Present awareness is our real identity. Awareness is prior to any body, story, thought, belief, position, opinion, viewpoint, idea, religion, political affiliation, teaching, national association, emotion, state, sensation, experience and every other appearance or thing. Awareness is not an appearance or a thing. It is the space through which all appearances come and go. The space and what appears within the space are “not two.” That recognition is the Living Realization. The message of Living Realization is a simple message of love, compassion, wisdom, freedom, and peace. Those are words pointing to your true nature beyond the limited “me” you take yourself to be.
We are not individual selves, separate from one another who lack something that we must gain in the future or who must negotiate with other separate people. The false belief in being a separate individual is the basis for personal seeking and suffering and interpersonal, intergroup, inter-religious, political, and international conflict. The recognition of awareness as our real identity reveals all separation to be illusory, not only between people but between all apparent things.
There is no way to know yourself as a separate person or to know that there is something that exists as a separate object except through thinking. Thinking makes it appear that the world is full of separate things and that you are one of those separate things. This central misperception leaves us in a repetitive, self-centered loop of thought. The loop is literally “self”-perpetuating. The more we rely on thinking, the more it looks as if there is a separate self. It’s all about “me.”
Thoughts are ideas, abstractions, and symbols. Thoughts can only represent something. They are never the thing which they describe. The thought, “lemon,” is not the thing it represents. We would never try to bite into the thought, “lemon.” Yet we take thoughts of ourselves to be who we are. We are not thoughts. We cannot find ourselves in thoughts. Our real identity is awareness itself. Awareness is that which is aware of all thoughts. This recognition solves the identity crisis fully and finally.
The definition of Living Realization is the recognition of awareness as our real identity and the seeing that everything that appears within awareness has no separate existence from awareness.
Through the direct recognition of present awareness as our real identity, the seeking, suffering and conflict that arise when we identify with thought can relax. This relaxation and the direct experience of present awareness reveals a natural harmony and equanimity in our lives and in our relationships. A direct, actual, experiential recognition of awareness as our real identity is necessary. Intellectual speculation and belief is not enough. Thinking that we are awareness may be a good start, but it is not enough. No idea, teaching, religion, position, nation, political or religious belief, doctrine, or organization can achieve this level of harmony and equanimity. Thousands of years of human suffering, conflict, and seeking are enough proof of the basic fact that ideas alone cannot heal the suffering, seeking, and conflict. We are not, however, asking you to stop thinking. That would be impossible. The simple invitation here is to recognize present awareness.
There is a human tendency to identify with words, including words pointing to awareness. In Living Realization, we do not encourage techniques designed to permanently stop thinking. Is that even possible? The notion, “I should stop thinking,” is just another thought that is all about the “me.”
Instead of waging war against thought, we gently invite you to recognize present awareness as your real identity. Awareness is the bare naked awake presence that is looking right now. It is prior to all words, names, bodies, stories, histories, roles, titles, thoughts, emotions, and all other forms that appear within awareness. It is not a thing, not an object we can see. It is presence itself. It is that simple. Anything we think, hear, see, touch, taste, smell, or experience is an appearance of or movement within awareness. Awareness is the unchanging, unmoving space of the present moment. It is inseparable from what you are. It is the only aspect of your existence that has never come and gone. When you were twelve years old, twenty years old, and thirty years old, different thoughts, emotions, states, sensations, and experiences moved through this awareness. But this basic, spacious, featureless awareness remained constant and untouched by these movements.
Awareness is what is looking and simply awake right now before the filter of thought divides what is seen into individual parts such as person, time, computer, page, words, Living Realization, world, desk, light, and universe. Actual awareness is the awake space that is looking right now even before thought divides this life into the concepts “awareness” and “appearances.” Awareness has no limits or borders. It is like space in that it is undivided, pure, empty, vast. It cannot be grasped through thinking about it. At most, there can be a recognition that the word “space” as it is used here is pointing to what you are in the deepest sense.
