Introduction

Introduction

“I am awake.” – Buddha, speaking of his enlightenment

It is recorded that someone came to Ramana Maharshi and said, “I understand that you can give enlightenment.” Ramana replied: “Yes. I can give it. Can you take it?” The age-old precepts which are known as Self-realization are not difficult to understand. Upon awakening, an aspirant will sometimes exclaim, “It’s so simple!” Or, “This is it!” Or, “It’s right here. Now!” Many more, who are aspirants still, lament: “I’ve had a glimpse of the underlying reality, but somehow I’ve lost it.” Or, even more commonly, “I have an ‘intellectual’ understanding of nonduality, but I feel there’s something about it I’m still missing.” It’s one thing to understand the implications of the spiritual teachings, and another thing to apply them to our worldly circumstances with consistency. The ancient word for remaining in existential confusion is “ignorance”; that is, to not be aware of what it is that one can be aware of.

What is to be known, in the instance of Self-realization, is an amazing paradox. It would not be too fanciful to say that spiritual awakening can make our worldly life seem to be an optical illusion. And this is because what we’re searching for, in terms of ultimate reality, has always been everything that we see. And that includes ourself.

So, when we ignore this part of the teaching—and leave ourself out of the equation—we are bound to entertain incomplete, and inconsistent, conclusions. As Ramana said, “Can you take it?” When the nondual teachings clarify that you (as you suppose your self to be) and the phenomenal world (that you take to be real) are illusional appearances, will you merely find that an “interesting idea”? Or, are you open to this realization radically altering your values, and the way this temporal life is lived?

When Buddha said, I am awake, he wasn’t confusing his realization with an “intellectual understanding.” Self-Realization in three words: the I-thought neutralized. The writings which follow can clarify, for the sincere aspirant, elements of the nondual precepts which often tend to be overlooked, or not given serious enough attention. The paradox of enlightenment is that the ultimate reality, which we search for, is inescapable! That makes it too simple for most people.