jac o' keeffe e-satsang april:may 2012 copy · rupert spira unmani pamela wilson....

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Jac’s e-Satsang jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Vol 5 e-Satsang ... your questions answered Q. I have no interest in the movie of life and find that i am hibernating more and more and have no interest in going out with friends or even getting back to them at all. I feel i am losing empathy and compassion or at least it seems like i am and yet i am highly sensitive. I feel more vulnerable then i ever have in my life and despite this i am allowing everything to be as it is. I don’t know who i am any more and what i like and don't like because i simply have no interest in anything other than finding the truth of who i am. I feel a deep sense of loneliness which i know is my ego and this loneliness is getting more and more intense, especially when i am around people who have no interest in Truth. My question is, how important is it to communicate with a teacher who can help make sense of all the cul de sacs, traps and deluded interpolations of the mind on this pathless path. I feel being around or at least communicating with a teacher like your If you have a satsang question for Jac, you can email her at: [email protected] Please note she reserves all rights to disseminate e-satsang material in any form. Upcoming Satsangs May 30 Amsterdam, Holland Science & Nonduality Conference June 2-9 France Sept 22, 23 Dorset, England Sept 28-30 Warsaw, Poland Nov 8-11 Boston, MA (details soon) Nov 15-20 Ottowa, Canada Nov 23-26 Toronto, Canada For details, click here .

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Jac’s e-Satsang

jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Vol 5

e-Satsang ... your questions

answered

Q. I have no interest in the movie of life and find that i am hibernating more and more and have no interest in going out with friends or even getting back to them at all. I feel i am losing empathy and compassion or at least it seems like i am and yet i am highly sensitive.

I feel more vulnerable then i ever have in my life and despite this i am allowing everything to be as it is. I don’t know who i am any more and what i like and don't like because i simply have no interest in anything other than finding the truth of who i am. I feel a deep sense of loneliness which i know is my ego and this loneliness is getting more and more intense, especially when i am around people who have no interest in Truth.

My question is, how important is it to communicate with a teacher who can help make sense of all the cul de sacs, traps and deluded interpolations of the mind on this pathless path. I feel being around or at least communicating with a teacher like your

If  you have a satsang question for Jac,  you can email her at: [email protected] note she reserves all rights to disseminate e-satsang material in any form.  

Upcoming SatsangsMay 30Amsterdam, Holland Science & Nonduality ConferenceJune 2-9 FranceSept 22, 23Dorset, EnglandSept 28-30Warsaw, PolandNov 8-11Boston, MA (details soon)Nov 15-20Ottowa, CanadaNov 23-26Toronto, Canada

For details, click here.

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 2

self on a ongoing basis would help bury S for once and for all. Ha ha. For the past number of years i have been going it alone and i feel having a teacher who holds a sword in his/her hand could cut S's head off quicker then doing it on her own, even though i know there is no one there we are all so alone. (from S)

Jac replies: For you, yes a ‘teacher’ in some shape or form would be very useful. Living an insular life can happen but it is only useful when you have enough tools to make use of this opportunity for introspection. If you don't have enough tools or the ability to spot the tricks of the mind then yes, working with some external impetus would be very wise.

The sensitivity, vulnerability and loneliness that have developed are symptoms of beliefs that are still running that you have not yet seen through or perhaps recognised for their ego potency. It would be wise to find some way to have these blind spots reflected to you. Consciousness expressing as S, almost always explores what S is not, in order to see through the illusion of S. There is work to be done here; the experience of deeply held and mostly hidden beliefs needs to be seen and uprooted. There is no avoiding this. You will have to find out what it is that you are not (which is what you think you are, at present) as this is what is keeping the S story alive and running.

For example, you write that there are certain things arising when you are around people who have no interest in truth. If we look at this, it is mind that is interested in the subject matter of truth here, mind that wants the comfort of its own kind. However, there is no division of truth and not truth; everything is truth in manifestation. It is mind that is grasping at anything at all, to give it a reference point from which it takes a position. It continually seeks solid ground in this way. Let life happen; let the sameness in all things show itself. Mind sees difference where there is none. If compassion comes and goes, pay no heed to this. Let there be no special value placed on any human expression.

