We come from many backgrounds: many paths, teachers, books, opinions, ideas, and facts. Sometimes I wonder, of all the things I’ve been through which one makes the most sense?

            Sometimes we get very confused. Sometimes we don’t get confused at all. Sometimes everything is very, very clear. Other times nothing at all is clear. And this is life!

            We have so many religions. Sometimes I wonder, was a religion made by humans for us to have something to believe in? Does a religion come down from That that we can’t speak about and it makes us feel good? Does it come from both places?

            Is there a difference between the religions and the teachings of the beings that started these religions? There are many, many differences between their times and our time. I’ve looked at some of the things that Christ said and that Buddha said and that so many other magnificent beings said. The things that they said and the things that they did are very different from some of the religions that we have now which are supposedly based on these beings. It makes me wonder.

            Then we have concepts such as free will, karma, and predestination. I wonder about these things. The way we think about all these things makes a big, big difference in how we experience our lives. And we have many teachers that have spoken on these subjects.

            Then we have our daily lives, we have personality and self, and we have the word enlightenment. We have many things to consider. So when I’m here to talk about things that cannot be spoken about, which one of these things do I start on first? Which one of these things is more important?

            We also have the desire to continue. If we are honest with ourselves, I think most beings want to continue. When we hear someone say there is nothing to continue, we have a problem.

            Then if we have emptiness, what is emptiness? What is nothingness? Can something be nothing? The Buddha talked about having fullness in nothingness. How can we have fullness in nothingness? So—there are a lot of questions!

            What do we do with these questions? We can decide that we’re going to follow some kind of a path that has definite answers to these questions. If that’s our choice we can explore something that gives definite answers to any one of these topics. If we feel comfortable with those particular answers then we can follow this path, and we can move on within it. That’s one choice.

            Another choice is that we have no choice. Everything is predestined and therefore there is nothing we can do about anything—period. So there is nothing to do.

            A third choice is that there is nothing to follow as far as the absolute is concerned, but much to do in the relative world. This is very difficult. We have to take each one of the topics I just mentioned and look at it very carefully. We look at every one of them with our hearts, with our brains, with our experiences, with everything about us.

            We finally come to the conclusion

            that there is no one,

            there has never been anyone,

            who knows all the answers

            to these things.

            Is that good news or is that bad news? I don’t know. I think we have to be strong to take that news.

            Looking at all these different things and trying to find answers is the struggle I have had my whole life—looking at this and looking at that, trying to find out what is the difference between this and that. What is good about this particular way of looking at things and what is the advantage of the other way of looking at them? Trying to pinpoint the differences, and find something that made sense to me, led me to tremendous confusion.

            The reason I was so confused was that I was focused on the differences between all these things. I was looking at differences—as opposed to spending some time finding out what is the same about all these things.

            Is there something similar underneath all these teachings?

            we have to look at what might possibly be the same about all these beliefs.

            When we look at things that way, we start to find beautiful things that we like among all these teachings. And they all feel good! They all feel right. We don’t have to worry if something comes from this place or if it comes from that place—it just feels right! Then our knowing becomes much broader and is made up of all these things mixed together. Then we have no explanation about what we are. We are many, many things.

            But we still try to find some kind of a word or idea to express these things. Finally, we come to a conclusion that says there is nothing that can be said about what we are. Nothing at all. We have fallen in love with something we can’t express. We have a natural desire to speak about it. But it is something that is unspeakable. That’s the dilemma.

            Perhaps we eventually call this indefinable something absolute truth—or love, or consciousness, or god. We call it whatever we wish. And THAT is the essence that is underneath and determines everything else. Symbolically we can put That on one hand (holds up hand), and it will be the absolute truth of things.

            When we look at absolute truth,

            if we are honest and careful observers,

            we come to the conclusion that

            absolute truth is a magnificent mystery

            and it cannot be fully deciphered.

            It is a mystery beyond all mysteries and cannot be deciphered because in it are all the ultimate questions. Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? How are we to live? What is our place in all of this? What created god? What created god before god? What is the universe? How many universes do we have? What am I? What is going to happen to me? There are always questions. Those kinds of questions are interesting and we can talk about them, but they’re the questions that, as far as we can tell with the way the human brain is right now, we cannot possibly find the answers to.

            So, absolute truth is a mystery.

            Something is there

            that we can feel with our hearts

            even though we can’t explain it or discuss it.

