Year: 2019

ONLINE MEETING tomorrow (Thursday 6th June) 8pm UK time

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

You are very welcome to join me in an ONLINE MEETING this Thursday 6th June at 8pm (UK time) to talk about all-things Non-Duality & Liberation.

All are welcome to attend and it’s easy to join me if you have not done so before:

To join simply make a payment of £10 beforehand here. Then click here at the meeting time to join and just follow the instructions.

(If you have never used Zoom before – it’s a bit like Skype but easier to use – it will prompt you to download the program onto your computer/phone/tablet. The full link to the Zoom meeting if you need it is here https://zoom.us/j/9409264979)

Here’s a recent testimonial for my meetings:

I’ve seen many teachers on the path of seeking. All wonderful and they all had a piece of the puzzle but they all came from their ‘thing’ – their own perspective on the teaching. They answer the seeker from their point of view.
Tom is the only one I’ve seen who doesn’t come from his point of view, he always comes directly from the silence and meets the seeker exactly where they’re at. If they need a practice, he has it, if they already have one but are stuck he knows how to move them, if they’re just beginning he knows how to guide them…it’s wonderful to see.
His meetings have truly been a gift to me.
Danny, UK

Hope to see you soon

Tom

 

 

A truly non-dual teaching?

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

A truly non-dual teaching?

ALL teachings are dualistic, even the so-called non-teachings, and ALL teachings utilise fictions, at least initially, and your favourite non-dual teaching is no exception!

For example:

-Pointing out teachings or descriptions of what-is and teaching of any kind all imply duality. What (object) is being pointed out? And to whom (subject)? Pointing implies a subject-object duality, at least initially. Non-duality strictly speaking doesn’t need a teaching.
-To compare different teachings to each other is dualistic.
-To call one teaching truly non-dual and another dualistic is itself dualistic and relativistic, obviously.

Not that there is anything wrong with apparent duality!

A matter of degree

It’s just a matter of degree: some teachings are far less dualistic than others and point the way out directly and efficiently, which doesn’t necessarily mean they are better teachings, whereas others take a different route, which actually may be more helpful than the more direct teachings at certain points on the journey.

ALL teachings are non-dualistic?

So either ALL teachings/expressions/non-teachings are dualistic….or alternatively one could say that ALL teachings are essentially non-dualistic, as non-duality is all there ‘is’!

To have it any other way would be dualistic, and duality is a fiction!

Oneness Being

Another way of putting is that there are not really lots of different teachers and teachings at all – although that is how it may appear from within the fictional dualistic paradigm – there is only Oneness Being ❤

 

What do you need for Liberation?

~ Tom Das ~ 3 Comments

Answer 1: There is only Liberation. This pointer is for the person who is seeking Liberation elsewhere, eg. seeking a state of mind or consciousness which is yet to be attained or to be attained somehow in the future by various means. It is pointed out that in fact there is only Liberation, and that Liberation need not be sought, for it is already everything.

Answer 2: Nothing – you are already Liberated. Like Answer 1, this answer points to the fact that everything is already whole and complete and no further seeking is required.

Answer 3: There is no liberation. This answer points out that liberation is simply a concept, a fanciful idea conjoured up by the mind and then sought after. No need to seek for an imagined fantasy. This answer stops the ego seeking its own mentally projected notions on liberation and enlightenment. It can also be pointed out that liberation is a dualistic concept that is opposed to it’s opposite, ignorance, and that non-duality is pointing out that this paradigm way of thinking of things is false, as per Answer 1.

Answer 4: Just remove ignorance. What is ignorance? It is the belief in a separate ‘me’ that thinks it authors its own thoughts and actions and has free will, choice and responsibility. Sometimes this ‘me’ is also called the ego. When the ‘me’ is believed in, it is also believed that the ‘me’ lives in ‘a world’ which is has to navigate, negotiate and survive.

Question: How to remove ignorance, the belief in a separate ‘me’/egotism?

Answer: There is no real ignorance – it is merely a thought or concept that is believed to be true, by no one. Within the seamless experience of this, a thought may arise which says ‘I believe I am a ‘me’ that has free will, choice, responsibility, etc.

But in experiential reality there is only this: beliefs may appear, thoughts may appear, anything may appear, but it is not happening to someone (despite the belief to the contrary that may think otherwise) – rather you could say it is simply a spontaneous appearance that arises, with no subject. Of course this is not something that can be understood by the mind, which tends to assume or imagine a subject being present who sees the objects, whereas experientially this is not actually the case.

So ultimately we don’t need to remove ignorance, as it is not real – it is just an appearance, a concept that floats in and floats away again. Just this! Life: a spontaneous mysterious magical display.