While there is lots falling away for you, identification with the character appears to be intact. The first practical step might be

SAND 2012 Europe

Conference

Jac will speak at the

SAND (Science & NonDuality)

Conference inDoorn, Holland

onMay 30, 2012

Hotel & Conference Centre Zonheuvel

Click here for program information and here to register.

SAND speakers include:

Peter FennerJeff FosterKarl Renz

Florian SchlosserRupert Spira

UnmaniPamela Wilson

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 3

to begin looking to the thoughts that give rise to your feelings and really examine these. Feelings seem to get your attention faster than concepts so we start here. Use this recognition of your feelings to trace back and identify the believed thought that was running just prior to the arising of a feeling. Do this with every feeling and get to know how mind subtly works and how it produces a feeling. This will lead you to the thought that is being believed. Ultimately there is just one thought that is believed which is the cornerstone to all of this illusion called life. The thought that you exist is erroneous but for now get into the habit of recognising discreet and subtle thoughts that give rise to every feeling. When a believed thought is seen, remove the believing aspect and see thoughts for what they are.

Q. What part of "me" is it that is noticing my thoughts, emotions and physical reactions?  I have the thought come up "Oh, look at that" when watching all that (which makes me laugh).  Is that also mind or another part of "my self" or "non self"? (from M)

Jac replies: When the thoughts are recognised as 'my' thoughts then the ego is doing the noticing. When 'oh look at that' arises, there is a moment of objective seeing. But the moment you run the idea 'I have the thought...' this too is claimed as yours, and objectivity of the observing capacity is lost. Thoughts come into consciousness and the ego claims them until it is seen that the flow of thoughts has nothing to do with you. Mind runs its stories and it is also mind that plays as the onlooker, watching its own stories. Then this too becomes a story, no different to any other.

For most, mind is active, running thoughts almost constantly. This in itself is not a problem. It is the habit of mind to be busy. However, claiming or owning the thoughts and owning the observation of thoughts are occurrences when the potential for suffering is present. Being interested in the stories of mind is

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Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 4

what happens just before ownership kicks in. The one who is interested in a thought and subsequently owns the thought can only be the illusory self.

Can you see that there are split seconds of observing before ego claims ownership over the thought of observing? The ego laughs at ego with the relief of getting some distance, but from your question it sounds as if the relief is a short break in the movie of the one who owns all of these happenings. Go after ownership — learn to notice when the idea of 'my' passes through mind.

In things of the world, having ownership is totally fine — that's not an issue. Within the thinking mind (my thoughts, my self, my opinion) drop all ownership, keep this noticing clean and clear. There is no self or non self to own anything. All happens without any need to categorize in terms of ownership. This can show itself to be the natural order of things when there is no ownership idea/contraction active or on stand-by. Without ownership of any thought whatsoever, there is no place for ego to arise. What remains is not yours either and yet somehow all is well.

Q. Having been brought up a catholic, it is safe to say one is tormented from the religious dvd playing in the head: the dogma, the fear, the apparent loss of community from turning to one’s own path, the sense of making a mistake by no longer acquiescing, the self imposed pressure to stick with it and discover a level that one can accept.  Even all this when one recognises that religion is mind and ego in action.  Then there is the apparent strangeness when one does decide to let it all fall away and the risk involved in rising beyond the behavior of the mob.  The pull to go back into ego and unconscious living is still there.  Is there a point where this pull dissolves? Or is there only a continuous series of escapes and setbacks from and to the 'i.'  (from S)

Jac replies: There is a remaining vested interest in these religious ideas and this investment requires investigation. Is there a 'what if they are right?' idea still running? Go more deeply into your own connection with Catholicism through objectively examining it for yourself. Please take note also that what Jesus said and what the church spouts are worlds apart. Jesus did not set up the RC church.

