Health, Healing, Martial Arts and Metaphysics By Anthony Court Non-Duality Part One When we remember that we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained. Mark Twain There’s someone in my head and it’s not me Pink Floyd This article is going to be the most difficult/easy/confusing and most fun of all of the articles I have written over the last twenty or so, years for magazines, local, national and international, it should also contain a government health warning. Carry on reading only if you want to “annihilate” yourself. Yes, I did just use the word “annihilate”. “Confused, you will be” as they used to say at the beginning of that brilliant comedy show “Soap” (O.K., so now I showing my age). Look it up on Google. The word “Nirvana”, means just that, annihilation, it can also mean extinction. So then, what am I saying or suggesting? Annihilation of what, well sorry about this, but it’s you. Relax! Its not the you….. you think you are…it’s the you, that you are not….got it? No I thought not. Lets’ try another approach, who or what is it that, at this very moment you call me? Have you ever, since the day you were born, given this question any serious thought, probably not, and why should you? Well, it is only the most important question you could ever ask. If you would like the FIRST STEP on the journey of a THOUSAND MILES to be the LAST, and the ONLY step you ever need to take….then read on, if not carry on “travelling”. If you want to play the game of being a spiritual person on a spiritual path then be my guest, because I have just spent the last 40 years walking that very same path, and you probably will not want to hear this but “it goes nowhere” Why, because the person you consider yourself to be, “is just a concept”, a conditioned self created image, a “self” a “me” an “idea” created from all the conditions that have made up your “life” until this present moment, and as this self does not inherently exist, it can not become anything, or undertake any “spiritual journey”. The mind is conditioned, through all experiences, education, language, culture, parents and everything else. You call this conditioning ‘you’, or the “story of you” and every human being on this planet has “a story”. If the first step on your “spiritual journey” is from a point of view of incompleteness, or that you wish to be healed, awakened, or to reach some state of spiritual bliss, or enlightenment then you are starting from the wrong place. You are already complete, whole and perfect, except you have “bought into” this illusionary idea that you are a permanent self that controls your life, there’s no such thing. You have identified with what you are not, instead of what you are. The prison door has always been open, but we have preferred to spend all our time redecorating the cell. Or as the modern saying goes, rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Consider the words of Ramana Maharshi “You impose limits on your true nature of infinite being. Then you get displeased to be only a limited creature. Then you begin spiritual practice to transcend these nonexistent limits. But if your practice itself implies the existence of these limits, how could they then allow you to transcend them?” The so called “SPIRITUAL JOURNEY” is part of this illusion. The conditioned “SELF” is created by thought, and all of life’s experiences, but this SELF, if it is honestly, and ruthlessly examined it will not stand up to scrutiny. The only thing that is, is “PRESENT AWARENESS”…..non-dual, naked, present awareness. These non-dual teaching have been pointed to in the Taoist Tradition of the Tao Te Ching, and the Hindu Advaita Vedanta scriptures of India, the Hsing Hsing Ming by Chien-chih Seng-ts'an (Kanchi Sosan) Third Zen Patriarch, the Heart Sutra and the sermons of the great Renegade Zen Master Bankei, the writings of the Buddhist tradition especially Dzogchen such as the great Tibetan Dzogchen masters Longchenpa, and Jigme Lingpa, and today many western writers such as Jean Kline, Francis Lucille, John Wheeler and Bob Adamson. Here are some examples of the above Hsing Hsing Ming: (opening line) “The ‘Great Way’ is not difficult except, for those who pick and choose”. The Heart Sutra: “Form is Emptiness, emptiness is form”. Tao Te Ching: “Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind rest at peace. The ten thousand things rise and fall while the self watches their return. They grow and flourish and then return to the source. Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature”. Bankie: Reside in the ‘Unborn’ Longchempa: “Gaze persistently at actual rigpa (Rigpa is a Tibetan word, which in general means ‘intelligence’ or ‘awareness’ in Dzogchen, however, the highest teachings in the Buddhist tradition of Tibet Rigpa has a deeper connotation, ‘the innermost nature of the mind). And are there any virtues to practice? Is there any samaya (spiritual practice) commitment to observe? Any view, meditation, conduct, or goal to realize? Is there any maturation, karma, heaven or hell?” So the non-dual view (it cannot be called religion, philosophy, a spiritual path, or anything similar) has been pointed out for many centuries, however it’s simple, clear and obvious message has been clouded over by years of ignorance, beliefs, dogma, cultural conditioning and a general inability to see what is always here and now; innate knowing present awareness from which, you have never been, for even one moment, separated.
