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“WHAT MATTERS IS BEING IN THE PRESENT MOMENT. -Part 2”

There is a Zen teaching that says: “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.”

This succinctly expresses the fact that, while the outward actions may appear identical, the inner state—the very way of being—is completely different before and after enlightenment.

However, the mind (ego) cannot see through its true meaning, so it clings to fantasies—such as the idea that “attaining enlightenment will make life rosy” or “evil will vanish from the world, leaving only good”—and desperately strives to acquire what it deems “good” by comparing things that cannot truly be compared. For instance, it obsesses over “faster” even though the flow of time is merely a concept; or, despite the fact that we can only ever have one experience at a time—meaning the conditions required for a valid comparison are never identical when taking another experience, before getting started it, you’ve already had some experience—it compares them anyway, clinging to thoughts like “If I can do this, the future will improve” or “If I go there, I’ll surely awaken faster.”

Consequently, the mind becomes all the more obsessed with making an effort or trying to change the world. It is proud of itself, that surely reinforces identification with the mind more, and seeks validation more—publicly or privately—for how hard it has worked, how enlightened it is, or how much influence it has had. Conversely, when it judges itself as failing in these areas, it falls into despair or shame, sometimes even directing that frustration toward others.

It is precisely this rollercoaster of life—tossed about by storms of thoughts and emotions—that constitutes suffering. Its root cause is the powerful yet unconscious misperception of a separate “self,” along with the fixed beliefs and identification with one’s thoughts that accompany it.

On the other hand, the truth is that even if the awareness realizes the ultimate truth, that the mind is not itself at all, but as The Self, reality never undergoes the kind of transformation the mind imagines.

The world remains unchanged by its very nature, constantly shifting in a state of impermanence.

Yet, when the awareness abides in itself purely through the realization of the Self, it is also the natural compassion of openness (oneness). While letting all emotions and thoughts to simply arise and dissolve within, but never identify with them, it simultaneously remains calm and at peace, anchored in an abiding stillness.

At the same time, due to deepening comprehension of the mind’s workings and the influence of the unconscious, and previously unconscious assumptions and beliefs become clear through self-observation and self-inquiry, the various negative emotions previously generated unconsciously by thought—such as loneliness, emptiness, resentment, fear, or feelings stemming from the belief that one has been betrayed or hurt—begin to vanish. However, it is by no means that so-called negative emotions all disappear, instead, life becomes filled with aliveness while no needing to control emotions at all, that is, being completely free from judgment about good and bad emotion.

And moreover, due to comprehension of identification and its influence, comprehension and embrace of the reactions of others—reactions born of their own identification with the mind—spontaneously deepen, that is, the awareness effortlessly can see itself in other. Because the truth is non-dual, and in duality as well, the brain cannot distinguish between the self and other.

Thus, with the clarity of the innermost stillness, reflexive reactions to the outside world cease, while things are perceived clearly and exactly as they are.

There is no “I” doing as a central figure nowhere.

That said, this is not something that can reach by achieving some sensational state of “enlightenment” or striving to abide in the awareness, as imagined by the mind.

It is something that can be directly realized by the awareness—right here, right now—simply by turning attention deep within yourself and recognizing “That” as The Self which is ever-present.

It is a matter of listening to the stillness itself that lies beyond the clamor of thoughts that constantly arise and vanish, deep within, where their influence does not reach at all.

It means that it is not at all about listening to voices—to thoughts, narratives—filled with various (and often one-sided) judgments or comparison that come from clinging rule, value, or whatsoever that unconsciously based on separation.

It is simply about descending into an infinite vastness of pure silence and, as “That” of the awareness, quietly contemplating all things from there, that is, the awareness sees through assumption, belief and identification with the mind that you think who you are, is clinging, one by one. And thereby, without any intention or effort to eliminate or battle with it as badness, as a doer, it naturally makes the dismantleness of the mind—the false-self collapses.

Thus, when the awareness abides in The impersonal, true Self, there may be responses (actions), but there are no reflexive impulses or any “doer” behind it.

Consequently, by existing as “non-self,” it naturally ceases to boast about any actions, seeks validation for them, or (arrogantly) demands that others be “ideal,” criticize, or complain.

In short, it is completely liberated from all forms of suffering.

࿓࿓࿓࿓࿓

Attempting to attain enlightenment, or claiming to have attained it, is manifested that one is declaring oneself not to be the Self; it shows one is completely trapped in the illusion of being a separate “doer.”

The same applies to worrying about the extent of one’s insight or awakening.

In truth, concepts like personal failure, relative merits, or progress have no place in the Truth. All the such things exist only in the mind—the thought in the head.

࿓࿓࿓࿓࿓

Calm yourself. Simply realize that the mind can never be at rest, and that it is not true you.

Don’t think, instead, focus on contemplating everything without making any judgment at all, from the clarity of the innermost stillness, and on simply being in the present moment.

For you are not the thoughts, nor the experiencer, but rather the pure awareness that recognizes them all arising and passing away within—that is the true impersonal you, and the “Way,” the Truth itself. (OM 🙏)