My photo from the October 28 post (the horses and the tree) is up for Travel Photo of the Week on MSNBC–so head on over there and vote for it if you liked it. It’s only the second time I’ve ever submitted a photo to a contest–I just liked the shot.

Spent yesterday exploring the coast north of LA. Very beautiful. The traffic isn’t as bad as you hear–S. FL (where I’m from) is much worse.

Today I had lunch with Chandi, the woman who interviewed me a few weeks ago. We’ve known each other virtually for a few years (six?) but we’d never met until today. Seeing her and talking about enlightenment and spirituality really helped clarify some points to my “message.” A sign of a great interaction is when everyone leaves feeling as if they’ve helped the other and been helped themselves. Felt good.

Drifting south. When the personal self drops, so does a lot of motivation. They don’t tell you about this in Enlightenment School.

What motivates you when there is no you?

It’s a bit disconcerting, but I know some (higher? natural? primal? spiritual?) motivation will come along to fill in the hole that was left behind when the ego fled. How can it not?

Oneness. A daffodil is seen, but there is only Living. A bird sings but there is only Singing. Though the mind says, “I am walking through the forest,” there is only Walking.

There are no trees in the forest, just Growing. There is no breeze, just Breeze-ing.

There is Breathing, Shining, Clouding, Chirping.

Seeing is as intimate as Touching–Hearing as intimate as Tasting.

All borders and boundaries drop away. There is only Oneness. You are gone, dropped away into the Oneness. The trees, the sky, the clouds, the rivers, turtles, frogs, and deer all drop away into the Oneness.

There is Seeing, but there are no things seen. There is Thinking, but no thoughts grasped. There is the Feel of sand between your toes, but no sand and no toes and no you.

Though the mind says, “Sparrow,” there is only Living.

Stillness. Thoughts drop away. Movement ceases. Time no longer has meaning.

The eye rests on a flower–the colors, the textures, the subtle shape and softness. A raven caws in the distance and the sound, like music, rises then drops away into nothingness. A breath is drawn, held momentarily, and a faint lightness is felt as Life celebrates another moment in the body.

Stillness. This is the Eternal Now. The past is seen as a collection of ancient and dusty thoughts. The future as fantasies and imagination. In this moment, there can be no ego, not personal story. In the Moment, there is only Reality.

Stillness is a release. It is a letting go. It is surrender.

In Stillness there is no trying, no manipulating, no doing.

In Stillness, there is only being, only total acceptance.

—

Tomorrow: The Enlightenment of Oneness.

Passion. A flower, turning gradually, follows the sun as it arcs across the sky. Two kittens, one crouching down while the other rears on hind legs in a playful attack. A lone sparrow, high in a deep forest pine, sings joyfully. A young woman, taking the arm of her companion, nuzzles close in the cool evening air.

Passion. Life living. For a lack of better words: Love and Light flowing through. All creatures experience it. All creatures are alive because of it. It is the Tao within everything. It is Spirit. It is the Divine Essence. It is the Beloved.

Passionate Enlightenment feels like Light and Love flowing through you. It feels as if you are nothing but an outline, a thin portal for the Divine to enter the world.

This is the love that Christ taught. This is the compassion of the Dalai Lama. This is the non-violence of Gandhi.

Passion is Moving. It is Flowing. It is Beauty and Appreciation and Radiance. It is Life living through Life.

—

Tomorrow: The Enlightenment of Stillness.

Though there are many aspects to enlightenment, my “center” seems to shift and flow primarily through these three states:

• Passion (Love)
• Stillness (Presence)
• Oneness (Clarity)

The Enlightenment of Passion is Yang (Active), the Enlightenment of Stillness is Yin (Passive), and beyond both–arising from the merging of the two–is the Enlightenment of Oneness.

Update November 17, 2009: Download a guided meditation to help you experience The Three Enlightenments.

—

Tomorrow: The Enlightenment of Passion.

Feeling the pull for a change of atmosphere, I traveled south over the last few days, eventually finding a quiet camp at the foot of the Sierra mountains outside of Bishop, California. There is a tiny brook babbling near my rig and a few campers have set up tents a half mile or so upstream.

Though it is high desert country, the water from the brook feeds the trees and shrubs producing a line of foliage through the rocks and sand and hills. Birds nest here and, doing what birds do best, chirp and flitter about. The air is clear and clean and blue and the snow on the mountains contrasts nicely with the browns and grays and golds of the lower hills.

The isolation, the nature, and the beauty help clarify the message that seems to be circulating within me–a message that seems to want to be told. It’s futile to fight this “movement,” futile to try to make things happen–to bend it or use it. Lately it feels more natural to allow Life to live through me rather than for me.

I sit outside and look up into the mountains. It’s quite peaceful here.

Confidence. It’s not something most would consider important in spiritual growth–but I’ve found it can have a profound effect on clearing your mind. At the Adyashanti satsang last week, I talked to a few different people about just this subject…

(more…)

Last week, I went to see Adyashanti who was holding satsangs (talks) in Portland. At the end, during the concluding question and answer portion, I raised my hand and, when called on, approached the microphone…

(more…)

In the West, few, if any, enlightenment teachers (Advaita Vedanta, Non-Dualism, etc.) provide a practical way to cross the Void–the gulf between Ego Consciousness and Enlightened Awareness.

This is no fault of theirs. The teachers listed above can only teach what they know–what they have experienced. Since most of today’s enlightened teachers “stumbled” upon enlightenment, they have little, if anything, to say about a way across the chasm separating them from their students.