Q. Are we not simultaneously a person AND everything?

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Q. The thing here is… we (Brahma) incarnated on this planet as 7.4 billion people and countless animals and plants and the planet itself. Brahma chose to be us, in different bodies and different personalities and different life stories and ultimately, these bodies and personal identities will end, but while we are incarnated in our current forms, are we not looking for the “middle path” as we make our way through the world? We are individually and collectively Brahma and Atman simultaneously.

I understand and fully comprehend everything that Sri Ramana Maharishi is saying [in these quotes] . But I get the sense that you are inviting people to abandon their egoic sense of self (Atman) in favor of identifying as Brahma. The middle path IMHO is when one can hold both illusions (or ultimate truths depending upon your perspective) in mind simultaneously. When you are at work and a patient or coworker says “Dr. Tom Das” you don’t ignore them or say something confusing like “I am not this body, I am not this name, I am pure conscious awareness disguised in human form” you go ahead and answer to your name. You and other people who have experienced awakening and not ended up in a no-self dissociative state continue to have an ego. It’s how you and everyone else navigates this world. I don’t find it particularly useful to deny the continued existence of this ego.

You ARE Tom Das and simultaneously, you ARE everyone and everything and everywhere and everywhen. I don’t see the Atman / Brahman as an either/or decision. It’s NOT a case of mutually exclusive choices. We can and ideally are a mixture of both. Deny the existence of Tom Das all you want but you will still answer to your name and show up and fulfill your roles in life and at work. Repeated denials that you are Tom Das seem even sillier than an actor on the stage repeatedly telling the audience “I am not really Hamlet.”

Tom: I agree it is not about abandoning one view for another – that is more duality, more ego, more ‘me’. What you have written is also not the middle way, which is about not being attached to any conceptions of self, at least according to Nagarjuna.

The teachings, as I have explained before, are pointers that tend to aim at removing ignorance, not truths.

The view you are advocating is called Vashisthadvaita in the Vedic texts in which multiplicity is acknowledged to co-exist with Brahman, whereas the views coming from myself and Ramana in the above quotes are advaita (no multiplicity) at times and ajata (no creation) at other times.  Traditionally the non-dual teachings proceed from dvaita (duality) to vashisthadvaita, to advaita to ajata, so you will find all 4 types of expressions in the scriptures and from the sages.

Traditionally the non-dual teachings proceed from dvaita (duality) to vashisthadvaita, to advaita to ajata, so you will find all 4 types of expressions in the scriptures and from the sages.

The first 2 of the views (Dvaita and Vashisthadvaita) can be understood by the mind and seem to make sense within the subject-object reality that is imagined to be real by the ‘me’ or ‘ego’. The fact that they are understandable and they do somewhat relieve suffering makes them valuable teachings to the seeker (ego), whereas Advaita and Ajata cannot be comprehended by the mind and makes no sense to the mind which only  can think in terms of subject-object.

If everyone thinks an actor is only Hamlet, and they don’t realise he is an actor playing the role, the teaching ‘I am not Hamlet’ becomes more important, which is why these teachings tend to be emphasised. You could say I appear to be Tom Das, and there is no need to deny this, but in reality there is only the Inexpressible This.

What are you most proud of in life?

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Questioner: Tom, what are you most proud of in life? ‘Being proud of’ suggests a possessive quality which pertains to a ‘me’ like ‘being sad because’ and hence, we both know that only a ‘me’ can be sad, but nonetheless, are you still proud of something?

Tom: There are probably some things I am glad I have done or achieved, but, as you state above, there is no me who can claim ownership, so no real pride in that sense.

Ramana Maharshi Quotes: Nobody here/ the jnani is not a person

~ Tom Das ~ 5 Comments

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Often people think that someone wakes up, someone becomes enlightened, that enlightenment somehow belongs to a person. Although this is how it often seems, this is not quite how it works. It may appear that Tom Das or whomever has awakened, etc, but actually Tom Das is just an appearance, nothing.

There is no-one here that knows anything, although it may appear that way within the waking dream.

The  ‘me’ thinks itself to be an individual and projects that individuality onto others. The ‘me’ identifies itself and believes itself to be a body-mind entity and so believes that Tom Das or whoever has ‘woken up’. But this is all part of the apparent dream of ‘me’ (ignorance or ajnana in Sanskrit).

What happens in the appearance is in essence empty and non-significant with respect to liberation/non-duality. The sages and scriptures have tried to explain this in many ways.

Below are a few quotes, all from Ramana Maharshi, where he tries to explain how the Jnani (‘liberated sage’, so to speak) is not a person and there is only That.