On leaving this or any fear-based religion, you must be ready to leave it, you must know that you have truly exhausted its potentiality. There needs to be a gut knowing

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 5

that it can not lead you to truth, otherwise stay with it — it's a valid path like any other. A level of spiritual maturity must be reached in order to arrive at this internal knowing of what is your path. The shift from following a religion to following your own inner guidance is what is taking place here. Some courage is required and you need to feel sure that what you are doing is right for you. However, there are no guarantees (even though Catholicism claims to offer lots!) and this is the role of trust or faith.

Be honest with yourself and find out if organised religion has more to offer you or can you state that what it promises is not good enough? Nobody can do this for you; this is your own exploration, your own examination. Spend time really examining internally so that the threat that keeps you tied to organised religion is seen for what it is.

Q. Allowing that what Consciousness chooses to express through 'one' is different and as valid as what IT expresses via 'another' (and changeable within Itself at any 'moment'), when the expression of 'I' as subject aware of 'me' as object transmutes to 'I-I', then dissolves into stillness/nothingness — is this realistically as 'far' as this process can go in a 'person' living in this world, even though there is a subtle duality that is aware that this process is happening within itself? (from G)

Jac replies: The direct answer is that for some, yes, this is as far as MIND can go. There are many subtleties beyond this that continue to reveal themselves, due to the infinite characteristics of manifestation. If what you write has shown itself to be so, great, but if this is an intellectual knowing only then throw it out. Has the unreality of all that you describe, been seen? Is it known that this understanding is mind grappling at a formula so that it can rest in the changing realm where there is no rest?

The 'I' and the 'I-I' are both products of mind as it tries to get rid of itself. The only tool that mind has is itself and it has found a

Going NowhereDVD Video

An invitation to that which is prior to

nonuality…

In Going Nowhere, Jac speaks about the natural

functioning of pure perception, encouraging the viewer towards the

recognition of life living itself without personal

ownership of any subjective thought. The workings of mind are

demystified. When studied, this film offers

copious opportunities to understand how thinking processes culminate in a

belief in separation.

Now available from Ireland in PAL format (Europe & other PAL

regions) and soon from the US in NTSC format (North America & NTSC regions). Both formats will play on

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For information, click here.

way to see how this matrix works for one purpose only — to hold the seer and believer of this perspective intact. If you hang onto this perspective it will serve only to keep identification alive. Let it be seen as another set of concepts within the illusion.

The bottom line here is that when that which you write about has been truly seen, then, there would be no 'person' that has this understanding and no world within which this knowing person could appear. The very seeing itself is what swallows up the person who imagines he is in the world with this understanding. Let no place/no understanding become a place of rest.

Q. I can somewhat understand conceptually that love or happiness is not in the object, but how can I realize that?  It is continually tempting to believe that I would feel more love "having a relationship" with certain people, as it seems that my experience points to having those feelings much more often when with a woman in a relationship than being outside of a relationship. (from I)

Jac replies: Love simply is. We talk about sharing it, giving it and receiving it. Remove all these ideas about love and you will see that conditioning in the western world continually bombards one with ideas about loving others, whom to love, how to love, what to feel, how to feel what... But as long as you buy into any conditioned ideas about love then you will run a loop through another person only allowing love to happen through an intimate connection. You are believing the experience of sense evidence (we are conditioned to do this). You are looking at experience as if it proves something — it only proves that hypnosis is running.

Being in a relationship or not being in a relationship — perhaps try seeing it in terms of two software programs. Find

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 6

There is no concept that can define you.

There is no language, there are no words that can express who you are. So whatever human identity,

role, or self image has been created has nothing to do with who you are.

Why cling to something that is a

lie?

Quote from Simply Mistaken

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on theshop page.

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 7

out what ideas are running when you are aware of not being in a relationship and also when you are with a woman. So for example if you feel more confident, that you can relax more, that you are more at peace with the world when you are in a relationship, then this is like a switch that goes on in your mind that brings up these feelings, which are unquestionably believed and enjoyed… but it’s all just a software program.