            Something must exist, when we know we are here. When we look at the sky, at the trees, at the stars, at everything around us and we see the magnificence of existence, it doesn’t seem possible that there isn’t something underlying all of this.

            When we look at the way we are made, the way our universe exists, the way our body functions, the way we have billions and billions of cells inside of us, the way we have a whole universe inside of us—how can this just be for no reason? So we have—That!
                                                                                                                                   -anonymous

Chidvilas asks: "What is truth?"

Asking has to disappear; only then do you know. If you ask, "What is truth?" what are you asking? If I say A is truth, B is truth, C is truth, will that be the answer? If I say A is truth, then certainly A cannot be the truth: it is something else that I am using as synonymous with truth. If it is absolutely synonymous, then it will be a tautology. Then I can say, "Truth is truth," but that is silly, meaningless. Nothing is solved by it. If it is exactly the same, if A is truth, then it will mean truth is truth. If A is different, is not exactly truth, then I am falsifying. Then to say A is truth will be only approximate. And remember, there cannot be anything approximate. Either truth is or it is not. So I cannot say A is truth.

I cannot even say, "God is truth," because if God is truth then it is a tautology -- "Truth is truth." Then I'm not saying anything. If God is different from truth, then I am saying something, but then I am saying something wrong. Then God is different, then how can he be truth? If I say it is approximate, linguistically it looks alright, but it is not right. 'Approximately' means some lie is there, something false is there. Otherwise, why is it not a hundred percent truth? If it is ninety-nine percent truth then something is there which is not true. And truth and untruth cannot exist together, just as darkness and light cannot exist together -- because darkness is nothing but absence. Absence and presence cannot exist together, truth and untruth cannot exist together. Untruth is nothing but the absence of truth.

So no answer is possible, hence Jesus remained silent. But if you look at it with deep sympathy, if you look into the silence of Jesus, you will have an answer. Silence is the answer. Jesus is saying, "Be silent, as I am silent, and you will know" -- not saying it in words. It is a gesture, it is very, very Zen-like. In that moment when Jesus remained silent, he comes very close to the Zen approach, to the Buddhist approach. He is a Buddha in that moment. Buddha never answered these questions. He had eleven questions listed: wherever he would move his disciples would go around and declare to people, "Never ask these eleven questions of Buddha" -- questions which are fundamental, questions which are really significant. You could ask anything else, and Buddha was always ready to answer. But don't ask the fundamental, because the fundamental can only be experienced. And truth is the most fundamental; the very substance of existence is what truth is.

Go into the question. The question is significant, it is arising in your heart: "What is truth?" -- a desire to know that which is, is arising. Don't push it aside, go into it. Chidvilas, whenever it happens again, close your eyes, go into the question. Let the question become very, very focussed -- "What... is... truth?" Let there arise a great concentration. Forget everything, as if your whole life depends on this simple question, "What is truth?" Let it become a matter of life and death. And don't try to answer it, because you don't know the answer.

Answers may be coming -- the mind always tries to supply answers -- but see the fact that you don't know, that's why you are asking. So how can your mind supply you an answer? The mind knows not, so tell the mind, "Keep quiet." If you know, then there is no need for the question. You don't know, hence the question.

So don't be befooled by the mind's toys. It supplies toys: it says, "Look, it is written in the Bible. Look, it is written in the Upanishads. This is the answer. Look, this is written by Lao Tzu, this is the answer." The mind can throw all kinds of scriptures at you: the mind can quote, the mind can supply from the memory. You have heard many things, you have read many things; the mind carries all those memories. It can repeat in a mechanical way. But look into this phenomenon: that the mind knows not, and all that mind is repeating is borrowed. And the borrowed cannot help.

It happened at a railway crossing. The gates were closed, some train was to pass, and a man was sitting in his car, waiting for the train to pass, reading a book. A drunkard who was just sitting by the side of the gate came close, knocked on the air-conditioned car's window. The man opened the window and said, "What can I do for you? Do you need any help?"

And the bum said, "Yes, for two days I have not eaten anything at all. Can you give me two rupees? That will be enough for me, just two rupees."
The man laughed and said, "Never borrow and never lend money," and showed the book to the bum and said, "Shakespeare -- Shakespeare says so. Look."
The bum pulled out of his pocket a very dirty paperback and said to the man, "You sonofabitch -- D. H. Lawrence."