In the quotes you will see the words jnani/jnana and ajnani/ajnana. The word jnani (lit. knower) refers to a liberated sage – this is only a term used as a way of expressing non-duality – there is no liberated sage in reality, only in the eyes of the ignorant (ajnani, lit. one who does not know).

The word ajnana means ignorance, and someone who is ignorant is termed an ajnani, what I have called the ‘me’ above. In reality there is no ajnana and no ajnani – that is just how it appears, but the appearance is not real.

Here are the quotes from Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi:

Q: I see you doing things. How can you say that you never perform actions?

Ramana Maharshi: The radio sings and speaks, but if you open it you will find no one inside. Similarly, my existence is like the space; though this body speaks like the radio, there is no one inside as a doer.

Q: I find this hard to understand. Could you please elaborate on this?

Ramana Maharshi: Various illustrations are given in books to enable us to understand how the jnani can live and act without the mind, although living and acting require the use of the  mind…. It is hard to understand how this is possible…These explanations are for the onlookers who think of the jnani as one with a body and cannot help identifying him with his body.

An ajnani sees someone as a jnani and identifies him with the body. Because he does not know the Self and mistakes his body for the Self, he extends the same mistake to the state of the jnani. The jnani is therefore considered to be the physical frame.

Again since the ajnani, though he is not the doer, imagines himself to be the doer and considers the actions of the body his own, he thinks the jnani to be similarly acting when the body is active.

The jnani sees nothing separate from the Self. The Self is all shining and only pure jnana. So there is no ajnana [ignorance] in his sight.

In the ignorant state one superimposes one’s ignorance on a jnani and mistakes him for a doer.

There is an illustration for this kind of illusion or superimposition. Two friends went to sleep side by side. One of them dreamt that both of them had gone on a long journey and that they had had strange experiences. On waking up he recapitulated them and asked his friend if it was not so. The other one simply ridiculed him saying that it was only his dream and could not affect the other. So it is with the ajnani who superimposes his illusory ideas on others. 

Q: There are said to be sadeha mukta (liberated while still in the body) and videha mukta [liberated at the time of death].

Ramana Maharshi: There is no liberation, and where are muktas [the liberated]?

The Self alone is and nothing else. However it is differentiated owing to ignorance.

The existence of the ego in any form, either in the jnani or ajnani, is itself an experience. But to the ajnani who is deluded into thinking that the waking state and the world are real, the ego also appears to be real. Since he sees the jnani act like other individuals, he feels constrained to posit some notion of individuality with reference to the jnani also.

Q: As the bodies and the selves animating them are everywhere actually observed to be innumerable how can it be said that the Self is only one?

Ramana Maharshi: If the idea `I am the body’ is accepted, the selves are multiple. The state in which this idea vanishes is the Self since in that state there are no other objects.

The reality which shines fully, without misery and without a body…

Since the body itself does not exist in the natural outlook of the real Self, but only in the extroverted outlook of the mind which is deluded by the power of illusion, to call Self, the space of consciousness, dehi [the possessor of the body] is wrong.

The jnani knows he is the Self and that nothing, neither his body nor anything else, exists but the Self.

It is false to speak of realization. What is there to realize?

Q: What are the fundamental tests for discovering men of great spirituality, since some are reported to behave like insane people?

Ramana Maharshi: The jnani’s mind is known only to the jnani. One must be a jnani oneself in order to understand another jnani….His words or actions or appearance are no indication of his greatness, for they are ordinarily beyond the comprehension of common people.

Q: You are Bhagavan. So you should know when I shall get jnana. Tell me when I shall be a jnani.

Ramana Maharshi: If I am Bhagavan there is no one besides the Self – therefore no jnani or ajnani.

Coming here, some people do not ask about themselves. They ask: `Does the jivan mukta see the world ? Is he affected by karma? What is liberation after being disembodied ? Is one liberated only after being disembodied or even while alive in the body ? Should the body of the sage resolve itself in light or disappear from view in any other manner? Can he be liberated though the body is left behind as a corpse?’ Their questions are endless. Why worry oneself in so many ways? Does liberation consist in knowing these things?

Actually, the idea of the Self being the witness is only in the mind; it is not the absolute truth of the Self. Witnessing is relative to objects witnessed. Both the witness and his object are mental creations.

Q: How did the knower come?

Ramana Maharshi: On account of the error of perception. In fact the knower and his misperceptions appear simultaneously, and when the knowledge of the Self is obtained, they disappear simultaneously.

Just as in a dream a false knowledge, knower and known rise up, in the waking state the same process operates…Whatever you see happening in the waking state happens only to the knower, and since the knower is unreal, nothing in fact ever happens.

Washing machines and Non-Duality

~ Tom Das ~ 2 Comments

If your washing machine is broken, you can get it repaired. If your cut yourself, you can apply a plaster. If you have mental health issues, you can see a mental health professional.