The absence of this program might create a scenario of feeling the absence of these 'nice' feelings. Drop the dependency on external circumstances to make you feel a certain way. Feelings come and go; they are always changing. But needing to be with a woman in order to feel good is a torturous dependency. Investigate mind and see if you can find out about the workings of this software. The link that mind has made between being loved by (and/or loving) a woman and what arises in the absence of such love is no more than two hypnotic states. If this is to be seen for what it is, mind will convince you that you will have to do without the lovely feeling of being in a relationship with a woman, and it will tell you that that price is too high. Know that this is garbage — all that will be taken is your attachment to this feel good factor.

Let's start here — drop the attachment to the feel good software and drop the aversion to the software that has the story of absence of a loving relationship. This will create a distance whereby you can slow down the speedy conditioning to see it as a series of ideas about love that give rise to a feel good factor. Pull back the curtains on this one — it will bring great relief!

Q. Since the first newsletter of November, by letting what appears to the sideshow (appearances, movements, sounds, emotions, ideas, habits...), by taking a distance and not to be interested in, bad habits of the mind to judge upon it all the time stops.Life is slowing down and easier.

One morning, all spiritual concepts and ideas break apart and let mind land nowhere. Spiritual stuff are now just a play of words and mind gives meanings to them or not for another story when needed. Some desires can manifest but by seeing through the belief underneath as there is no ownership I can stop the little voice inside at will. Stopping the labeling for not to be the slave of the mind as you often say. Clean observing is well established in silence. There is a smoothness of living with love and joy, life is flowing with less effort.

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 8

You talk about pure potentiality in a video and it does make sense to describe what is seen. Mind is getting used to that edge where ideas collapse to nothing! At the beginning, mind fears to not exist anymore but all is fine when diving. Is there anything beyond what is described here ? (from A)

Jac replies: Does the one who writes this story exist? Examine existence. Does anything exist, does A exist? Let a deeper understanding arise regarding the nature of manifestation through exploring the nature of existence.

Secondly, is it known what is real and what is unreal? Be absolutely clear about what is reality and what is unreality. If all that can be 'seen' or 'known' about these things are known in a way that does not involve your intellect (regular awareness), then may things be just as they are. All is playing as it must.

Q. Am I correct, with the understanding, that "This" (whatever this is) can be recognized, from where we are seeing from. From the statement I've just made, there seem to be times, ("in and out") if you like, that an emptiness/ stillness is noticed, right from where I'm seeing from, i.e.: "Me" if you like. Does this make sense to you? When I close my eyes, there is a sense of noise there, emptiness here, right from where I'm hearing from. When this "Me" stops thinking, for a second, there is noticed, just what’s happening, "Just this.” When thinking is suspended, with closed eyes, at night, when it’s quiet, (apart from her snoring) no solid muppet seems to be located.

This self inquiry, has been conducted many, many, times, and yet this contracted feeling of a "Me," bloody well continues, and thought as always, takes over. Yet it is clearly seen, that there is no apparent "Me" living in the head, so why this strong feeling of being an individual with 9 million bloody problems, including losing my employment, due to things, nothing really to do with me. (A bloody work accident.) Yet we all live in the timeless, never out of it, call it timeless awareness if you like, and still miss it, totally over looking it, buggered if they know. So Jac, would you be so kind, as to answer, these questions, please. Is it where I'm seeing from?  As always I'm very busy, trying to work out, that there isn't anything to work out, (I am the village idiot) and still I try, even sitting on the bog, is it, and I miss it. (from I)

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 9

Jac replies: What you are isn’t in the world and because you were never in it, how can you be missing anything?? There is no getting out for the 'I' character because you were never him! Consciousness plays as 9 million thoughts interpreting them as problems. Consciousness imagines individuality — may this show itself to be completely implausible. The 'ME' arises in consciousness — what has that got to do with you? There is no 'you' playing a part in this movie.

Consciousness is doing the 'you'— get out of the way; it doesn't require ownership of that idea to make it happen.

