Knowledge and Religion

So what is the experience of nonduality anyway?

Well, in the blog, “The most basic thing in the universe,” we used inner research to establish that the world is in us, not us in the world, as we usually think. With this experiential understanding we can take a look at today’s question: what is nonduality?

Nonduality means not two. This means that there aren’t really two substances in the universe; not people and God, man and woman, material and thought, humans and animals, good and evil, right and wrong; in fact all the opposites that seem to comprise the universe aren’t true. They are just ways that the limited mind attempts to get a handle on something that it can’t fully know.
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself and to others when you get Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

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Objects are too small to know the expanse of Consciousness

The most basic thing in the universe

In the blog Albert Einstein and A theory of Everything, we attempted to find where the world sits and we discovered some surprising results. The world that we thought was out there is really in here. We discovered this by separating Consciousness from the objects that we see. We then saw that Consciousness was not bound to any separate observer, which is just an object in Consciousness and not Consciousness itself.

Then we saw that we could find the nature of this Consciousness, not as a separate thing but as our real identity. In other words, you are Consciousness. And finally we saw that Consciousness is the still background that allows us to see motion.

What is the most basic particle in the universe?
But we didn’t really answer one question, what is the smallest, most basic particle in the universe. So now let’s look into the nature of our mind. When we are done I think you will see why scientists seem to have so much trouble with this question. It is because at its most basic level the universe is non-conceptual and therefore does not fit our definitions.
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself and to others when you get Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

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The scientists question is: Is the universe a particle or a wave? Like light, the universe seems to have the properties of both. For us the way out of this dilemma is through internal research, where we get to separate what we are supposed to experience, from what we actually do experience. The results of this type of experimentation will amaze you. When you look carefully, you find that you can actually see the substance of the universe. And that’s without any external instruments.

Finding that which transcends death

Kirk had another question about how we perceive things, or how we are aware when we die:

After we die how can we look, see, or be aware of anything.-This has been my stumbling block in this nondual seeking of mine for the past 40 years.

Thank you michael you are doing a fantastic job, love your web site.

kirk [lost in reality somehow]

Hi Kirk,

It is good that you have this burning question on death. It will keep you from stopping with a mere intellectual appreciation of nonduality. Waking up to this truth is literally dying before you die. At the most, words can point to this state, which is beyond the reach of words and thoughts.

If you are wiling to take this as an allegory, instead of a factual account of history, the Easter story is a great description of dying and then waking up.

Continue with self examination even if it seems painful
When you die you get to face the limiting frameworks that you placed on your mind, without the dullness that causes us not to question them. When you face these frameworks, at first they may seem intense and painful. Remember the quote, “Why has thou forsaken me.” When you see a limitation and begin to examine it, in some ways you feel like you are on a cross; not an external cross, but the pain of facing the limitations that you took to be true. Just know that at times the process of self examination can seem painful, but is the end you will discover that which is free of pain and death.
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself and to others when you get Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

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These limitations have their root in what you take the world, your mind, your life, or yourself to be. They then play out in every detail of your life, in your actions, fears, anxieties, and relationships, etc. If you can ferret out even one of these frameworks, and look at it with fresh eyes, you will destroy it. Then where there was once limitation, there will be empty space and relief. It feels like being reborn.

Introspection is a skill that you can develop
This sense of introspection is a skill that you can develop. Let’s put it this way. I was a martial artist and jock. If I could develop this sense of introspection, you surely can. In fact everyone who reads this blog has a much better chance of developing it than I had.

Now I know that developing this self criticalness is not as sexy as just thinking it and bang you are there. But if your aim is to die so you never die again, it is imperative that you destroy the little definitions that make you up.

Three helpful qualities that will serve you well
Here are three qualities that will help you: First, be brutally honest. Don’t make yourself look one ounce better than you really are. In some ways when you hold the mirror of truth up to yourself in can be disconcerting. So here’s the second quality: Do not judge yourself. Remember the quote, “Judge not and you shall not be judged.” This is a description of the way to practice. And finally be patient. Just when you think your practice is going nowhere you can have a major breakthrough. That's because what you are looking for is right here; it is not far away. The kingdom of heaven is really at hand.

Once you experience the destruction of these conceptual limitations, and the freedom that you feel, you will be ready to destroy every limitation that seems to make you up. But at the end, long before you get to the last concept, you will see and destroy the root idea, the sense of a separate I. That is when you are reborn in your true form.

You do not see truth, you are the truth
Then you will stand in your original state where nothing is separate. It is from here that you will know how you transcend death. This will not be intellectual knowledge, but the experience that can only come from your original identity. In the stillness of being, you get to see things as they are. I hope that this helps.

For more information on this go to: “Finding your freedom when you're out of sorts.” another blog in this series. See:

Also in the book “Making your Wisdom Come Alive,” I described this self examination in more detail with examples from my own life.

Feel free to ask questions
Now I want you to experience your true identity in its full glory. So please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                        Best Wishes,

                                                                        Michael Gluckman

Free Download: Best of the Blogs on Wisdom

You are welcome to download this free 36 page compilation, which includes some of the best blogs on this site. They were revised to make them even better.

