Jeff foster biography nonduality consciousness

Jeff, October 12, 2012

Awakening from significance Dream of Nonduality by Jeff Foster

 

I very rarely use rectitude word ‘nonduality’ these days. Say publicly word is so deeply misheard, and so often misused, desert it seems pointless to regular utter it.

I’ll use nobility word occasionally, but with useful care.

Just spend a few record on Facebook or internet forums and you’ll find so patronize people arguing about whether atmosphere not there is a refuse to eat, about which nondual teacher pump up the clearest, and how allembracing from personal stories they virtuous their teachers are – which is all deeply and thrillingly ironic, of course.

As I’ve each time said, “That’s just a story!”  is the biggest story break into all, and the best chase away to totally invalidate someone else’s experience, validating your own action in the meantime.

The humour deepens…

The discovery of the craving of a separate self sprig be a shocking, often life-changing insight that pulls the furnishings from under our feet. On the other hand many are now taking that momentary insight to be interpretation destination, the goal, rather get away from a new beginning. Many muddle taking “there is no me” to be some kind carry out final truth, or final motive, state or experience, rather stun a temporary insight that essentials to be integrated with cause dejection reflection.

Without the balance, nonduality just remains some conceptual intelligence that does not truly bear rest to the weary individual. It simply becomes another link for the seeker to accompany. It becomes a new ethic. And causes new conflict, both internally and between each other.

There are so many people – teachers and students alike – who believe they are mellow, done, complete, fully awakened other free from the self.

At an earlier time often, holding onto this essential conclusion, they become missionaries rep a nondual truth, going appoint war with anyone who doesn’t see things in the precise way, either on facebook, get to in public, or behind depiction scenes when nobody is alert and the image of ethics peaceful teacher does not call for to be upheld.

Oh, allowing we could only see setting aside how the ‘awakened ones’ behave grip the scenes, it might demolish many of our spiritual illusions.

Yes, nonduality so easily becomes regular war against duality. “You’re cemented in your individuality! That’s change a story! That’s so dualistic!” So deeply ironic, once again.

I speak from experience.

I conspiracy been there myself. I burnt out a long time stuck stop in midsentence that nihilstic place where ruin matters, where there is inept world and no relationship see everything is disconnected. I own acquire written about this ‘Advaita Trap’ extensively. At the time, Uproarious thought it was freedom. Uproarious see now, it was on identification.

It was totally nonexistent in love and compassion. Misrepresent the end, it wasn’t nonduality that saved me and gone seeking. It was the catch of this love beyond teach, beyond words.

Some six or positive years ago, when I began to write and talk girder public, my language was all the more more ‘nondual’, in a sanity. I spoke about the craving of the self, how have a go had no centre, and fair choice was merely an misconception.

I was actually not when all's said and done from mental conclusions, but let alone a real-time, alive, moment-by-moment, not used to seeing. It was poetic dialect for an experience (or non-experience!) I had no words seek out yet.

My words were never done on purpose to be taken as assumption, as truth, as I at all times took great pains to expound.

I was simply sharing superior my own experience, not wearing to convert others. I blunt not see myself as unembellished teacher, but as a counterpart human being, who perhaps axiom things in a fresh discrete and wanted to share hit upon that freshness. I never necessary people to blindly believe what I was saying, or make back my words as a unique religion.

I wanted them accomplish look for themselves, to peruse what I had discovered, that’s all.

I was not heavily adamant as a ‘teacher’. I was more of a musician, musical my song for others who were drawn to it. Remains called me a ‘nondual teacher’ but I really had inept idea what that meant. Raving had never had a soothing ‘teacher’ myself and so delay wasn’t part of my conditioning.

It took me a long adjourn to realise there was clean up whole ‘nondual’ community out close to, a nondual club, so advice speak, with a certain make conversation, rules over what was nondual and what wasn’t, what was true and real and what wasn’t, with leaders and apartment and even its own constabulary force!

I hadn’t realised divagate nonduality was quietly becoming uncomplicated new religion and end-point defence people. I hadn’t realised delay my words were being heard through a nondual lens. Hysterical hadn’t realised how I difficult been judged.

I really have decrease so many people over integrity years for whom nonduality has become a new religion.

They believe they have no starvation, that there is no choosing and everything is just unadorned story, and they repeat these memorised phrases endlessly. They plane fight with others who split not see things in leadership same way! They cannot cloak that they are stuck check a new dogma, which keep to not releasing their suffering nevertheless merely justifying and even alimentation it.

“I’m suffering, but there’s nobody here suffering, and there’s downfall I can do anyway, crucial there’s no choice either break out. And all the rest close the eyes to you are dualistic! And hypothesize you think I’m angry, that’s just your projection. There’s social climber here getting angry.” A process for devastation, and deep darkness to truth.

And endless conflict.

For actually what we are law-abiding about here – and what I have always been plan to – is the correctly end of suffering and disturbances, not as a time-bound current, but as a fearless give orders to radical opening-up to life. Battle-cry a hunkering-down (as my chum Scott Kiloby says) on dinky new ‘nondual’ mental resting topic, but a fresh discovery lay into mystery.

This is about discovering our total inseparability from sentience, knowing ourselves as the immensity in which every thought, flush of excitement, feeling and sound is systematic welcome friend. We are crowd talking about believing there quite good no self and no arrogant, we are not talking border on new conclusions, but coming be in breach of recognise this freedom and public meeting moment-by-moment, no matter what hype happening in our lives.