Where the looking out arises from — yes, this is a great pointer. What you describe is a crack in the matrix. But as soon as mind makes this an answer, or as soon as it feels like a location, then mind recreates another state of mind and there is something to get. Mind can interpret a gap but it can't go there. Let this be fine and remain there. All that can happen in the phenomenal world is that you can see what is not real. You can’t see what is real. You are what is real and it's too close for you to see it or feel it phenomenally.

It's not with ordinary consciousness that this is known; it can't be known in the way that facts or states of mind are known. You were never an individual, never caught up in the suffering story. This was never what you are. You can't get free of what you are not caught in, so the best that can happen is that you can know what you are not.

See the crazy idea of believing the 'me' story — this is also done by consciousness. Believing the 'me' doesn’t make the 'me' real. Let that show itself. Anything that can be known is not what you are. When mind looks out to the world, this is an energetic movement of consciousness towards what is not. Where this looking arises from has no mind activity, so there is no hypnosis running 'there.’ There's nothing at all there and mind doesn't like that much so it keeps switching on that movie, just for its own entertainment.

So what! It's not you; it’s just the movie running a 'me' story. You are where the looking arises from, but this can not be known phenomenally — investigation reveals it to be so, however. Be happy about it anyway!

Q. It seems to me that all teachers who are realized teach from their own personal experiences.  After one is realized or "That" would all realized beings see things the

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 10

same? It seems to me that being That is being That and there are not many "Thats."  It is all ONE — why then is this not the case?  In my pea brain it seems that there are levels of realization — some have to go thru a series of learnings before reaching the next level — please give me your views??? (from E)

Jac replies: What is called Truth on the nondual circuit is indisputably the same and beyond being anything. We can say it's oneness if you then take one away. However, levels of understanding regarding how manifestation works do vary quite a lot. The subtleties of mind are seen in detail by some nondual speakers and not at all by others. Allow for this diversity.

Every word that is written or spoken is actually too much and appears to compromise that which is silence itself. However that which is silence itself is never actually compromised. Consciousness loves to talk about consciousness and so the paradox is evident that while silence is the only language of Truth, life presents words and theories and things to do, none of which are of any use, ultimately. Everything has its place, there is a time for everything imaginable until the show is over.

For some, identification cranks up again and for others the burning of conditioning continues on its own. It is known (post-realisation) that there is no benefit in the honing down of conceptual thought but yet this refinement continues until the point where concepts do not initiate any action. So the Truth is the Truth; all changes happen in manifestation only. All of this refinement is part of the dream. It will continue for infinity manifesting in every version possible, and it is not actually real. Different names and shapes will always happen — let this be enjoyed. The Truth remains as silence itself outside of all of this.

Q. Am working to a place of neutrality — seeing things as just being — it has caused me to detach from former friends who are now into a very negative place — just do not want to be around their views concepts beliefs — am wondering if there is possibly a way to make it easier on them — how does one pull away and not hurt others? Probably so simple yet it is baffling at this time. (from E)

Jac replies: There are contradictions here — what is neutral about judging others to be in a negative place? What is neutral around the desire to move away from folks (who

are actually exactly what you are, manifesting with different names and faces)? What is neutral about seeing the manifestation of views, concepts and beliefs as belonging to anyone?

Be OK with all of it. Stop judging yourself and others. The position of neutrality is the observer; no judgment, no comment, just whatever is happening is seen without referring what is seen back to you.

Stop using yourself as a reference point. Be neutral like the wind. The wind picks up the aroma of a rose and the smell of dog poo with total indifference to the quality of either. It is mind that participates in value judgments. Keep the heart open and let the wind be your teacher throughout this phase.

Q. When I start to read the satsang, a kind of restlessness dissolves. As of yet, the non-dual path seems to be the only path that brings peace for my being/personality, all other self-help and spiritualisms that I've been introduced to seem to lead to another game, and have a sense of perpetual seeking to them. How do I tell where I am at in terms of committing to this path? Albeit at the moment that question seems a bit weird... like who would commit to what?

