* Then began the discipline to act with constant and universal forgiveness and gentleness, without exception. One has to be compassionate towards everything, including one's own self and thoughts.

The Eye of the I p. 343

* It is necessary that you develop respect for spiritual endeavor. Straight and narrow is the path, waste no time effort. Precision is discipline that is innate to serious commitment. Some students may yet be in a period of exploration, but once one gets the 'fire in the belly', the urge to reach God becomes a drivenness or relentless drive, or even, in the eyes of the world, a 'madness'. From that point on, there is no patience for amusement or diversion. It depends on decision, will and the level of consciousness, and karmic propensities. As it gets more intense, the love for God and of God allows no delay. Discovery of the Presence of God. Devotional Nonduality, topic: "Spiritual Economy", pg. 153

* In highly motivated, spiritually-disciplined groups, approximately half of the people in the group reach the goal of Unconditional Love (e.g. twelve-step groups, spiritual / religious ashram devotees, monastic renunciates, members of spiritual communities, such as Zen monasteries, etc.).

Transcending the Levels of Consciousness

*Three simple requirements for enlightenment

1. An intense desire to experience Pure Awareness.

2. The discipline to act with constant and universal gentleness and forgiveness towards everything, without exception, including towards one's self and one's thoughts.

3. The willingness to hold one's desires in abeyance and surrender one's personal will in every moment.

* A useful decision or choice is to decide to stop mentally talking about everything and refrain from interjecting comments, opinions, preferences, and value statements. It is therefore a discipline to just watch without evaluating, investing worth in, or editorializing, commenting, and having preferences about what is witnessed. One then sees the rising and falling away of phenomena and the transitory nature of appearance which, with ordinary mentation, is conceptualized as a

sequence of cause and effect.

Discovery of the Presence of God. Devotional Nonduality, pg. 88

Limitless being

"You cannot possibly say that you are what you think yourself to be! Your ideas about yourself change from day to day and from moment to moment. Your self-image is the most changeful thing you have. it is utterly vulnerable, at the mercy of a passer-by. A bereavement, the loss of a job, an insult, and your image of yourself, which you call your person, changes deeply.

To know what you are you must first investigate and know what you are not. And to know what you are not you must watch yourself carefully, rejecting all that does not necessarily go with the basic fact: 'I am'. The ideas: I am born at a given place, at a given time, from my partents and now I am so-and-so, living at, married to, father of, employed by, and so on, are not inherent in the sense 'I am'. Our usual attitude is of 'I am this'. Separate consistently and perseveringly the 'I am' from 'this' or 'that', and try to feel what it means to be, just to be, without being 'this' or 'that'. All our habits go against it and the task of fighting them is long and hard sometimes, but clear understanding helps a lot.

The clearer you understand that on the level of the mind you can be described in negative terms only (not this, not that), the quicker you will come the end of your search and realize limitless being."

-Nisargadatta Maharaj, I AM THAT, p. 59-60

Searching for truth: Self-inquiry and self-surrender

Self-Inquiry

Self inquiry is the absorbing of consciousness back into its source through one pointed focus and devotion. It is directing attention away from involvement in the contents of the mind, to the source of Awareness itself.

This is the journey from self to Self. The river flowing into the ocean. This method of investigation is termed Self-inquiry (who/what am I?) and was advocated by the great Indian Sage Ramana Maharshi.

"Who/what am I?" is not an intellectual exercise. It is not an exploration of definitions. It is an investigation of the very nature/essence of consciousness (Is-ness/being/I am-ness).

As one deepens in this inner absorption, and through grace, the feeling sense of the Self emerges and strengthens. It is recognized that what one is, is the essence of existence itself. There is the recognition of Self as pure freedom and joy. One notes that they are the awareness of experiences but untouched by any experience, just as a movie screen is untouched by the projection of a fire upon it. Thus pain is pain as an experience but has nothing to do with the true Self. Identification with the experiencer (ego/mind) is no more. This will likely come in glimpses/tastes for varying durations.

Recognizing this blissful free Self seems to result from:

1) Deep intention (Self-inquiry becomes a lifestyle, an habitual way of looking so that even in activity part of awareness is always within on the inner Presence / Self. Deeper tastes come every now and then, but practice must continue until the mind is permanently and effortlessly absorbed within;

2) The ability to focus (on the essence of being rather than following thoughts. As thoughts are devalued and interest in them lost, they naturally subside, revealing more clearly the Self),

3) Discrimination (essence from form and definition, the real from the ephemeral),

4) Devotion (to the truth or God above all else),

(5) Surrender (to the inner Presence)

(6) Grace (initially the devotee thinks they are seeking the Self/Truth but it is the Self/Truth which progressively attracts the self). Grace seems to be granted to those who strive relentlessly on the road to freedom and who seek to transcend the attractions of the ego and choose love, compassion, forgiveness and universal good will to all of life above all other choices, without exception.

Where the devotee is imperfect because the ego habits are so strong, but is sincere in turning and asking for help, Grace enters to help.

self-surrender

The other method of discovering the Self is through self surrender. This is for those who believe in God. One surrenders themselves completely to God. One keeps surrendering all personal willfulness to God. This amounts to a continual letting go of the attachment to the contents of the mind and the urge to control, moment to moment, to God. One ceases resisting whatever experiences are arising and surrenders all attractions and aversions, and all emotional positions and opinions to God. What results is not an unintelligent zombie state but the joy of freedom, and the pure Intelligence of the Self progressively emerges and shines through. In this, self and Self, mind and Spirit are not different.

Surrender is not a passive act nor a casual affair. Letting go is done at ever deeper depths and becomes ever more meaningful and joyful.

© Jonathan Kalman 2007