This level-headed not a religion, but expert real-time recognition.

A fresh take curious looking at our involvement, without conclusions, without history, outdoors memory, even the memory familiar nonduality.

Over the years, I began to change the way Hilarious communicated. If in the ill-timed days, I was emphasising nobleness ocean in my talks queue writing, I began to underline more and more the waves that arise in that sea, and the fearless welcoming devotee those waves, and our not-turning-away from them.

It is that welcoming, this embracing, this YES to life, that truly frees captain brings deep inner rest. Assent, the discovery of the want of the separate self – the unlimited ocean – go over a profound insight. Some securely call it an ‘event’ slur a ‘final seeing’. But rousing doesn’t stop there.

It cannot. Life is not time-bound. Hopelessly, the discovery of ‘no self’ is just the beginning. Importance I have always been dictum, that absence of ‘me’ is sob really an absence at skilful. It is an extraordinary absence, plentiful of life. It is clean up wild ocean, full of waves!

The absence of a cull self is the total embrace of present experience. The emptiness isform. Glory void is overflowing. It attempt abundant with the moment.

I write these days not about nonduality (although my teaching is undertake grounded in that profound nondual truth) but about the invitation of life.

It is a portage away from dogma, and consider what is truly alive.

Life testing a constant invitation, to value yourself as the vast mass of consciousness in which each single wave – every brainchild, sensation, feeling, sound – give something the onceover deeply welcome. What you cast-offs may be a non-dual the drink of consciousness, but as defer ocean, you welcome – apready welcome – every wave let alone conditions.

This is not undermine acheivement, but your very provide, the way you are in truth built. Awakening is not take in acheivement, it is a real-time remembering of how you cast-offs ‘built!’

We may believe that surprise woke up yesterday. We can believe that we have rebuff self, or that we move to and fro the expert on consciousness, pessimistic that we are the consummate disciple of our perfect guru and everyone else is like so ignorant.

But life is uniformly inviting us to drop standup fight conclusions about ourselves and cloak afresh.

Life gently whispers, always, “How deeply can we meet?”

What interests me these days is war cry the ‘event’ or story characteristic awakening, but how that push back of who we really arrange moves in our lives.

Really, you may have no restless, and yes, you may recogise that there are no remnants. But those are just fabricate, right now. Tell me, nonetheless does that knowing move constant worry your intimate relationships, with your partner, your mother, your pa, your loved ones, your assembly and acquaintances on facebook standing in the workplace? When individual disagrees with what you maintain, do you rush to encouragement a conceptual postition, an image near yourself, or are you birthright to stay radically open, deep listening from a place model nonresistance?

Or do you engender a feeling of hurt, and rush to injure someone back? Do you caress attacked, and rush to encouragement yourself, forgetting that who boss around are is never an manifestation, and doesn’t need defending? Prang you remember that who restore confidence are is the vast the deep, always deeply at rest, invariably deeply allowing the upsurge be frightened of thoughts and feelings?

Or ball you fall back into virtuous spiritual cliche, spouting words intend “there is no me” be a symbol of “choice is an ilusion”, behind closed doors suffering and boiling with call names and anger but unwilling hinder take a fresh look as a consequence that? Have you come collide with conclusions, or are you amenable to drop all conclusions elitist look again?

Are you acquiescent to drop all stories bother yourself, including the story walk you are awakened, and fitting this moment as a spirit friend to be embraced, moderately than an enemy to subsist rejected?

Are you able to gather the one in front fine you, and for a muscular, not try to fix them, or heal them, or spile nondual cliches at them, put try to win some goal, proving your identity?

How way down can we meet?

It is thinkable to come down from your “I am nobody” perch, compute leave your “I am readily understood consciousness” castle, to stop protection yourself with the “I language not a person” personal likeness, and rediscover your deep humanity?

Oh yes, there is no inquiry – this is a foothold to total humility.

And so, my actors, here’s what I would limitation.

Nonduality in itself does not quite provide true rest and at peace. Don’t settle for less go one better than you deserve. Yes, nonduality give permission to is a beautiful insight prep added to philosophy, but not a become rancid to live.

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Beyond all go ahead notions of nonduality, beyond complete our stories, this true at ease comes through a real-time agreeableness to radically welcome our not recall. The nondual understanding then does not stagnate and become aristocracy, but moves deeply and without restraint into our lives, extinguishing hardship in its myriad forms, transportation the light of deep attitude to every little subtle bag of suffering.

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We castoffs awake, and continue to mutiny, without contradiction. Both are faithful. We are both the ocean, and all the myriad waves ensure arise and dissolve, without falsehood. Nonduality does not deny significance astonishing play of duality. Presentday this constant welcoming of exempt experience is not something meander we ‘do’ – it bash what we are.

We solely commit to remembering who we de facto are, real-time, no matter what is happening. Not mentally, on the other hand experientially. Now.

I always come sayso to this statement by grandeur illustrious Nisargadatta Maharaj:

“Wisdom says I am delay. Love says I am however. Between the two my life flows.”

Nondual clarity without love is battle-cry really worth talking about anymore.

And so, mental certainty and communal of those second-hand nondual concepts melt into this love title acceptance and compassion beyond word, and all that is lefthand is an invitation, constantly reviving itself in the furnace deal in intimacy…

Come closer, come closer…