I also have a question about personal responsibility. I've encountered someone who is very keen on taking responsibility for actions and encouraging me to take responsibility for 'my part' in conflicts/hurt feelings. (The emphasis seems to be more on upsets, though perhaps it is also about taking responsibility for joys and happy contributions.)  This person has also reflected to me that they feel scared of getting close to me, because of my anger/aggressiveness/of my woundedness/pain, and how it might lash out to hurt them or withdraw and hurt them.

I may be fooling myself but to me it seems that this encounter and these kinds of discussions do not have much to do with who I am or who the 'other' person is either. They seem to be about improving life, having a good life/ having better relationships and such, and a bit about emotional healing which is like ohmygodwhenwillitend! I might translate this kind of experience as something like: there is fear of getting close to myself/there is fear of the aggressive nature of the personal I and it wanting to maintain itself, which it cannot in 'getting close to myself.’ (from S)

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 11

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 12

Jac replies: In exchanges such as you describe here, use the other person's perspective to check within and see if anything holds a resonance for you. Does anything point to a hidden place within you that does not want to be seen? For example, are there old stories running that still have a charge of anger or pain? Discharge all that you can. Let resolution come and this dissolves personal ownership of any story.

Regarding the value of personal responsibility, this approach would be useful if you were running denial of personal responsibility. Only you can answer this question; are the ideas of either taking or not taking personal responsibility charged in any way? If this part of personal development work is done for you, then time to leave it all behind and when another has an agenda and expectations of how you need to be around them there are 2 approaches — get involved in order to see what these exchanges will crank up within you (in order to drop identification, etc.) or if you know that this connection can not help further break the ego and you feel 'done' with that material, then let it all go. Time to move along and see what life brings next.

This is a good skill to learn; the skill is discernment. Can you discern when you have something to learn and when it’s time for you to walk away from a situation? The idea that everyone is in your life to teach you something falls away also. Increasingly on this path you will find that what folks say you have to work on is so totally not what is going on. (Only applicable to those for whom identification is weak/rare occurance.) However, thank them for pointing out whatever it is and you go and find out for yourself if there are buttons pressed.

Wherever there is an uncomfortable feeling arising from such an exchange you can know that the ego is shaking. At this subtle layer of conditioning it is intuitive feelings that will guide you, as the energetics of the ego become a clearer indication taking over from the observing mind. Go after this — never brush it aside. The subtleties of your own mind are rarely exposed to this extent by another and so inner work and lots of self-honesty is what is needed now.

Have no fear of the 'personal i.’ It is only an idea like all others. Drop all interest in finding out where you are on the path. It is only ego that is interested in ideas of progress and positioning. Let it be fluid and deal with each step as it presents. Some day the path will throw you off — let it be a surprise!

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 13

Q. Something happened to me over a year and a half ago. At the time I was regularly doing self-inquiry as a meditative practice, as I was following the teachings of a few masters and wanted desperately to find happiness which I thought this method could help me with. The instruction was to look 'inwardly' and find the sufferer — the one who was actually suffering anxieties and worries, depression and sadness.

I couldn't find this one, but instead of this finding making me happy, it flipped my whole world upside down. Suddenly it felt as if my sense of self had disappeared completely, and there appeared nothing there instead, just a total lack of anything. Everything in my life started to feel unfamiliar and I began to develop a disorder known as depersonalization, whereby you feel horribly detached from yourself and the world around you. In fact, you feel literally as if you have no self whatsoever.

I became a hermit and retreated into myself, changing from the once rather outgoing person I was into a social recluse, as I lost all my social skills over a few weeks that followed this particular session of self-inquiry. My mind started to become foggy and my memory impaired, making studying at University incredibly difficult and taxing. My thought process dried up and I began to yearn for the sense of self I once knew, with its misery and woe, just so I could feel human and alive again!