A few weeks before last Christmas, I had a glimpse into the non-dual state (words here become inadequate) while sitting in a local park, just before going to my Taiji Class, the world ‘stopped’ everything became silent, and for over half an hour there was complete silence, and stillness with no sense of self, self identification, or time, it became impossible to feel any separation with what is ‘the timeless, limitless, clear and shining present moment’ In this moment the whole structure of the ‘conditioned’ mind ‘collapsed’ and with it all the separation from what is. This seeing that occurred ‘illuminated’ the illusion the Hindus call Maya. Maya is like a MIRAGE, or the ROPE that’s mistaken for a SNAKE it is self created from the illusion of separateness. This self created illusion comes from fear, because if we are honest we are born into this world (actually we are born out of it) not knowing who, or what we are. When a child reaches about two, or three years old he or she goes from seeing the Universe in themselves, to seeing themselves in the Universe, suddenly, there is me and others. Rapidly life takes on a new perspective; it becomes different, alien, and separate. So the individual starts to assemble and accumulate beliefs from both inner, and outer conditioning that constructs a sense of being a separate individual, and this sense of ‘I’ or ‘Me’ this is the beginning of suffering either subtle, or obvious. As the child grows up, tremendous time, money, effort and energy is invested into this ‘sense of self’ and the greater the investment, the greater the expectation, whether it is materialistic, physiological, religious or a spiritual investment, it’s all the same moment away from who you are, to who you think you should become. In other words “Now is never good enough” because you feel that you are lacking in some way, so now, you become a seeker. The trouble with the seeker is that, however you wish to deal with your illusionary problems connected to your illusionary self the answer is always in the future, and never now. So now the fabricated, self-constructed, imaginary self goes on a ‘spiritual journey’ to try and gain something which it feels it lacks to make it complete. This entire struggle is an utter waste of time. As Non-Dual sage Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj says “All spiritual paths are ego. A quiet mind is all you need. All else will happen rightly, once your mind is quiet. As the sun on rising makes the world active, so does self-awareness affect changes in the mind. In the light of calm and steady self-awareness, inner energies wake up and work miracles without any effort on your part”. If there is no ‘I’ what need is there for spiritual practice. For many years having studied with Buddhist teachers this anomaly, this inconsistency, has always bothered me. Buddhist would say for example the Dharma teaches "Non-Self" in order to save sentient beings from the tormenting sea of Samsara; however, "Non-Self" is not a conceptual tool or pedagogical instrument constructed for this purpose. "Non-Self" is a verifiable truth both in terms of philosophical analyses and of attainment of realization through practice. Therefore, the salvation through the Dharma does not involve blind faith, but points out the truth to help people become free from confinement and confusion.
Fine, but my argument is this “How can a non-self practice, and to attain what?” When Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj was asked by a Western student how much effort should he put into his Sadana or (Spiritual practice) he replied. “Lots of effort, plenty of effort, as much effort as you can. Until you come to realize it’s a complete waste of time”. The trap is that (and I fell for this-big time) most people who are following what they believe to be a ‘spiritual path’ are chasing ‘spiritual experiences’, and with enough practice all the spiritual experiences you have ever read about can be gained. Here’s the trap and here’s the problem….that’s all they are, experiences……. ‘appearances’ in consciousness. We have been lead to believe that theses so-called spiritual experiences are sign posts on the road to some sort of spiritual goal i.e. enlightenment, cosmic consciousness, ascendency to some great spiritual goal etc. They are not. They are distractions from waking up out of the dream of ignorance, and delusion. We think that if we practice enough; meditate enough then one day, some how, we will gain some astounding spiritual state full of wisdom and insight. There is nothing to be gained, no state of enlightenment to reach, no becoming a high level avatar, or any thing else. It’s all egoism, its all nonsense, and chasing this illusion is the most powerful weapon of MAYA. To really ‘awaken’ is to see without doubt the undeniable reality of who you really are….clear, knowing present awareness, and nothing else. There will always be great resistance to these statements of the non-duality. Having invested over forty years in the so called spiritual research, inquiry and practice, I know this only too well, but as J. Krishanmurti said; “If you have been going in the wrong direction for many years you have no choice, but to turn around, and go back the way you came” So examine any person, teacher or guru who considers themselves spiritually advanced, the more spiritually advanced they claim, the more deluded they probably are. All spiritual teachers should be made redundant, only the individual can free themselves from the prison of self delusion. There is no method, or practice to do, only ruthless, rigorous and honest self investigation. When thoroughly, and exhaustively investigated the illusion of the permanent self will be seen through, and when seen through, it can no longer sustain its validity, and then, the self-shining, clear and present reality will be recognised, at that moment, all your questions will simply evaporate. As the say in Australia, “Throw another guru on the barbie” Or as Longchempa (14th Century-Tibet) said “Since everything is but an apparition, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may well burst out in laughter!” Part two of Non-Duality will be in the next issue of Labyrinth in the mean time if you have any questions about this article please email me at: anthonycourt@ymail.com