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Jesus said to them:
“When you make the two one,
And when you make the inside like the outside
And the outside like the inside,
Then will you enter the Kingdom.”
“When you make the two one,
And when you make the inside like the outside
And the outside like the inside,
Then will you enter the Kingdom.”
- Gospel of Thomas
A quiet revolution in spirituality is taking
place. There is a growing sense that freedom
cannot be found in philosophies, religions, ideologies;
that it cannot be located in books, or reached
through lifetimes of intense spiritual practice;
that it cannot be passed on by enlightened or
awakened spiritual masters; that it cannot be
owned, cannot be taught, cannot be captured.
There is a growing sense that freedom is all
there is, that it goes right to the heart
of what you are, that it is constantly available
and costs nothing. And that’s what this
message, which I call Life Without A Centre,
points to: the absolute freedom right at the
heart of life. It’s a radical message,
to be sure. And yet it is as soft and gentle
as a kiss from a loved one.
This book is about is the possibility that
the spiritual search, and indeed all the seeking
of the mind, can come to an end, once and for
all. And in the absence of that search, there
can be a clear seeing that all there is, is Oneness.
And in the clarity of Oneness, life loses its
heaviness, and what is is always enough.
Some people have called this “spiritual
awakening”. But it’s not something
complicated. It’s not reserved for the
lucky few. It’s an awakening as simple
and obvious as the sound of the rain splish-splashing up
on the roof. It’s a bit like having a dream,
and getting lost in it, and then waking up, and
opening your eyes, and looking around and realising
that yes, of course, it was just a dream…
There is no condemnation of seeking here, or
of any religion or belief system. Seeking is
nothing more or less than a longing for Home,
a desperation to remember who you really are,
beyond name and form, beyond thoughts, beyond
concepts, beyond all beyonds. And the search
plays itself out, as it must. This is not to
condemn the seeking, but to point to the possibility
that it can fall away, to reveal something far
more explosive than the teachings of the world
ever promised.
This is not a new set of beliefs, a fresh collection
of ideas for the mind to chew on. No, this communication
uses words to go beyond words, to point something
that cannot really be spoken of. It is not a
teaching, not a communication from individual
to individual, but a sharing, from Oneness
to Oneness. A sharing that ends in a revelation
which completely transcends the dream of “me-and-you”.
And on some level, no more words are really
necessary: it is already complete. Oneness
is already perfectly whole, arising presently
as the chair, the floor, the table, the body,
the eyes, the nose, the arms, the legs, the heart
beating, the breathing. All of this is Oneness,
and nothing is out of place. And yet, for the
individual, perhaps this cannot yet be seen.
For the individual, there may be more reading,
more effort, more going to spiritual meetings,
and meditating, and trying to understand all
of this. And that’s exactly as it must
be. The teachings of nonduality will appear to
be relevant as long as there is an individual
there trying to grasp them. That is the only
purpose of these words: to be there, in
friendship and love, for that individual. To
meet them exactly where they are.
But when that individual dissolves into clarity,
when the search unravels, these pointers to the
ineffable will fall away too, and there will
only be the immediacy of what is, with nobody
there to know it. There will be a robin singing
in the tree, a car whooshing past on the road,
a cup of tea in your hand, and it will all be
the divine Mystery: you will never look for anything
else ever again, and there will be a complete
release from the burden of individuality. A perfectly
ordinary life will be lived, but nobody will
be living it. And, in joy and clarity, it
will be seen that there has only ever been
this freedom, and that all the seeking and suffering
of a lifetime played out in absolute innocence.
This is Part 1 of
extracts from Jeff's book 'The Revelation of
Oneness: Dialogues on Nonduality and Spiritual
Awakening'.
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