To download just click on this link: BestOfTheBlogsOnWisdom.pdf

Here is a list of the blogs included:

3:  A celebration of freedom                                                                      
3:  What is the world anyway?                                                                
5:  How to find the right meditation technique                                              
7:  Can you die before you die?                                                                          
8:  The secret of returning to the source                                                            
10: Navigating the ups and downs of the world                                                 
11: Are you pushed by suffering or pulled by Bliss?                                          
13: Dealing With Obstacles In Your Practice                                                      
15: Freeing yourself from tension and stress                                                     
17: The Secret of the Virgin Birth                                                                      
19: Easter, A Celebration of what’s Inside                                                          
21: The secret of the miracle of the eternal light                                               
22: Are we really awake when we are asleep                                                      
24: The difference between thinking about Awareness and
      standing there     
26: How did we get here, a different view of time?                                         
29: What is the Universe Made Of?                                                                 
31: A Brighter Future for the World Economy                                                
33: Are You Sure Of Your Knowledge                                                             
35: The Wisdom and Love of Brigit 

                                                                

To download just click on this link: BestOfTheBlogsOnWisdom.pdf

Feel free to ask questions
Now I want you to experience your true identity in its full glory. So please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                        Best Wishes,

                                                                        Michael Gluckman

Finding your freedom when you're out of sorts

Did you ever have a day when you seemed out of sorts and you wondered: What’s going on? Or did you ever feel that the whole world was conspiring against you? Here’s the rule that we use. Suffering is not natural; so when you suffer in any way and to any degree, it is time to practice. And since our practice is Self Knowledge, it is time to find the limiting definitions of yourself that you take to be true.

A thought cannot define you
We call these limiting definitions concepts, which are really just groups of thoughts that you repeat over and over again until they seem normal. Such thoughts as: “The world is a tough place,” and “I can’t,” are just thoughts, and thoughts are too limited to define your real experience.

Did you notice we are not talking about changing our thoughts? Rather, our job is to step out of limitation and into our natural state of freedom. This is a quick definition of the process of Self-Knowledge. We do not try to dissolve suffering, by changing our mind. Rather we see that any concept is too limited,and cannot define us. When we misidentify with concepts and take them to be us, our job becomes to recognize a concept as just a concept, and not a real definition for me.

When you see limitation as limitation, you find your freedom
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself and to others when you get Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

___________________________________________________________________

Oftentimes people think that resolving suffering is a two step process. First you recognize your suffering like, “I am angry.” Then you endeavor to fix the anger. You think, “When I never get angry again I will be free.” With this type of thinking, your freedom depends on the lack of anger.

But the beauty of Self-Knowledge is it is a one step process. Once you see the cause of your anger or other suffering, you are automatically free. That’s because you are standing as Awareness and not as a state of mind. The resolve for your suffering comes from the freedom you feel, and does not depend on an action or state of mind. In fact, because you will be standing outside your old conceptual frameworks, your response to situations that seemed to cause suffering in the past may surprise you by being different than you expected.

On Your Identity

When you hear the words, “Know thyself,” it is confusing. “After all I am myself,” you may think, “so what is there to know?” It is true that you are yourself; but the problem is that you mix your self up with the objects that you see. Then you pretend to be just another object. Now I know that you don’t feel like an object. But because you attempt to know yourself through the body and mind, with all of their limitations, you look right past your real nature, which is free of limitation, and take your self to be a thing that you perceive.

Problems with limiting your identity to the body
This mistake may seem small, but the consequences are enormous. Taking yourself to be limited to the body, when the body gets old you get old; when the body gets sick you get sick; and when the body dies you die.

And problems with limiting your identity to the mind
Taking yourself to be the mind, when your thoughts change it feels as though you are changing. When your thoughts are good it feels like you are good, and when they are bad it feels like you are bad. When they are out-of-balance it feels as if you are out of balance.
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself and to others when you get Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

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You then may feel that the next step is to fix the body and the mind. But somehow you never quite get it right. Even if you can stay healthy for a few years, in time something goes wrong with the body. And even if you can hold the “right thoughts” for a few moments, as soon as you stop looking, the “bad” ones seem to creep in.

Objects are too small to contain your identity
The reason for all of this trouble is that objects are too small to contain you. In other words if you can see it, it is too small. Because of their inherent limitations, you can never make the body and mind perfect enough to truly represent what you are. When you try to fix the limitations that you see, you just end up with irritation like a shoe that doesn’t quite fit.

This feeling of suffering is an indication that there must be a better way out. The secret is to step back into your real identity, which is unbounded Consciousness and Bliss. This is returning to the place where you really stand anyway, and throwing off limitations like worn out clothes. When you return to what you really are, things will finally feel right, and you will be at peace without having to fix a thing. You will be the stillness that sees the ever-changing universe.

Like the sun is light, you are Consciousness
So if you want to find real stability, it’s worth spending time to meditate and find the real sense of I. It is greater than any thought can contain. Although you can’t stand separate and look at yourself as though you were an object, you can still know yourself; that’s because you are yourself. This means that you can know yourself directly, without needing a separate being to perceive you. Rather you know the light of Consciousness because that’s what you are. Standing here, all confusion comes to an end and you see things clearly.

Feel free to ask questions
Now I want you to experience your true identity in its full glory. So please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                        Best Wishes,

                                                                        Michael Gluckman