Awareness cannot be and is not limited in any way. When we name awareness with such words as “awareness,” “being,” “no self,” “spirit,” “consciousness,” “Oneness,” “God,” “non-duality,” “the Tao,” “the Divine,” “Brahman,” “Buddha Nature,” or some other word, we do not actually limit or capture awareness in any way. A label is arising. That is all. Labels are merely symbols that point to awareness. All symbols pointing to awareness are appearances or movements within awareness. The label creates the appearance that by naming it we know what awareness is as a thing or that we can own it or have it to the exclusion of others. But actual awareness cannot truly be named, owned, harnessed, embodied, or captured. Names and labels create the appearance that there are separate people who do things with awareness or who can have it to the exclusion of others. It creates the appearance that only certain religions, teachings, teachers, theories, or science understand or own awareness. No one understands or owns awareness because awareness is not an object. It is not a thought. Only thought provides mental understanding. Awareness is the basic space in which all thoughts, names, labels, and the intellect appear and disappear.
Awareness has no boundary or border. No beginning. No end. It is not within the realm of time and spatial measurement. Temporal and spatial measurements are concepts. All concepts appear and disappear within awareness. If you have a sense that awareness has a boundary, that it comes and goes in time, that it is contained in something like a body or mind, or that it has borders, notice that a thought is arising that gives this sense of location, boundary, or border. Thoughts give the sense of orienting something within space and time. Notice that whatever sees this thought is awareness itself. It has no boundary, border, or location.
Awareness is the source of all appearances. It is not any particular appearance (to the exclusion of other appearances) yet no appearance is separate from it. All appearances are equal. You will often hear appearances referred to as “equal” in Living Realization. By equal, we mean that all appearances “do” the same thing. They appear. They hang around for a bit. And then they disappear, leaving only awareness. Awareness is what is left each time an appearance disappears. The first and most critical aspect of Living Realization is to recognize your real identity as the space of awareness that is left when an appearance disappears. That is what the term, “Spiritual awakening” means. It means recognizing that the “spirit” (i.e., awareness) is already here and awake. Most people continue seeking and avoiding spiritual awakening simply by believing that they have to manipulate, change, analyze, or get rid of appearances. This keeps attention only in the appearances, rather than the recognition of your identity as the space in which all appearances come and go.
Let’s talk a little more about the equality of appearances. When we do not move to manipulate, change, analyze, or get rid of them, appearances just naturally come and go in this way. Appearances are also equal in the sense that they are inseparable from and none other than awareness. Take, for example, a thought. When a thought appears, take a moment to just stop and notice the thought. The boundary line between the thought and the awareness that sees the thought cannot be found. There is no solid line there. This recognition of the indivisibility of awareness and appearances is also critical in Living Realization.
Not only are thoughts inseparable from awareness, but emotions, states, sensations, and experiences are inseparable. These appearances always appear within awareness. If you try to find a boundary line between awareness and any of these appearances that are happening within awareness, you will find no line. In seeing no line between awareness and these appearances, you find that these appearances are not happening to a personal self. They are appearances of awareness. The personal self is a set of thoughts, emotions, and sensations — all of which are appearances only. Awareness is the space in which these appearances arise. Personal identification with appearances naturally fades away in this seeing.
The word “realization” is referring to seeing. It is a present seeing. It is not about a magical or mystical experience. The pointers in Living Realization are always inviting you to notice present awareness. That is all. This is not about a future awakening.
Many insights can appear in this realization. There is a natural tendency to describe the realization. But descriptions of awareness are not awareness itself. It is important to be clear about that at first. It is true that appearances are inseparable from awareness, but if that is taken on as a belief, rather than an actual seeing, we’ve put the cart before the horse. If you see some “thing” move, change, appear and disappear in any way, that is not awareness. That is an appearance of awareness.