Beware of the mind. The mind goes on quoting, the mind knows all without knowing at all. The mind is a pretender. See into this phenomenon: this I call insight. It is not a question of thinking. If you think about it, it is again the mind. You have to see through and through. You have to look deeply into the very phenomenon, the functioning of the mind, how the mind functions. It borrows from here and there, it goes on borrowing and accumulating. It is a hoarder, a hoarder of knowledge. Mind becomes very knowledgeable, and then whenever you ask a question which is really important the mind gives a very unimportant answer to it -- futile, superficial, rubbish.

A man bought a parrot from a pet shop. The shop-owner assured him the bird would learn to say hello within half an hour. Back home he spent an hour 'helloing' to the parrot, but not a word from the bird. As he was turning away in sheer despair, the bird said, "Number engaged."

A parrot is a parrot. He must have heard it in the pet shop. And this man was going on and on, "Hello, hello, hello," and the bird was listening, and waiting for him to stop. Then he could say, "Number engaged!"

You can go on asking the mind, "What is truth, what is truth, what is truth?" And the moment you stop, the mind will immediately say, "Number engaged" or something. The mind will give you an answer. Beware of the mind.

The mind is the devil, there is no other devil. And it is your mind. This insight has to be developed -- of looking through and through. Cut the mind in two with a sharp blow of the sword. That sword is awareness. Cut the mind in two and go through it, go beyond it! And if you can go beyond the mind, through the mind, and a moment of no-mind arises in you, there is the answer -- not a verbal answer, not a scripture quoted, not in quotation marks, but authentically yours, an experience. Truth is an existential experience.

The question is immensely significant, but you will have to be very respectful towards the question. Don't be in a hurry to find any answer, otherwise some rubbish will kill the answer. Don't allow your mind to kill the question. And the way of the mind to kill the question is to supply answers, unlived, unexperienced.

You are truth! But it can happen only in utter silence, when not a single thought moves, when the mind has nothing to say, when not a single ripple is in your consciousness. When there is no ripple in your consciousness, your consciousness remains undistorted. When there is a ripple, there is a distortion.

Just go to a lake. Standing on the bank, look down at your reflection. If there are waves, ripples on the lake, and wind is blowing, your reflection is shaky. You cannot figure out what is what -- where is your nose and where are your eyes -- you can only guess. But when the lake is silent and the wind is not blowing and there is not a single ripple on the surface, suddenly you are there. In absolute perfection, the reflection is there. The lake becomes a mirror.

Whenever there is a thought moving in your consciousness it distorts. And there are many thoughts, millions of thoughts, continuously rushing, and it is always rush-hour. Twenty-four hours a day it is rush-hour, and the traffic goes on and on and on, and each thought is associated with thousands of other thoughts. They are all holding hands and linked together and interlinked, and the whole crowd is rushing around you. How can you know what truth is? Get out of this crowd.

That's what meditation is, that's what meditation is all about: a consciousness without mind, a consciousness without thoughts, a consciousness without any wavering -- an unwavering consciousness. Then it is there in all its beauty and benediction. Then truth is there -- call it God, call it nirvana, or whatsoever you like to call it. It is there, and it is there as an experience. You are in it and it is in you.

Use this question. Make it more penetrating. Make it so penetrating; put everything at stake so that the mind cannot befool you by its superficial answers. Once the mind disappears, once the mind is no longer playing its old tricks, you will know what truth is. You will know it in silence. You will know it in thoughtless awareness.

 When we can accept that what we are is beyond name and form, when we can accept that what we are is isness itself, then we can see that no matter what is happening, the essence of what we are cannot possibly be affected by these things of name and form.

            Only the mind can be affected.

            Only the body can be affected.

            But our essence cannot be affected.

            This understanding,

            is what is known as enlightenment.

            Enlightenment isn’t any complex kind of a thing. Contrary to what we may believe, it’s not cannons firing into the sky and all of a sudden we know something that happens only to a select few and not to others. It isn’t that suddenly we are above it all and everything is perfectly smooth in our lives or that we no longer have to face the daily situations of life.

            We tend to say to ourselves—“How could I be enlightened? How can I think of myself as knowing, when I have done these terrible things or I have had these terrible thoughts during my life? It can’t be. That title has to be given to somebody that we revere and put on a pedestal.” But all these things we are saying to ourselves are just conceptions of a mind. Every being is enlightened. The only difference is that some people may not want to believe it.

