This is a response to a question from someone in my ‘Living Inquiry, Endless Surrender’ year long course.
What we are exploring in this course comes under the rubric of ‘nondual’ practice or awareness, and it is, in fact, very different from traditional spirituality and therapy.
The main difference is very simple: the nondual approach is about recognizing and resting in what is already here-unconditioned presence or awareness. So there really is no journey to make, on that level, at all. The journey is more about getting used to what is here, aligning ourselves with a way of being that doesn’t experience anything as missing, or wrong, or needing improvement.
In traditional practices there is a lot of effort and striving-in the nondual approach there is an ongoing discovery of your effortless being.
I think there is a time and place for more traditional approaches. And I think we also get tired of the striving, at a certain point, and are ready for something else.
I wouldn’t say that I ‘turned away’ from my practice in India-I simply outgrew it. It fell away from me, I think. And I was very happy to say goodbye to it.
Another key distinction is that most traditional practices are about getting to a certain state. Because all states and experiences are transitory, this is ultimately very unfullfilling.
The inquiry and contemplation we engage in during this course are not about getting to a certain state or achieving any particular experience. They are just ways of seeing through our conditioning, so that we can rest as we are, right here and now.
Does this mean that the stories and beliefs dissolve and disappear and never come back? Not at all. Stories go on and on and on. And we no longer have to believe them, even when they vividly appear. We can rest, awake and alive, in the space where not a single thought is true. Even though they appear to be so real. Even though each thought invites us into a three dimensional universe-if we believe it.
To find out more about discovering the freedom and clarity of nondual awareness:“Effortless Presence-90 Days of Awakening” A coaching program designed for you, as you are, right now