But there is a practical and teachable way to cross the expanse, and–though I mostly found it by accident–the path follows traditional and ancient teachings…
(more…)

The former seeker–having negotiated the Lands of the Instinctual Body, of the Noisy Thoughts, of the Divine Soul, and the Serene Witness–can now travel freely. At once One and Separate, at once Whole and Empty, he is no longer anchored–no longer bound to any one land. At once Divine and Human, he is now free to wander wherever the Light and the Wind lead him.

There’s nothing special about him–anyone can cross the Bridge.

With determination and patience, any spiritual seeker can transverse the Void and find the absolute freedom of their True Nature.

As the spiritual seeker stumbles further across the Bridge of Light, his footing gradually steadies as the last of his ego burns away in the power of the Divine Flame.

Resting easily now, standing midway across the vast expanse of the Bridge, the seeker looks down into the Pit and is surprised that what was once seen as an impenetrable and forbidding darkness is now seen as a glowing, radiant Light. Flowing upward from the Light is a warm, Divine Wind–the Wind of Passion, Love, and Wisdom.

Immersed in the Wind and Light, the seeker steadily makes his way across the Bridge. As he approaches the Plateau on the far side, he notices a shift in the Wind–a radical change in its direction. From behind, the Wind now blows through him.

In a moment of clarity, he realizes that his former, solid self, is now nothing more than a mere outline, a subtle archway, an open portal from which the Light and Wind flow through.

Hidden deep within the forest of religion, myth, and conjecture–along a forgotten and overgrown trail at the very edge of the Land of Joy and Sorrow–lies a magnificent, ancient bridge. This bridge, often considered a legend–a fairy tale told to children at bedtime–humbles any spiritual seeker who is fortunate enough to stumble upon it.

Radiating an ethereal Light, the bridge offers a direct route over the Pit. As the spiritual traveler takes his first, tentative steps across, he is brought to his knees in awe and humility as his entire being is suffused with Divine Light.

His ego, a stubborn collection of thoughts born in the Land of Joy and Sorrow–powerful thoughts which have cruelly bewitched him–is violently shaken. The Divine Spark–the God within each of us–flickers, flames and ignites the kindling of his False Self.

In the West, there are three well-known, living, spiritual teachers. Each found their way across the Pit to the Plateau: Eckhart Tolle, Gangaji, and Adyashanti. Each traversed the Pit in a different way…

(more…)

Unbeknownst to most, on the far side of the Pit of Doom, lies the Plateau of the Serene Witness. Most will only arrive here after their body has expired, the Darkness engulfs them, and the Light – a soothing and beckoning Presence – guides them to the other side.

Some though, a very rare few, will find their way here during this lifetime. From the Plateau, all the illusions of the Mind are seen through – evaporating like morning mist in the sunlight of day.

Having bodies, physical Pleasure and Pain are still felt, but having seen through the mental, artificial images of the mind, the roller-coaster of Joy and Sorrow gently comes to a halt.

For the residents of the Plateau – both the Living and the Dead – Bliss and Happiness prevail.

In each life, an ominous Specter looms, ready to toss us into the Dark Unknown. To the religious, this may appear as the Darkness that follows Death and precedes eternal judgment. To the atheist – eternal nothingness. To the spiritual seeker, the Void – the final release from the death-throes of the Ego. But to all, the Darkness is total and the outcome Uncertain.

When one casts their eyes into the terrible blackness of the Pit, a deep and primal fear arises. We imagine cold, rushing winds ripping at our bodies as we tumble helplessly into the impenetrable and endless darkness.

And yet, no matter how stubbornly we avert our eyes, for each of us, the Pit awaits.

Soon, Thoughts and Ego form. With a mental self firmly embedded in our psyche and the new ability to imagine a future, our lives become further removed from the foundation of Reality and the Eternal Present Moment.

Joyfully we imagine a future with a happy family and rewarding career.

Anxiously we imagine failing health, financial difficulties, and loss of love and life.

Insults and Compliments and Hopes and Fears send our imagined selves on a life-long roller-coaster of Joy and Sorrow.

And yet Reality – the pure, physical reality of the moment – is overlooked and discounted as meaningless.

Soon after birth – after separating from the oneness of Spirit – we experience the first waves of Sensual Pleasure and Physical Pain. With our new Body and Instincts we seek to sate our constant lust for sights and sounds and tastes and touches.

Powerful pleasure balanced by equally powerful pain – both the blessing and curse of having a Body – starts the Wheel of Pursuit and Avoidance spinning.

“The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.”

“Look, it cannot be seen – it is beyond form.”

“Listen, it cannot be heard – it is beyond sound.”

“Grasp, it cannot be held – it is intangible.”

“Stand before it and there is no beginning.”

“Follow it and there is no end.”

- The Tao Te Ching

Note: This morning, while pondering why my identity seems to constantly flow back and forth between the Light and the Witness and Pure Consciousness, I had this powerful insight into Ego, Enlightenment, the Void and Spirit. This series presents a map that has been forming in my mind – a map that explains why the jump from Ego to Enlightenment has historically been so difficult. Bear with me, and all will soon become clear. – W

Waiting. Not sure for what. Direction? Without an ego and all its desires, I feel a bit lost. Not sad, just… adrift. Waiting on a wind to guide me.

I was interviewed on KarmaCaffe by Chandi and Hakeem yesterday. You can listen to it online here if you so desire. The topic is “A Relationship of One” but we got sidetracked onto many aspects of my work and the changes I’ve been going through lately. I was on a cell phone and in my RV (during the rain) so the quality on my end wasn’t always the best, but it should be fairly easy to follow along.