            The mind believes that a holy person is supposed to do certain things and an unholy person does other things. The mind says that only holy people are enlightened and for me to be enlightened and to understand the truth, I must do certain things. I have to follow the footsteps of a great teacher. I have to read 55,000 books on the subject. I have to spend 10 years as a monk in some monastery. I have to go to Tibet—and on and on and on. And we do these things. But eventually there comes a time when we have to become courageous enough to say—

            I’ve had enough of all these various teachings.

            I know who I am.

            I’ve had enough of being a follower of this or that. I know who I am. If I know that I am consciousness, if I know that I am That that can’t be identified, if I know that I am beingness, who can possibly teach me anything of more importance on that subject?

            We call these meetings we do satsang— meaning association with truth. In association with truth, a true teacher is really not a teacher because in these things that I am discussing there is no teacher, no teaching, and no students. But we have all become accustomed to either being a teacher or a student. We feel comfortable in being one or the other. It requires bravery to listen to someone like me say that there is nothing further to do, nothing further to hear.

            We have to trust in our own intuitive Essence.

            We have to trust in this very, very tiny voice that once in a while tries to talk to us. But so often we slap it in the face and put it down. We say, “I couldn’t possibly be That. I’m not worthy of It.” But we are! It is already what we are.

            So if there is any practice to be done it is just being alert when this intuitive voice comes. Be with it. Spend time with the best friend that you will ever have. Spend time with who you are. Spend time with Consciousness.

            This little voice gets louder as time passes. It gets a little louder and you become better friends with that little voice. That voice becomes bigger and soon you fall in love with it.

            Your physical form, your mind, and who you are

            become a beautiful circle—

            all of you loving each other

            without being enemies to each other.

 

There is no huge bank of thoughts within you.  Thoughts are just going and going, one at a time, one at a time, one at a time.  If you try to do anything with them, they will go faster and faster because in your mind, there is no subtraction or division, there is only addition and multiplication.  Can you take away one thought forcefully?  Experiment and see: For the next 10 seconds, do not think about monkeys.  If you try not to think about something, only that will happen.  That is the nature of the mind. 

What is a thought? A thought is just a certain emanation, a certain surface fluctuation of the content that you hold in your mind. Your mind is like society's garbage bin; everybody that goes by stuffs something in your head. You have no choice as to what to receive and from whom. If you say "I don't like this person" you will receive much more from that person than from anybody else. Have you noticed this? If you say, "I don't want to have anything to do with that man," you will think about him more and more. The more you resist someone, the more he becomes a part of your consciousness.

If we look at your mind as a garbage bin, thoughts are like the smells that emanate. Do not understand this analogy as negative. A garbage bin is not useless; a garbage bin is very useful. Your house can do without a television and a telephone, but it cannot do without a garbage bin. If you use it when you want, if you open it and shut it when you want, it is a wonderful device. Without it, your whole house would become filthy. But if you decide to live in it, it is a horrible thing. Right now, that is all that has happened. There is nothing wrong with the content of your mind. It is better that you have all the filth in the world in your mind -- otherwise, you will walk into the filth and not know what is what. But now, you are constantly living in the mind, and it is such a torture for people. They don't know how to be out of it.

 The content of thought does not matter. If you hear the word "Buddha," you may think in terms of Gautama the Buddha. But Gautama is not the only Buddha; that was not his second name. His name was Gautama Siddhartha, and he became a Buddha. Buddhi means "intellect," or the logical dimension of your mind. Dha means "one who is above." So, one who is above his mind is a "Buddha." One who is in his mind is a nonstop suffering human being. Once you are in the mind, your suffering is inevitable. You may watch the sunset and forget your sufferings for a moment, but then you will turn back and see your fears, anxieties and troubles are right there. Once you are in the mind, there is fear and anxiety. You may get breaks here and there, but there is no release from it.

What is keeping this thought process continuously on is that you have identified yourself with things that you are not. You have identified yourself with your body, but the body is just an accumulation of food that you have eaten. Even if you own the chair you are sitting on, after some time, you will get identified with the chair. If your neighbor's child comes and scratches the polish, it will hurt deep in your heart; it will not just be a scratch on the chair. This is because you are capable of getting identified with anyone or anything that you come in touch with. Once you are identified with someone or something that you are not, the thought process is endless. It just goes on and on. It is like you have eaten very bad food, and now you have gas in your stomach. If you try to stop it, your stomach will bloat and burst. But you cannot stop it; it keeps going. Thought is just like this. You became identified with things that you are not, starting from your body, impressions that you take in, things around you and people, ideas, philosophies, slogans, etc., and now thought is an endless process. You try to do many things, but you cannot stop it. Even if you take a stick and hit the top of your head, it won't stop.

