In answer to number 43 on your website, “There is nothing you can do to awaken so just go to the movies or something” you replied, “It is true if the”you" in it is the false “you”, it is false if the “you” in it is the true “you”. How could the false “you” seek its ending? How could it really do anything, since it is not the real doer? That which seeks the Truth is therefore the real “you” and every step it takes to seek enlightenment is efficient. Teachers upholding this [statement 3.] are really telling you “my teachings are useless” and they are right on that point." I understand what you are saying but it still doesn’t answer the question of what can be done (instead of going to the movies) to promote the necessary understanding. Can you clarify what can be done instead of going to the movies? Also, it would be wonderful to be in the presence of my guru, as you have suggested elsewhere, as I am given to understand that some of this can happen through transmission, but what if he/she has not yet shown up? What do you do then? I suffer as one who has had an extended taste of the peace that can be experienced when thinking falls away, and it shows up periodically on its own from time to time, but most of the time I suffer and I do not know how to get back. Is it a choice? My exact predicament was recently described in an article that I read on the Stillness Speaks website about a follower of Jean Klein which provided these same questions. What can be done besides just waiting? Anything?
Dear Pam,
It is very true that when you are at peace and happy there is nothing to do: if it is not broken, don’t try to fix it. But let’s face it: when you suffer, you are in ignorance, no matter how revealing and peaceful these fleeting moments of clarity were, these moments you don’t know how to go back to. When in ignorance, you believe to be a personal thinker and a personal doer, and as such you may as well try to think the right thoughts and to do the right deeds: investigate and meditate, seek the Truth through all means at your disposal. Imagine a detective who would not investigate a difficult case, or who would drastically narrow the scope of his investigation, neglecting for instance to interrogate witnesses, because they may not be reliable, or to read a forensic report, because he finds it too intellectual. What would be his chances to solve the case? And yet many people suffering from ignorance behave like this detective: either they stop seeking because they have heard somewhere that they are not a doer, although they in fact still very much believe to be one, a belief which is at the root of their suffering; or they resist visiting teachers because they fear they may not be trustworthy and may mislead them; or they reject using their reason to liberate themselves from fallacious belief systems because they have the misconception that thought is the enemy of Truth.
What can be done besides just waiting? The answer is: everything possible. Investigate, meditate, seek the support and the company of a teacher who speaks to your heart and to your intelligence. Make your search for the Truth the first priority of your life. Seek it everywhere and at every moment. Try to live in accordance with it. Try to live in beauty: surround yourself with beautiful people, read beautiful books, listen to beautiful music. Follow your sense of happiness within yourself and within others. You are asking what to do as if you couldn’t see anything that could be done, and I see so many things that I don’t know where to start. When you are madly in love, you don’t spend too much time hesitating over the cheapest way to visit your beloved. Fall in love, deeper.
Love,
Francis
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