it is actually Being or God, walking hand-in-hand with Itself. Even the witnessing of the couple is only part of your consciousness, your dream, so you cannot be excluded from that LOVE. You are within it. You can never be outside of love because you can never be outside of who you are. So Happy Valentine’s Day to yourself, from yourself. 

P. N. D. D (or: Post Non-Duality Depression)

Because I am so often asked about this, I decided to write about it in today’s BLOG.

There are as many ways about talking about Nonduality as there are names for what it is attempting to describe. When we talk about Nonduality we essentially mean ‘not – two – ness’ so therefore we are talking about Oneness – One. We can also name Oneness, : ‘THIS’ or ‘IT’ (for people who are uncomfortable with the name ‘GOD’) . It is also known as ‘BEING’ or Spirit - the ‘Vastness’ - Truth – Love - Mind - Life – the Way - etc. etc.
So if we are talking about Oneness and not Two-ness then everything is Oneness and included in it and nothing can be outside of it, and we are also constituted and composed of it – hence we are spiritual in substance.

There are no separate beings there is only BEING but in the appearance, Oneness has many ‘faces’ to it - or facets - like the facets reflected in a diamond. One facet of Being could be your dog – another, your chairs and tables, another, your neighbour, and another facet is an apparent ‘you’ etc. And this is the TRUTH of what we are – we are all God – this is our essential BEING. For this reason, it is true that nothing we do, think or say really matters or has any importance, as it cannot change the way things are. And since we are all God whether we realise it or not, it simply doesn’t matter whether this is ‘seen’ or not.

HOWEVER - when some people hear this, they get stuck at the ‘nothing really matters’ bit, and then fall into a pit of depression and even despair in some cases, because they have missed the point entirely. They will often say things like : ‘I use to love music but now I don’t because there’s no point to it.’ - or: ‘ I use to love my work which was helping people, but since there aren’t any people, there’s no point any more’ - or ‘ I’ve become a recluse because I can’t see the point in talking to people because everything they say is so trivial’ , and most commonly: ‘ I can’t talk to my partner any more because they just don’t understand about Nonduality’.

But this is not what is meant in the teaching of Nonduality and is NOT what the teaching is about!

Just the opposite! When we see through the veil of separation and realise the truth of Oneness, there is the most delicious freedom . One sees that because nothing is really important, then we can play with whatsoever arises in the moment. Now, even if it’s not ‘seen’ – even if it’s just a load of intellectual concepts to you, that still doesn’t matter at all. You don’t HAVE to see it , because even just hearing the TRUTH – because it is the Truth - can slowly, over time cause a fundamental change in perspective – in other words – Truth works on you and you don’t have to do anything except be open to it.

It is in the vibrant ALIVENESS of this present moment where your true Being/God, can be glimpsed. And this present moment is comprised of anything at all that’s happening. The glorious present is where the Presence of your Being resides. So the Present can include the joy of helping another apparent individual – it can include a wonderfully trivial conversation with a friend or partner – it can include watching a film on TV - it includes music, laughter, eating spaghetti – ANYTHING. Nothing is ex-cluded - nothing is outside of THIS.
And since Being is everything it also includes seeking and that’s why it doesn’t matter whether you are a seeker or a see-er – it really doesn’t. A seek-er and a see-er are all the same Oneness – how could they not be?

Finally, because God is ‘All-in All’ there is every reason to be joyful. God is the way and illumines the way. Whatever job or hobby you have – it’s there to be enjoyed. This amazing LIFE is here right now to be enjoyed. There is nothing you have to ‘not do’ any more and no people you have to avoid because everything is GOD/LIFE/BEING . It is all part of the wonderful dream of being alive. This is where the JOY lies – in the here and now because that’s all we have and it’s wonderful. All the answers you’ll ever need to any apparent problem that presently arises can all be found by resting back in the Vastness of who you truly are. ‘Be still and know that I am GOD’ . You can refuse to be concerned about anything because all that is ever going on is God, and whether you know this as Truth or not, it doesn’t matter – because the Truth is True and eventually that Truth will melt down all your unconscious barriers till the light of God is truly seen, and all you have to do is to be open to that possibility.

What is the difference between 'Seeker' and See-ER?