So, what can you do? Unidentify yourself with everything that you are not. Keep your house aside, keep your education aside, keep your husband aside, keep your children aside, keep your body aside, keep your mind aside, and keep your emotions aside. Care for them, take care of them, handle them -- but don't become that. If you are not identified with anything, if you are simply here, you will see there is no room for thought at all. Once you have this awareness, you will see thought is a conscious process. If you want to think, you think, otherwise there is nothing in your head, and that is how it should be. Just the beauty of emptiness.

Spiritual teachings suggest that there is no doer, that there is no separate self that is the source of our actions. This teaching often causes a lot of confusion, as it is contrary to our experience. It seems that there is a doer and that I am the doer: I get up in the morning, I walk the dog, and I drive to work. How do these things happen if there is no doer? And if there is no doer, then what do I do? How do I live my life if there is no one here to live it? What do I do if there is no doer?

This confusion exists because spiritual teachings point to something that doesn’t exist in the usual way. The nature of reality can’t be described or explained with words, and it can’t be experienced through the ordinary senses. In speaking about something that can’t be spoken about, the easiest approach is often to use negation. If you can’t speak directly about something, then you’re left with saying what it is not.

So spiritual teachings contain a lot of negation: There is no self. There is no doer. The world is an illusion. Not this. Not that. Negation can be effective in pointing us away from illusions, such as the idea of me, and other false and mistaken ideas. If you take a moment to look for yourself, you discover that there is no individual self, only an idea of a self. The “I” is just an idea. So in this sense, it is accurate to say that there is no self and no doer.

However, the mind can’t conceive of or even really experience nothing. If you are experiencing something, then that is by definition not nothing. So when the mind is pointed to nothing or to the absence of a self or a doer, it makes a picture or concept of nothing and thinks about that. If we are told there is no doer, the mind makes a picture of the absence of somebody, something like an empty chair or a broom sweeping by itself.

Again, this contradicts our actual experience: There is something in the chair when I sit down in it. The broom only sweeps when I pick it up and start sweeping. So there is obviously a distortion or inaccuracy in the approach of negation. While negation does evoke a certain experience of emptiness that can be spacious and restful, it doesn’t capture the totality of reality. It leaves out our actual experience of the real world.

Another approach is the opposite: Instead of saying there is no self, there is no world, and there is no doer, we can say there is only Self, the world is all one thing, and it is this totality of existence that does everything. In other words, everything sweeps the floor and sits in the chair. If we look deeply into our experience, we can see that there is some truth to this perspective. If we trace back all of the causes of any action, we see that there are an infinite number of influences or causes for the simplest action.

For example, you may sweep the floor because your mother taught you to keep a spotless house and your dad taught you to be responsible, not to mention all the other messages you received from the culture and society about cleanliness and responsibility. Add to that all the people that influenced your mom and dad and everyone else who ever had an impact on you. And what about all the factors that led to the particular path of evolution that gave you those opposable thumbs that allow you to use a broom? If you include all the factors at play when you pick up a broom and sweep, you can see how it might make sense to say that everyone and everything is sweeping the floor. There is a doer, but it isn’t you; it is everything. And by the way, all of these factors are at work if you don’t sweep the floor. Not doing something is just another thing we do.

This approach of including more and more instead of negating everything is also a useful teaching tool. It evokes a sense of the oneness and richness of life. But again, it doesn’t capture the actual experience of an action like sweeping. If only everything would sweep my floor, then I could go take a nap. Speaking about everything as the doer of everything that is done also doesn’t capture the sense of no self that is experienced when we look within using spiritual practices such as self-inquiry.

So if it isn’t complete to say that there is no doer, and if it isn’t complete to say that everything is the doer, what’s wrong with just saying that I sweep the floor, and be done with it? For purely practical purposes, saying “I” do something is enough. But as already noted, saying “I” leaves out the many rich and complex causes of our actions, and it leaves out the absence of a separate self that we discover when we look within. It also doesn’t suggest that there’s more to this reality than meets the eye.

