Nonduality points at that which cannot be spoken, yet contains all words because it’s literally all that is and is not… it’s EVERYTHING and NOTHING simultaneously… even the illusion of separation is included.
Nothing is left out of all that is. Confusion? Check. Anger? Check. Fun. Check. Fear. Check. Love. Check. Frustration. Check. Not getting “it.” Check. Seeing that there’s no one to get “it.” Check. There is no escape from all that is and there is no losing all that is.
Michael Jeffreys
Nothing APPEARING as something…
…the “me” wants anything but THIS, but what IS.
Michael Jeffreys
Consider your last sleeping dream. There was a character, the star of the dream, “you”!, that was seemingly doing all kinds of things within the dream and experiencing all kinds of experiences, some pleasurable and some not pleasurable.
Looking from your present awakened state here/now, what independent power did this dream character ever actually possess?
None. The dream itself dictates 100% what ALL the dream characters within the dream do and don’t do, what appears to exist and what doesn’t appear to exist, what appears to happen and what doesn’t appear to happen, etc.
However, imagine if part of the dream character’s make-up/design included a sense of free-will/autonomy. That within the dream it imagined it could do whatever it wanted by controlling if not the entire dream, at least certain portions of it.
Now, the truth is the dream character is not separate from the dream and thus it is not possible for it to do anything except for what the dream dictates, i.e., what happens next in the dream!
You can further Imagine how much suffering this dream character would be experiencing if it thought/believed otherwise, i.e., that it did indeed have power over the dream in some way, shape or form.
Now, let’s imagine even further that you could enter your next sleeping dream and tell the star of the dream, this dream character “you,” that in fact it is not real, only a dream character, and thus it has no free will whatsoever and never did!
What do you think its reaction would be? Would it just suddenly believe you, or more likely would it argue and insist that it does have free will because it was taught it does (“Your responsible for your actions.”), and more importantly, because it thinks/feels/believes it does?
And suppose you explained to it that that too is part of the dream. That this sense of having free will/control is built into the dream character, just like its hair color, height, skin color, etc.
Would it believe you?
Probably not.
Michael Jeffreys
There is one Universal Power doing everything. Thus, any sense of a “personal doer” is not actually a “personal doer,” but an expression of the one Universal Power which is doing everything. There is no Universal Power AND a separate “me.” There is only Universal Power of which the sense of being a “me” is one of countless projections… for no one.
Michael Jeffreys
If “you” did not exist at birth,
“you” do not exist now.
-Michael Jeffreys
What am “I” holding onto in this moment? NOTICE! Right now. Become AWARE. Because if there is an “I” present, there will be (usually unconsciously) clinging or trying to hold on to something. E.g., a precious identity, a self thought, an other thought, a feeling, a past memory, a future event, an object, a person, a place, etc.
Let go of everything. Now notice what is still being held onto. Now let go of that. Now notice what is still being held onto. Now let go of that… don’t stop until “you’ve” let go of everything. Now let go of “you.”
Michael Jeffreys
Full size downloadable image here: https://ibb.co/dhMz6a
Have you ever come back to a spiritual teacher and suddenly heard them in a new, deeper, more profound way?
I heard Vernon Howard several years ago but he didn’t knock me over (because I understood so little of what he was actually saying). However, now? Now I find his teaching to be one of the most direct and compassionate, because he doesn’t BS around one iota.
You are not what you think you are, you are not the imposter self that you currently take yourself to be. What’s more, you are in love with your imposter self and thus your suffering continues right up to this very moment!
That until you are 100% clear that YOU are the problem, no one else, the suffering will continue. Only when you admit you are totally helpless and clueless and can do nothing whatsoever via your own power… when you at long last give it up totally and completely, that is the first step towards real freedom. “I can of mine own self do nothing.” -John 5:30
Michael Jeffreys
p.s. Below is a youtube link to one of Vernon’s many amazing and life changing talks, Lose Helplessness And Find Real Power.
“Your thoughts do not belong to you at all.” -Vernon Howard
Q: How can I become aware of my ego?
MICHAEL: Step 1: Insert your name in the following sentence where it says “INSERT YOUR NAME”:
(INSERT YOUR NAME) prejudges every moment. (INSERT YOUR NAME) always intrudes and imposes his/her own views upon the moment. (INSERT YOUR NAME) is never fair. (INSERT YOUR NAME) is always partial.
So, for me it looks like this:
MICHAEL prejudges every moment. MICHAEL always intrudes and imposes his own views upon the moment. MICHAEL is never fair. MICHAEL is always partial.
Your turn.
Step 2: Now read the short paragraph (with your name in it) 100 times.
