Dear Rupert,
It seems when our emotions take us we are lost in them, then we get upset about them, then ask what is the solution to them. First I thought that everything arises in consciousness, but that is not helping. Second, if it is true, then it is made of consciousness, but that also is not helping. Third, to become witness to it, is also not helping.
Is it worth going to all our problems, and if so how to overcome them? How to get one-pointedness, that devotion, that trust in truth, dhama, guru? Without them we cannot, because they are living this truth, correct? Is it knowledge that leads us to self-realisation? If so, then what knowledge gives us knowledge of ultimate reality? What is the obstacle to knowledge? What is the nature of this obstacle?
How is knowledge of consciousness attained? What are the means of knowledge, and why is self itself the ultimate means of knowledge? What is the role and purpose of the teacher in revealing this knowledge? What is the method used by the teacher to reveal this truth?
With love,
Kalapatapu
Dear Kalapatapu,
Kalapatapu:It seems when our emotions take us we are lost in them, then we get upset about them, then ask what is the solution to them.
Rupert:All psychological problems stem from the belief that you, I, consciousness, is limited by and located within the body. The solution is to cease imagining that we are such an entity. How do we cease to imagine this? By looking.
If we try to look towards whatever it is that is seeing these words, we do not know even in which direction to turn. It is not in any direction. Why? Because it does not have objective qualities. It is just present and conscious, hence it is called consciousness. It is untouchable by the mind and is therefore also known as peace. It knows no lack and is therefore known as happiness.
Nothing special needs to happen other than to see that you are already this ‘I’ of consciousness. It is impossible to be anything else. Take your stand as that. Be that knowingly.
All these problems are for the imagined ‘I’, not for the real ‘I’ of consciousness. Leave the problems alone. They thrive on the attempt to get rid of them.
How to get one-pointedness, that devotion, that trust in truth, dhama, guru? Without them we cannot, because they are living this truth, correct?
It is not necessary to force the mind to be one-pointed or devoted. The peace and happiness we seek is inherent in consciousness, but seemingly veiled by the belief that we are something other than consciousness. Simply cease imagining that you are a limited, located entity. See clearly that you are always only this consciousness. Stand as that.
What knowledge gives us knowledge of ultimate reality?
The experiential knowledge that consciousness is what I am and that it is not located or limited.
What is the obstacle to knowledge?
The belief and feeling that consciousness, ‘I’, is located and limited. As a result of not being clearly seen to be non-existent, the apparently separate entity is able to thrive undetected in the twilight zone of inadvertence. Clear seeing reveals it to be utterly non-existent.
How is knowledge of consciousness attained?
It cannot be attained because it is not an object. It alone is. See clearly that you, consciousness, are ever-present, not always present in time, but ever-present now, prior to and during the appearance of the mind. If we cannot find consciousness as an object, what validity is there to the belief that it is limited and located?
What are the means of knowledge, and why is self itself the ultimate means of knowledge?
The means of knowledge is clear seeing. The self is the ultimate means of knowledge because the self cannot be known by anything other than itself, such as a cup, a chair or a mind. Only the sun illumines the sun.
Ask yourself, ‘Am I present?’ The answer ‘Yes’ to this question comes from the experience of your own being. What is it that knows your own being? Only itself. Right there in the simple certainty of ‘I am’ is the experiential knowledge of being, that is, the knowing of being. Peace and happiness are simply other names for this knowing of our own being.
What is the role and purpose of the teacher in revealing this knowledge?
The teacher sees us as we truly are. Consciousness ‘in us’ stirs deeply when it is thus recognised for what it is and, as it were, begins to wake up. It is like when someone plays an A on a violin and, as a result, the A string of the piano nearby begins to resonate with it.
What is the method used by the teacher to reveal this truth?
Simply being himself is enough, although to begin with the student may need some explanations to overcome the obstructions in the mind.
This comes, as always, with my love,
Rupert