So we are left with a dilemma: It’s incomplete to say that there is no doer, it’s incomplete to say that everything is the doer, and it’s incomplete to say that I am the doer. It’s like a multiple choice test where all of the answers are wrong! Yet, what is it like to not have an answer? What’s it like to hold the question even when you’ve exhausted all of the possible answers?

The question of what is going on here, what is this experience of doing, can be a rich experience in and of itself. Such a question can put us more in touch with our experience than any answer can. The question invites a direct sensing of the various levels of our experience. As the broom moves across the floor, is it possible to simultaneously experience the emptiness within, the richness of the oneness of all things, and the personal actions of our particular body? Why do we have to choose one?

And what about the original question, “What do I do?” Could this also be a rich opportunity to explore all the dimensions of existence? Why does there have to be a right answer? Can the question, itself, evoke a deeper sensing of life and an endless willingness to question again and again? What do I do now? And what about now? The gift may be in the question itself, not in some final answer. Life is unfolding in ever new and different ways, so maybe only in each new moment can we discover what the everything and nothing that we are is going to do next.

There is an assumption that spiritual teachings are supposed to bring us spiritual answers, that we are supposed to finally get somewhere. But what if the point of this spiritual journey is the journey itself? What if the answers are true and relevant when they arise, but they become irrelevant in the next breath? So perhaps the question of what to do isn’t meant to ever be done with or fully answered. Letting go of the idea of a right or final answer can make the question come alive in this very moment. What are you doing right now? What is most true to do now? And then, what about now? It’s always time to ask again because it’s always a new now.

Just for this moment, find out what happens if you just allow yourself to not know what the right thing to do is, who would do it, and even if there is anything to do, or if doing even really happens. When you question that deeply, is there more or less of a compulsion to act in unhealthy or ignorant ways? Or is there a natural curiosity and sense of wonder that arises and puts you very much in touch with all of the mysterious elements that make up this particular moment? Does this curiosity lead you to rash and silly decisions, or does it allow impulses and intuitions to arise from a deeper place within your being? If you know less and less about doing, what happens next?

The gift of the deepest spiritual questions arises in the day-to-day living of life. Asking, “What do I do?” can lead you on an exploration that has no boundaries, and the journey can only start here and now. What most often limits us is our conclusions. The simple antidote is to ask another question: “What do I do when there is no doer, when everything is the doer, and when it’s also up to me to do something?”

As far as I’ve seen, nobody can stop their thoughts by thinking about not thinking. Why? Because “don’t think” is a thought. “Why am I still thinking” is another thought.

Back in the 80′s, they did a study at the University of Texas San Antonio known as the white polar bear experiment .
Psychologists wanted to see if it was possible to suppress certain thoughts.
So they had some students sit at tables with a button in front of each of them, and instructed them to sit for five minutes while thinking only of white polar bears – and to push the button every time they had a white polar bear thought.
After five minutes was up, they gave them different instructions:
For the next five minutes, you can think about anything in the world, as long as it’s not about a white polar bear. Whatever you do, the researchers said, don’t think about white polar bears.
But, if you accidentally have a polar bear thought, hit that button so we can record how many times that happens.
After the second five minutes was up, the scores were tallied.
The researchers found that when the students were not supposed to be thinking about white polar bears, they thought about them more than when they were supposed to be thinking them!
In fact, they saw that whenever students attempted to suppress their white polar bear thoughts, they began bordering on obsession – all they could think about was white polar bears.
The overwhelming conclusion: thoughts cannot be controlled .there is no you to control thoughts .

The beginning of the end of a relationship is often when the
subject of marriage or living together comes up. The same thing
can happen when there is a glimmer of recognition that there is
no “I.” There is often a tendency to distract oneself or get busy, to
somehow avoid this that is always present. As in a relationship,
we are not always willing to go a little deeper.
When there is a glimmer of the Truth, the natural tendency is
to run. Many spiritual seekers run from teacher to teacher looking
for their teacher. After doing this for a while and hearing each
teacher point to the Truth, your teacher is the one you stay with
long enough to go where he or she is pointing instead of running
on to the next teacher. It’s not that that teacher is more special
than the rest, he or she is just the one you stay with long enough
to overcome your resistance to realizing the Truth. So, the invitation
is to stay here in the Truth.
Just as in a relationship there comes a point when you are
willing to stay even when the fear of commitment is stirred up,
there comes a point in spiritual seeking when you realize that, at
any cost, you are willing to stay. Often, the reason for running in a
personal relationship is the potential for loss—what was “mine”
becomes half “yours.” In recognizing the deeper truth that there is
no “you,” you don’t lose just half; you lose it all. You have to be
willing to let go of everything that came before, or at least your
investment in it.

