There is no ‘you’
that is enlightened
or not enlightened:
there is only enlightenment.
When there is a ‘you’,
suffering arises.
When there is no ‘you’
there is no suffering.
Enlightenment is present either way,
and does not care about suffering;
nor does it not care.
Either see it,
or inquire then see it,
or have faith then see it.
When you see it,
you become it.
But as you are already it,
there is nothing to see.
Tom Das 
I think you are misunderstanding enlightenment somewhat Tom. There is always a you, but there is the choice of you being located in the fragility of the persona, or you being located as consciousness. The persona is not the enemy as such, it allows us to write things like this. There are parts of the persona however that are heavy with suffering, which we wisely avoid identification with by waking up. But there are parts that uplift with joy also, which still without identification, are available for a happy life. I’d love to talk with you more 🙂
Txx
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Hi Toby, I used to think like this once, that there is a duality between consciousness and persona, and a choice of where you are ‘located’. But then this too collapsed. ‘I am consciousness’ and ‘I am aware’ were also seen through. The subject-object duality was seen through. ‘I am the Seer’ or identification with the Subject was seen to be only a phase, a method to uproot the primal illusion/ignorance. As Nisargadatta says, stay with the ‘I AM’, and then realise the ‘I AM’ is also an illusion. For me this collapse was gradual and over time and I didn’t even realise it had happened until some time later. But I agree, the persona is not the enemy. Blessings to you ❤
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Agreed Tom, ‘the Seer’ does collapse into what I simply call Seeing. Seeing is prior to, but includes my persona, in all its many parts, attitudes, filters, and voices. For me, a few years after waking-up I found that my lovely traditionally endorsed enlightenment was actually a new part/filter that had developed in my personality in trying to give meaning to this meaningless awareness. In seeing this it was like changing a 40w bulb to 1000w halogen!
I have since discovered many of these parts, a non-dual part, a bliss part, an unconditional love part, along with all my old kooky tribe. Each ‘spiritual’ part likes to think it has reality all safely worked out, and gets a real buzz talking all about it. I have found that each part’s reality-view and attitude is merely personal fancy, and not a valuable truth. Usually the fancy is actually my unconscious trying to get me away from some pain… and so my world transformed entirely when I reopened the suffering I had gladly(!) escaped, and found that it had been motivating the enlightenment parts as they had appeared.
I understand that what I am saying undermines the bestselling enlightenment, it’s kinda shocking what I’m seeing as it challenges the whole game. I’ve seen many popular enlightenment teachers, and have become so suspicious/curious, as they seem to me an exhibition of the unconscious ‘spiritual’ parts I found in myself, and I have not found really many true Seers.
Lately I have been looking to share this and test it with someone that fits my enlightenment experiment, to discover if my seeing really is accurate. Your poem appeared on my Fb timeline and so here we are. Most other teachers seem to me lost causes, but I sense openness here. I see how you interpreted my original message, and for me the subject object collapse was actually also a phase that passed when I found that there was still a subtle identification there haha. Are you interested in a skype? Perhaps my seeing is bogus and you can correct me 🙂
love xx
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Happy to skype. If you contact me through the contact section of this site we can arrange something
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P.s.
“I am consciousness’ and ‘I am aware’ were also seen through.” – What saw them through?
“The subject-object duality was seen through.” – What saw this through?
“I am the Seer’ or identification with the Subject was seen to be only a phase, a method to uproot the primal illusion/ignorance” – What saw this phase pass?
;p
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