I think i'm going to set aside next week to reread Thich Nhat Hanh's wonderful book Understanding Our Mind, which i think offers the best explanation of the (Zen) Buddhist concepts of consciousness, and to relisten to his astoundingly wonderful CD set The Ultimate Dimension: An Advanced Dharma Retreat on the Avatamsaka and Lotus Sutras. I already reread the book earlier this year, but it's probably been a few years since i last listened to the CDs.
But, since i've been reading Silence of The Heart today, i'll post Robert Adams.
"When you really understand who you are, you will experience unalloyed happiness. Happiness that you only dreamed about, happiness in the Silence, when nothing is happening but you're happy. Always happy, always at peace. All of the gods that you have been praying to all your life, all of the Buddhas you taken refuge in, the Krishnas, the Shivas, the Christ, Allah, they're all within you. You are That. There is only the one Self and you are That. Ponder this.
The knowledge of this brings you eternal infinite happiness instantly. When you begin to understand who you are, your divine nature, that you are not the body, you're not the mind, once you understand your Infinite nature, who you really are and there's nothing else, you immediately become instantly happy. For happiness is your very nature. Happiness, the Self, are synonymous. Consciousness, Absolute Reality, Pure Awareness, are all synonymous. There is only One. It has many names, but the One pervades all of space and time. And it is the only existence and you are That. There is no other existence. Awaken to this truth. You are the only One that does exist. And you are consciousness.
...
You're like a clay pot. A clay pot has space inside of it and outside of it. The space inside is not any different than the space outside. When the clay pot breaks, the space merges with inside and the outside. It's only one space. So it is with us. Your body is like a clay pot, and it appears you have to go within to find the truth. The outward appears to be within you. The outward is also without you. There's boundless space. When the body is transcended, it's like a broken clay pot. The Self within you becomes the Self outside of you. Always merges with the Self. As it's always been. The Self merges with the Self. Some people call the inner Self the Atman. And yet it is called Brahman. When there is no body in the way, the Atman and the Brahman become One. They become Brahman, One-ness, Absolute Reality, Pure Awareness. They become free and liberated.
"We don't have to wait until the body dies for this to happen, it can happen to us now. You can become totally free and liberated now, if you will. All you have to do is let go. You let go of everything that's been keeping you in bondage mentally. Listen to your heart. Observe yourself. Become cognizant of your feelings, your emotions, Is this really you? Are you really your emotions? Are you really your feelings that you observe? Where do these feelings come from? Ask yourself, 'Who am I? Where do my feelings come from? Where do my thoughts come from? Where does my life come from? Who is playing the game? Who is being alive? Who is growing up, becoming old and dying? Who is playing this game? Who is the I that is playing this game? Who am I?'
...
"Stop feeling sorry for your self, saying you're unhappy. Stand up tall. Know the truth about yourself. Become the witness of all phenomena that you see, and be free."
Silence of The Heart
Robert Adams
Open your eyes and be free. Let go. Simply let go — of everything you have ever thought you are. Drop it. While sitting, become your zafu. Become your sitting room and everything in it. Become the trees around your house. Become your community and everyone and everything in it. Become the world and all the world's population. Become the universe, and more. Let go of the small, trivial life you believed in before and expand into everything that is, was, and ever will be. Expand into that which never is, was, or ever will be. And in that emptiness, that everythingness, sits happiness waiting. It's not a struggle to let go, it's a struggle to persist with the charade; but persisting has become such an ingrained habit, that's close to impossible for many to see.
As Rumi says in his poem You Are Not Your Eyes, "Those who have reached their arms into emptiness are no longer concerned with lives and truth, with mind and soul, or which side of the bed they rose from. If you are still struggling to understand, you are not there."
As Robert said, "Ask yourself, 'Who am I? Where do my feelings come from? Where do my thoughts come from? Where does my life come from? Who is playing the game? Who is being alive? Who is growing up, becoming old and dying? Who is playing this game? Who is the I that is playing this game? Who am I?'"
Who, who, who, who, who...
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