July 28, 2019

July Satsang Gems (from our weekly Sunday online meetings)

Fred Davis

What we are all looking for is distraction, because consciousness is a heavy burden to bear. Consciousness is constantly and unsatisfiably looking for something else. When we come to the realization that these units are unsatisfiable, we relax our grip. We begin to sit with it as it is, because that is all there is. Initially this will be uncomfortable, and will remain so as long as there is a comfort seeker. Recognize that there can be discomfort without it actually being ours.
Noticing but not doing is the deal, because it’s the noticing of the absence of the doer. That’s not something we can do. Initially, it’s Awakeness abandoning the story, but then it picks it back up again. Rinse and repeat; each time it gets easier.
Identification of the body always seems to be a sticking point from the absolute. There is no graduation to permanent no-self. We are always clearing out Fred: Awakeness noticing the absence of Fred.
I am not the thing that the Tao is acting upon; I am the Tao.
Awakeness is not omnipotent. It’s powerless. But Awakeness does seem to influence itself to awaken.
By the time you or I can see something, it’s already been accepted, exactly as it is. Cooperate with the current inevitable.
Thoughts arise, beliefs arise. Beliefs are just a second type of thought, and equally impermanent. But they typically will not go unless questioned. Many seekers have a certain wakefulness, but this is not the same as clarity. We must be alert enough to question beliefs.
Inquiry does itself. But it will not occur in the absence of alertness. We gradually exchange the pattern of automated belief for the pattern of inquiry.
The character doesn’t move in and out of clarity, clarity moves in and out through the unit.
Oscillation is a high quality problem.