I'm very lost and don't know what to do, or even if I had a real spiritual breakthrough. I have searched high and low for answers and am running out of places to look. I have even been for an MRI scan to check there was nothing wrong with my brain and it came back negative for anything. (from P)

Jac replies: Everything is OK — yes this is a spiritual breakthrough. Your nervous system was just not ready for what was seen (that there is nothing!). Generally it takes 2 years for this kind of a breakthrough to integrate which means that that period of time is necessary for the nervous system and the brain to find a level of functioning again that accommodates this seeing. But if you've had no support for this (other than western medicine) then we could be looking at a bit longer. Either way, the path will work out as it does, but do know that you are not walking uncharted waters here.

What you have seen is how it is — there is no self, there is nothing at all. But your physiological system was not ready for this and now a memory of what was familiar seems attractive. You can't go back into hypnosis that the personal self is real and thank heaven for that! There is no sufferer; everything is based on concepts, all just mind stuff! So when the unrepairable crack appeared for you, lots of aspects of the thinking mind burned off. Life doesn’t ignore any part of manifestation; there is a way to live in the world with this seeing and with this shift in personality. Trying to fit into the groove

you had carved out for yourself when the world seemed real isn’t going to work now, but there is a place for the P form and character.

See mind as having 2 components — the thinking mind and the working mind. Thinking mind got a little fried. The working mind can still manage in the world. Let there be more development of the working mind so that the personality reshapes itself from a place of practical functionality rather than from one who thinks, analyses and plans (old model). Get as grounded as you can. Eat well, get your body fit and maintain a level of fitness. If you don't feel like doing these things, ignore that preference to kick back, and do establish a healthy lifestyle for yourself. Putting these things in place will require discipline, and for many the ability to have this discipline is developed gradually in life, often through years of participation in spiritual practices.

Your sequence is unusual as most folks have routine, practices and skills established in the working mind when they get a breakthrough like you have had. So while you may not find any logical reason or motivation to cultivate discipline, the absence of these ideas is no more than the absence of the thinking mind. Let life happen anyway. Use common sense regardless of the knowing that there is no reason for anything. Work with life to allow it to flow and move you along.

It is important that you develop some discipline and get a routine going that allows your body, nervous system and electromagnetic fields to align and find a way of life that supports your well-being. Work through the body to support these changes and an alignment with life will happen. Be open to things moving in a direction that may be, at present, unseen.

Q. If all has to be dropped what happens to the morals and values of a person?  When given a situation where morals have been breached according to the society one lives in — what does one do with that?  If one takes a stance of neutrality the morals have no place — there is no right or wrong — I think I understand this yet how do we live in our society where there are parameters and values — if we drop all connection to everything? (from E)

Jac replies: Living without ownership of morals/values is what happens. When ownership falls away there is no noticing of values and there is no value placed on morals, etc. This does not mean that they are broken, denied or disregarded carelessly.

Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 14

Rather, they cease to be recognised as phenomena and what is not seen does not exist. Whatever happens organically is what happens and there is no analysis of any of it.

It can happen that a value/moral becomes a consistent manifestation and it can also happen that there is total fluidity and the opposing perspective is what plays out on any other day. It is the character that manifests a behavior and there is no mind that labels it as a value. Your own labelling system is bringing subjective interpretation of behavior into the functioning of pure perception. Here you are mixing oil and water. There is either pure perception or subjective perception that exercises labelling at play.

If there is a 'we' who drops connection to everything, this is not nonduality. This is taking on a new set of concepts that is, ultimately, absorption of more conditioning. That is not what this work is about. It is about seeing the lack of substance to who you think you are and then the rest takes care of itself. Connection to all things falls away when there is no one who can have a connection to anything. Coming from the personal 'i' perspective and applying this to the perspective of pure perception is not useful and counterproductive to nondual work. Drop the labelling of values and morals and see how things play out.

More replies coming soon in the next newsletter!

You can email Jac with your satsang question at [email protected].

Jac O' Keeffe travels extensively, facilitating satsang. At these spiritual gatherings and in her writings

she assists spiritual seekers of Truth by offering clear pointers

to that which is prior to and beyond the mind. 

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Jackieokeeffe.com Newsletter April/May 2012 Pg 15