Many people write to me about the 'struggle of the seeker', but there doesn't have to be any struggle because the 'SeeKer' and the 'SeeER' are all the same One-ness. The only difference is the 'K' and if you add and 'O' to that 'K'- you have: 'OK'. And everything is OK.
This is not meant to be flippant, but if you can really see that the seeker and the see-er are one and the same, where else is there to go? Nowhere which becomes: 'Now-Here!'

Wonderful things are Happening

It is a scientific Truth, that because God is ALL, you don't need to be concerned about anything because WONDERFUL things are happening. Do not entertain any other idea.

You cannot be 'tired of Being' because Being is your home. You don't exist already. There's nothing to dissolve and no real problems in REALITY.

Nonduality cannot answer problems - it has no answers. There is no 'help' here. Nonduality is the simple Truth of who we truly are. Everything else is just a mockery of Truth. The mind is the great mocker.
You are NOT your thoughts. There is no 'you' to dissolve. There are only thoughts.

So simply put on your shoes, when you are putting on your shoes. Only drink tea when you are drinking tea. Just empty your trash when you are emptying your trash. Let what you are presently engaged in take centre stage - and the arising thoughts will just carry on without you in the background. There is nothing 'you' have to do and there is nothing you have ever done!

'The Seeker's End'

The end of all seeking is the realisation that there are no answers! That's such a relief! No more needing answers or reasons for things like people's actions or behaviour or your own actions or behaviour. Since there truly are no answers and that IS the Truth, you can just give up looking for them. It's great!

Last night I went to see a brilliant movie by the Coen Brothers called: 'The Serious Man'. They have got Nonduality sewn up beautifully. And just like in a Satsang/Nonduality meetings, people's minds can fight with the truth of 'No Answers'. They can get angry, desparate or even walk out. This is how many people have felt about this movie - they either love it and truly get it, or they are bored or angry at having wasted their time and money on it.

So what's to get?

Well at the risk of spoiling it for many people who haven't seen it yet, I will just say that the movie throws up lots of strange and seemingly irrational behaviour, actions and situations. The film-makers have deliberately created a film that poses loads of questions and then doesn't supply any answers.

The main character's life is falling apart so he consults three rabbis. But they do not answer his questions, instead they offer him stories and anecdotes.
As the viewer, you are dying to know what happens in the end. Or why someone did what they did. But you never find out! Over and over things occur and huge questions arise in your head and you are bursting to know some answers and have some understanding, yet you are totally denied this relief. Even the end of the film seems to happen so suddenly that it's almost shocking! (Typical Coen Brothers!)

So what's the point of the movie?
To me it beautifully demonstrated that there are no real answers to anything. No reasons for things. Things just happen and that's all! There are absolutely no answers - no reasons why.

This is all that needs to be seen. You can stop getting frustrated right now, because the end of all seeking is simply the realisation that there are no answers! From then on, seeking really does start to dissipate and life is lived with considerably more ease.

So from now on, every time a question pops up in your mind, immediately recognize that it is un-answerable - that you'll never know what, how or why, and maybe you'll begin to find that the fiery intensity of seeking starts to lessen and lessen, till all there is, is space and expansion where all the seeking use to be; because the end of all seeking is seeing that there are no answers. And I reccommend you all to see 'A Serious Man'! Love Mandi

'The Seeker's End'.

'Does there need to be a 'trigger?'

Today I am responding to the question that I am so often asked, which is along the lines of: 'does there need to be a 'trigger' or a precipitous event in order for me to 'see' who I truly AM? Or to become enlightened or Liberated or whatever?

The only answer to this is that it is completely the wrong question.

The reason that everything ever spoken or written about Nonduality is so frustrating to the human mind, is that it is unique, in that there are no answers.

We are talking about the ultimate mystery here: the Source - Divine Mind - God - perfect, pure Being. And because it is not 'within us' but it is us`- who we are and of what we are comprised, then to try and find it by active looking or philosophising is always going to be like a dog chasing it's tail. How can a dog find it's own 'dogginess' if it is already a dog?

The very nature of One's self is Selfhood or 'Being'. The key to seeing it is just the simple realisation that you can't find yourself because you already are yourself.That's all the realisation is, and then the seeking for life to be any different from that which it is presently, just comes to an end. It can simply happen in an instant. It doesn't have to take years of struggle, although for some people it might seem to do.For instance, if you are a person who believes that you don't get anywhere without a struggle, then that might be the way you dream it up. There doesn't have to be a 'trigger' or a definite moment - or there could be - yet it certainly isn't neccessary.