If there is no more “you,” then who decides to stay?
The paradox is that, in spite of everything just said, you still
wake up in the morning and decisions need to be made—where to
go on vacation, whether to stay in a relationship, whether to give
your life to the Truth in this moment. Apparent decisions are part
of the unfolding of every moment. The difference is where you
put the credit. “You” have never made a single decision, and yet
choosing has been happening.”

Give Truth the same quality of
attention that you would to a new lover: be willing to stay present to
everything. There is an even deeper possibility: marriage to the
Truth. Just as there comes a point when you have had enough
love affairs, there comes a point when you are ready for a more
committed, deeper involvement with the Truth.
There is a wonderful fairy tale about a princess who meets up
with a frog who tries to talk her into kissing him. Finally, out of
the goodness of her heart, she kisses the frog, and it turns into
Prince Charming. To be honest, marriage to the Truth can feel like
you are agreeing to marry a frog.:)

The sacrifice that is called for is giving up your idea of yourself,
or the illusion of being a separate self. Despite all the entertainment
value that this illusion has provided, it has been the source of all of
your suffering, all of your struggle, and all of your problems. You
have to be willing to give everything up—your possessions, your
roles, your dreams, although these things may or may not be lost.
You have to be willing to kiss the Truth even though it may look
like a frog and have some incredible warts.

A brief fling with illusion no longer satisfies
the truth demands utter fidelity
with no possibility of divorce
all fear must be met
and recognized as the thrill of tasting the unknowable
all joy must be surrendered
and acknowledged as a gift with no giver
this union only requires telling the truth
even when the truth shatters your dreams
even when the truth leaves you emptied out
even when the truth reveals your counterfeit existence
then there is no other possibility .

What does "you" refer to ?

your body ,your soul ,god ,consciousness ..etc

is it really true?

You are living under the assumption there is a you.

There is no 'you' to know. You won't 'find it' so to speak. Don't look for 'it'.

The reason people don't find is because they believe there will be something to find.

This is not something special. You don't attain anything. 'You' don't exist.

There are thoughts, but they aren't 'yours'?
Thoughts are thoughts, but not 'yours'.

'You' are a fiction, created by your mind.

we can say that on a neurological level,
the brain and nervous system organize in the following order:

1)There is a bodily sensation.

2) Another part of the brain registers and acknowledges the sensation.

3) The sensation is then labeledas sadness, fear, happiness, anger, etc.

4) Then, from another level, the brain says, “Sadness is bad,” or “Happiness is good.

5) On yet another level, the brain says, “I should change sadness into happiness,
I should do something about it.

Thoughts trigger feeling, feeling gets labelled—>new trigger—>feeling gets more intense—>more labels—> vicious feedback loop.
This is what goes on endlessly when "I" is at the centre.

"YOU" dont exist.

When I say 'You don't exist', I'm not referring to your physical body.

You are a body, built of atoms, cells and flesh with a mind.

You do not have a soul, you do not have an 'inner awareness' or anything like that.

Basically you are simply a biological machine .

There is no "you" making your body and mind work.

It is an illusion, a lie created by your mind.

It's a lie known by many names, the self, the ego, whatever you want to call it.

It's a lie that needs constant feeding, it's what makes you insecure, unhappy, greedy.

You is simply a label you have been using to interact with the outside world.

When you were born was there are you? What would life be like as a baby? If there was no you how can it be true?

What is it?

What do you think you are? See that

Not even a belief that there's no you.

You need a burning desire for TRUTH.

LOOK at your thoughts...

What is your relation to thought? Do you create thoughts? Can you stop thinking? What is the source of thought?

Are you an actor in a play? If so who writes the script?

Are you thoughts? Are you memories? Are you experiences?

Are you the mind?

Why wait for reasons? Life as it is should be enough of a reason to laugh. It is so absurd, it is so ridiculous. It is so beautiful… it is so wonderful. It is all sorts of things together. It is a great cosmic joke.