This is all well and good, but has nothing to do with liberation.

Liberation already is. It is much simpler than getting your washing machine repaired or mending your body or mind! Nothing is required. Which doesn’t mean that you can’t fix your washing machine or see a mental health professional.

Just this, simply this, as it already is.

(Additional comments from Tom: We can see in the above examples that the washing machine example is to do with an object in the world, a cut is to do with the body, and mental health is to do with the mind. Liberation IS. It is not dependent on various practices to do with body/mind/world. Know Thyself!)

TIRED OF IT ALL? THE GIFT OF TOTAL DISILLUSIONMENT

~ Tom Das ~ 1 Comment

If we are earnestly seeking, relentlessly seeking, honestly seeking, it can be quite easy at times to loose faith in the spiritual path. After some time of seeking we can become disillusioned with the whole thing and question it totally, especially if we are a long-time seeker. This is actually a great gift to us. We are taken back down to solid earth with a bump and can start afresh with new eyes. We may ask ourselves questions such as:

-Does enlightenment even exist?
-What if all these teachers are just deluding themselves?
-What if this whole spirituality thing is utter nonsense?

In the light of our disillusionment, as we have discovered that our seeking has not thus far worked, we can assess things in a more sober light. We may start to have thoughts such as:

-Spiritual practices have not really got me anywhere. They may have improved my life somewhat and given me glimpses of something beyond, but they have not given me lasting joy-peace-love that I so yearn for. At most they have given me fleeting joys, and this is not enough.

-Spiritual teachers, despite their promissory words, spiritual airs and smiling faces, have not really taken me to the place where suffering has ended. And all I am left with are empty second-hand words, mere dust in my hands.

-I find Spiritual books to be tiresome. They say similar things in different ways, and these words now no longer nourish me. I want more than this. This is not working. These teachings no longer touch me or move me deeply. I am fed up of all these words and paper. I want more.

-The so-called spiritual people I know are no better off than me. Beyond the thinly veiled smiles, baggy clothes and Namastes I can see they are just as caught up in illusion as I am, suffering as I am, groping in the dark as I am. What can they really give me in terms of enlightenment/self-realisation?

At this point we have essentially had enough of all the central aspects of the ‘spiritual journey’: we are fed up of spiritual teachers, teachings, practices, books and spiritual people/groups. We are questioning our very concept of spirituality. We are now wondering if there is such a thing as spirituality or enlightenment or self-realisation.

Hopefully, together with the disillusionment in seeking fulfillment in spiritual things, we are also disillusioned in seeking absolute fullfilment in the so-called world, eg. through relationships, wealth, pleasure, society, etc.

Having come ‘this far’, if we are lucky, we may start to lose faith in one more thing: our own mind. We can also realise that not only can teachers/ teachings/ practices/ communities NOT bring us to the enlightenment we desire, but neither can we ourselves get us there. Our own minds, our own thoughts, ideas and ideologies are also equally as useless as everything else as they too have not worked. Despite listening to our self for this long, where has it got us? Are we not still as ‘unenlightened as ever’?

Now we are totally disillusioned. We have no faith in anything. We know that teachers, teachings, practices and the mind – none of them work. We no longer rely on spirituality, the world or on our mind. All seeking here just continues the struggle, the labour, the burden…

We no longer lean on external authorities, we no longer hand our authority over to them, we no longer rely on thought as a means to escape suffering.

At the same time, the teachings are firmly implanted in the mind. We know them back to front due to our time seeking – we can trot off the words like ‘there is nobody here’, ‘there is no mind’, ‘all is one’, ‘separation is an illusion’…it’s just that these words do not do it for us anymore.

So now what do we do? What can we grab hold of? Are you waiting for a teacher to tell you what happens next, or are you done with all of that? Is there even anyone here to do anything? What’s going on?

There is a great gift here for one who has travelled this far…

🙏

Online Liberation & Non-Duality Meeting this Thursday

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Tom Das online satsang.png

Please join me for an ONLINE MEETING this week.

I’ll be online this Thursday 16th May at 8pm (UK time) to talk about all-things Non-Duality & Liberation. All are welcome to attend and it’s easy to join me if you have not done so before:

To join simply make a payment of £10 beforehand here. Then click here at the meeting time to join and just follow the instructions. If you have never used Zoom before it will prompt you to download the program onto your computer/phone/tablet.

(The full link to the meeting if you need it is here https://zoom.us/j/9409264979)

To find the time of the meeting in your timezone you can do so on this website.

I do not turn anyone away if the cost of the meeting is prohibitive, so please let me know if this is the case with you.

Details of all my events are posted here.

I look forward to meeting you soon.

Tom