This is a companion piece to a recent satsang entitled, The Difference Between Suffering and Pain
Dear James,
Thank you for taking the time to write the last email about pleasure and pain. You said the solution is identifying with awareness as awareness. I am serious about identifying as awareness as completely as possible James, will you kindly help me? But in any now moment, how can I verify that I am right now identified as awareness or not and what is the definition of the term ‘’identify as awareness?’’ as I don’t know what that means.
A Story Upgrade
James: Asking me how you take a stand in awareness as awareness, is like taking a stand in Joe except that if you take a stand in awareness, you take a stand in bliss, as I pointed out in my last letter a few days ago. You need a story upgrade, which is what Vedanta is all about. The new story says that you and your circumstances are perfect in every way and provides the tools to understand it. As Nancy Reagan once famously said, “just say no.” She was referring to drug use, but the same mentality applies to self inquiry. Just say no to the Joe story. Thinking of yourself as an historical character gets pretty heavy and boring as one ages. Awareness has no history. It is a Teflon self; nothing sticks to it.
It seems to me that the spirit of renunciation required by karma yoga needs a bit of work. When you do an action standing as awareness you are asserting the real you as the hero of your story. You do it in a spirit of loving service and you take the results with gratitude . Gradually, you lose contact with Joe as you forge a new identity.
Joe: From your book Meditation, Inquiry into the Self, this is what I’ve accomplished so far, or close, I guess.
James: Notice the words “close” and “I guess.” The teaching “I am whole and complete, perfect in every way, is like water. It doesn’t turn to steam at 211 degrees, only at 212. When, with easy confidence, you can say “I’m fine in every way and the world is fine too,” then you’ve got the message. Up to that point you need to assert your true identity, every time you feel hemmed in by your circumstances. Freedom from samsara only happens once in one way but getting to that realization comes after thousands of baby steps.
Joe: On page 70 you say, “If the meditator consistently feels a sense of uncaused happiness and unexplained peace, the mind is pure.” The dictionary describes consistently as in every case and all occasions, which is not true for me.
James: I explained why in detail above. Your saving grace is honesty. You don’t deny that you are only partially committed to taking a stand in your real self.
Joe: It also states that when something happens again and again, it happens consistently, so that is true for me. This is also true for me regarding feeling whole and complete and satisfied again and again, so seeking pleasures is optional. I have never been driven to seek them.
James: That’s good.
Joe: On page 69 you say, “Accurate identification of the Self depends on a still clear mind.” What does a still clear mind mean? In every situation even in a car accident?
James: No. This mind is definitely disturbed in extreme circumstances. But life is not dramatic every day. It is a steady tedious drip of unremarkable thoughts like the Chinese water torture that slowly bores you to death.
It means how you generally think about yourself. Your mind is confused and therefore it suffers. The suffering keeps you from seeing what I’m saying.
Joe: Having no thoughts?
James: After all these years you still don’t understand the first and second chapters of Essence of Enlightenment. DEFINITELY NOT. It is thinking the right thoughts! You must train your mind to think from the non-dual point of view. It will neutralize the voices of diminishment that have hypnotized you.
Joe: Residing in the gap or space between thoughts for 31 seconds more or less, or for 15 days in a cave? The definition of this statement needs to be extremely specific and totally understandable.
James: No, again. What are you thinking about when you are listening to Vedanta?
Joe: Starting on P.100 is a list of 8 qualifications which I have accomplished to a large degree depending on definitions, for example, #8. Devotion is the ‘’constant’’ inquiry into the Self, which I’m not clear on how to do that or maybe I am in meditation. So again, it needs a specific and understandable definition.
Constant can mean without change, without change for how long?
James: Forever. Time is not long and short. It is eternal. It is a big problem for Joe because time is running out for that guy. The second issue is the question, “Or maybe I am in meditation,” which shows that you are not clear about the difference between yogic meditation and Vedantic meditation, which is sourced in chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita and explained clearly in “The Power of Know.”
Joe: P.34 Holding to the Silence is something I do every day for usually 2 hours and after 50 years it is now very enjoyable.
James: Good. Now discover the fact that you can’t hold on to anything because you, awareness, don’t have hands and emotions. Out of ignorance the body and mind cling to things. This is enough for now. I will wait to read your reply before I continue. Anyway, not to worry. Just keep doing what you are and one day the penny will drop.
Love,
James
