Poetry

The root concept

~ Tom Das ~ 2 Comments
Cirrus clouds fox.jpg
Is anybody here? Is anybody doing this?

It is the concept of a subject,
That gives rise to the concept of an object.
Or put another way,
The concept of ‘me’,
That gives rise to ‘not me’.

But look at your experience for yourself:

What was thought to be the subject
Is actually also an object.

The experiencing entity that we take ourselves to be,
Is actually something we are aware of,
and not the subject at all.

The person looking at and experiencing life,
Is just a part of life,
Totally inseparable from life.

The body,
thoughts,
emotions,
inner sensations,
intuitions,
visions,
dreams.
– all these are objects.
– all these are sensations.
– none of these are ‘me’.
– none of these are ‘mine’.

Sensations cannot themselves sense.
The perceived cannot perceive.

In fact, looking at our own experience,
Where is the subject at all?

Look!
-There are only sensations.
-There are only objects.
-There is only experience.
-There is never the experience of the subject.

Look!
Experience is a seamless whole,
One seamless happening,
And the so-called experiencer, the ‘me’,
Is simply part of that happening.

So what are we left with?
Just this.

Life simply happening,
All by itself.

The nature of Awareness

~ Tom Das ~ 13 Comments

eye-881895_1920.jpg

This aware principle,
Is already always aware.
Without lifting a finger,
It is effortlessly present.

Within this awareness,
A multitude of phenomena spontaneously arise and fall.
Conceptually we say ‘multitude of phenomena’,
But in reality there is just One Seamless Experience.

Whatever phenomena awareness is aware of,
We can call ‘objects’.
No object is this aware principle,
No object is awareness.

There are no actual separate objects,
Just the appearance of separate objects.
The mind, using concepts like a sword,
Carves up our Seamless Experience into apparent parts.

Let us examine this awareness,
Which is not separate from the objects it observes.
Where does it come from?
What is its nature?

Observe, no particular object of awareness is awareness itself:
An object itself cannot be aware,
The perceived cannot perceive.
Therefore awareness is not an object.

There is no knowledge of awareness:
Awareness cannot be seen, touched, smelt, heard or tasted.
In this sense it cannot be known,
But awareness’s existence is self-evident.

What is this awareness?
– I don’t know!
But I know awareness exists. How?
– Because I am aware!

Observe, there is no awareness of awareness itself,
Only awareness of objects,
(Or in Deep Sleep or Samadhi,
the awareness of the absence of objects),
The existence of awareness,
Is inferred from the presence (or absence) of objects.

So what is awareness but an idea,
Based on the assumption of a subject, a seer?
Awareness is a merely a concept,
Indistinguishable from the objects it is aware of.

Objects are awareness,
Awareness is simply the presence of objects
(or the presence of an absence of objects,
as in Deep Sleep or Samadhi).
‘Objects’ and ‘awareness’ are two names for our One Total Seamless Experience.
See this at once!

All these words,
Simply trying to describe,
What is already our direct experience of life,
Right now.

Words simply point,
To the simplicity of this,
This which is so simple:
It is just our direct experience.

Truly,
What we conceive to be awareness.
Is nothing other than our everyday experience of objects,
This.

Truly,
What is conceived to be the Absolute (ie. the Subject)
Is none other than the relative (ie. objects),
This.

In this,
There is no object or subject,
No relative or absolute,
Just this, beyond words, beyond opposites.

There is only this,
Completely obvious,
Self evident,
Alive,
And elusive of conceptualisation.

It’s too ordinary to notice

~ Tom Das ~ 5 Comments

tea leaf

It’s too ordinary for you to notice.

Whenever you’re seeking,
Whatever you’re seeking,
You’re seeking something else,
A mental projection,
A fantasy.

The self that causes all the mischief,
All the suffering,
Is an imagined entity.
It is seeking its own end
– how absurd!

No-self is already here.
To notice this,
There is nothing that you need to notice,
(Nothing you need to do)
As it is always being noticed.
It is simply the totality of whatever is already being perceived,
And in that totality there has never actually ever been a perceiver,
The perceiver being an imagined entity.

Ask yourself “Who am I?”,
“What is the I”,
And you will find no “I” there,
“I” being just an empty thought.

Reality is simply that which remains
When no actual “I” is seen,
When things are seen as they are,
Which is always the case.

There is nothing you need to do,
Nothing to realise,
Only cease adding the notion of “I”,
Only cease to believe in that “I” for which there is no evidence.

Then the notion of “I” can still appear,
The “I” can still come and go as it pleases,
(for this “I” is just a thought,
and like all phenomena,
its appearance cannot be controlled,
spontaneously appearing and disappearing by itself)
But it is no longer believed in.

The “I” being seen through,
Reality shines by itself,
As it has always done.

This is nothing new,
I hesitate to say nothing special,
As it is also truly wonderful.

Reality being everywhere and ever-present
– what is more ordinary and commonplace than that?

Satsang

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

meditation lake stones

If you have no questions,
We can sit here,
Selfless,
Self seen through,
And be.
This is the real sadhana:
Just an unforced appreciation of the way things are.

If you have questions, ask them, do not hold back.
The true answer is when the question disappears.
Do not cling to knowledge.
This is the advanced path for advanced seekers.

Tao Te Ching: Mastery of the world

~ Tom Das ~ 2 Comments

Tao te ching

This is one of my favourite verses from the Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese text overflowing with wisdom (If you have not read it, I highly recommend you do – it is easy to find a translation online).

Here in this verse we are instructed to let go, let go and let go again, until not even the notion of our very self remains. Here we have let go of all ideas of spiritual practice, of spiritual paths and of even letting go.

Then, perhaps, non-action will ‘happen’. This is the culmination of the so-called spiritual path: no-doer, nothing more remains to be done, nothing remaining undone – this is ‘mastery of the world’.

One who seeks knowledge,
learns something new everyday.
One who seeks the Tao,
unlearns something new everyday.

Less and less remains,
until you arrive at non-action.
When you arrive at non-action,
nothing will be left undone.*

Mastery of the world is achieved,
by letting things take their natural course.
You can not master the world,
by changing the natural way.

Tao Te Ching verse 48

*An alternative translation is:
‘When there is no doer,
nothing remains to be done’

Insight

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Insight is not personal insight.

With personal insight, you have an insight,
You realise this or that,
You realise x, y or z.

All personal insight is based on concepts or thought,
– they are all subject to change,
– they are all subject to doubt.

With Insight it is the person that is seen through;
Insight is there without a person having an insight:
Everything is just Insight,
There is only Insight.

Like realising the lake is a mirage:
Your personal insights and doubts were just ripples on its surface;

Then the whole of spirituality is done for,
No need for any of it anymore,
What else is there to do?
What can be done when there is no doer?