In my book 'The Joy of No Self' and also in my interview on Conscious.tv, I have referred to a time when I had a crash on my motorbike followed by a rising upwards and suddenly seeing through people, solid objects and everything - seeing beyond the dream,if you like.
However, although that gave me a glimpse of the Truth, and I lost all fear of death, it was all largely irrelevant. It was years later that Truth began to dawn and darkness gave way to Light and gradually there was less and less of 'me' (and if you saw me, that's no mean feat! lol!) Then one morning I woke up and 'Being' had totally taken over and all sense of personal identity - of myself as a separate person dissolved. Now that doesn't mean the human experience disappears - of course not. Life goes on the same but the stories of 'me' and 'my life' are just seen beyond and no longer believed in, that's all. But there is no state of 'constant bliss' for Mandi or for ANYONE no matter how good a story of enlightenment they tell! Because there is no 'constant'. And this is where we get to the core of all seeking:

Fairy stories of enlightened beings that wear fancy-dress, have fancy names and live in a constant blissed-out stste - are in the realms of Myth and magic - like the idea of a 'happy ever afer' in fairytales. How can there be an 'after' or a 'before' when there is only ever this present moment? If this present moment is filled with back-ache, front-ache or head-ache, then that's all that's going on right now. Yet if this moment is filled with a delicious curry - then this moment is nothing but stimulating, delicous flavours! It's all the same moment that's why there can be no 'path' or 'progression' - or di-gression,for that matter.

So then what is a 'trigger?' - the very word 'trigger' sounds like something is expected to happen next! But how can there be a 'next' when there is only a NOW?????
So the answer to the question of 'does there have to be a trigger?' or 'how do I get enlightened?'or whatever, is STOP ASKING THE QUESTION - you probably won't be able to, but at least realise that you will never get an answer! And If you do, BEWARE!!!!

'Identification with the 'me' '

Hello everyone and thank you so much for reading me! I will be writing things about Nonduality, and you are joyfully welcomed to contribute!

Today I have had quite a few emails and questions about how difficult it is to get rid of the self. Well you don't need to get rid of the self ,even if you could, which you can't!

What we call the 'self' are simply thoughts arising which you think are being generated by a 'you' and which you identify with as 'you' or your thoughts. But 'you' are not generating anything because there is no you. 'Thoughts arising' - is LIFE vibrating ! In Quantum Physics thoughts are explained as: 'fluctuating frequencies of energy'. You cannot stop thoughts and nor do you need to, and they are not yours to stop. Thoughts are part of Being, but Being is no part of thought, because Being is beyond thought.

Being is seen in the absolute Presence of the present.

People can get very angry about 'Nonduality' as though it's a separate entity which either works for one or doesn't, but the term Nonduality is simply a word that describes how everything IS - Alli-in-All, Oneness. It's not something that can be debated or argued with - how can the 'I' argue with itself - with it's own nature?!

All thoughts and feelings, such as depression, anger, fear etc. are connected with the belief in a personal identity and that belief will continue until the Truth begins to dawn and saturate one's experience, until the 'one' dissolves back into the 'One' as a drop of water rejoins the ocean. So how does this happen?

Well there's really no answer to this, but there can be an expansion into Oneness and I have observed this happening to people increasingly through merely being open to the possibility and sharing and interest in Being - an intimacy with Presence. But there is no necessity to sit quietly; meditate; do breathing exercises, etc. etc. unless you simply like doing those things. The seeing of Being is decerned in the present moment of whatever is happening right NOW! Swimming - eating pizza - reading something on a computer. Being is missed when we are looking backwards or forwards That doesn't mean you have to turn it in to a practice - just eat your pizza! If depression is there instead of a pizza - just observe it for a moment then go and make a cup of tea and decide to come back and see if it's still there in an hour. If it is - the intensity of it will be lessened - and just make a cup of tea again.

This is not a glib response: the immensity of Love/God is above and beyond thought and is right there unmissably in the minitue of living, and whatever that entails for you right at this very moment, which of course is the only moment.