Awareness is the awake, timeless space within which appearances come and go. No matter how deeply awareness is recognized, no mental description that arises as a seeming result of this recognition is the unmoving, unchanging awareness itself. Insights are appearances of awareness. They come and go like all thoughts do. They are wonderful. Enjoy them when they come. Repeat them if you like. Share them with friends. However, although descriptions of awareness are indivisible appearances within awareness, these descriptions of awareness come and go. Awareness, as the fundamental, unmoving, unchanging space that cognizes all descriptions, does not come and go.
In recognizing awareness, you come to see that awareness shines radiantly on its own like the bright sun without the need for essentializing the thoughts that come and go within awareness. This allows the mind to relax from its incessant need to analyze, understand, and compare. Each ray of the sun is allowed to be as it is — each path, religion, group, source, view, word, thought, emotion, sensation, state, and experience is equal within awareness. This is about total rest, wisdom, freedom, compassion, and love.
There is often a persistent belief within us that if we land solidly on one mental conclusion, we have found the truth or have “arrived” at a spiritual awakening. In that case, all that has really happened is more identification with thought. The separate self has simply changed the content of its loop. There is still an emphasis on conceptual views about awareness rather than a direct recognition. Instead of looking to ideas or any other appearance, we invite you to recognize present awareness as your real identity first. All words, spiritual or otherwise, are appearances within or “of” awareness. By clinging to an idea, the idea gives the appearance that there is a self who is the center of knowledge. Belief in this center provides a false sense of certainty and stability. Through maintaining this false center, we tend to marginalize others who do not agree with us and who do not feed our illusions of being the center. There is no center anywhere in the universe, which is to say, there is no separate self. There is only awareness and whatever is appearing within awareness. The appearances are not happening to a person. The “person” is just an appearance within awareness. Appearances are simply happening.
Emphasizing our descriptions of awakening or non-duality rather than recognizing awareness directly tends to solidify the separation, and the sense of being the center that “has it” or “gets it.” This personalizes awareness. Therefore, this is not about “a person living or embodying a realization.” It’s much simpler than that.
There is nothing particularly wrong with any of the words that are used to point to actual awareness except that they sometimes have the effect of appearing to pull attention into identification with thoughts. We begin emphasizing the word “enlightenment” or some other word rather than simply recognizing actual present awareness. This emphasis on words keeps alive the notion that what we are is separate from spirit, God, enlightenment, or whatever other word we are focusing upon. The separation is in the words only. The notion of subject vs. object and the notion that there is a person who must reach some later point of time in which an awakening will happen are all simply ideas appearing within present awareness. In seeing that such separation is merely the product of clinging to concepts, the separation is seen through. The boundary between what we are and what words like “God” and “enlightenment” are pointing to is seen to not exist except as thoughts. In that seeing or “realization,” we have the direct experience of what the words above can only point to. Don’t be fooled by the words “Living Realization.” They are fancy words pointing to the recognition of present awareness as our real identity and the seeing that what appears within awareness is not separate from it. That is all. Although this recognition may sound esoteric or intellectual, it is not. It is as simple as presence itself. It is simply this moment totally awake to itself through the opening known as “you.”
In Living Realization, we relentlessly yet compassionately point out that these words we use to point to awareness, no matter how clear or unclear they are, are appearing within awareness. They are not actual awareness itself. No matter what is written on this page or on the pages of any spiritual or other writing, awareness is that which sees it. Every spiritual word you have ever heard, read, or spoken is an appearance within awareness. As stated above, even the concept “awareness” is an appearance of the actual awareness that is looking right now. Drop the concept and recognize the pure, actual space that is immediately present and inseparable from what is happening in the present moment. If there is a tendency to try to conceptually or intellectually grasp what is said here, keep it simple and just recognize awareness.
That actual space is awareness. Our most beloved positions, ideas, beliefs, teachings, and opinions about spirituality or anything else are appearances of that spacious awareness. They are not awareness. This may seem like the most difficult thing to see. We want so much to cling to ideas, not realizing that the real freedom is in the direct experience of awareness itself. The simplicity of recognizing awareness is quite beautiful once we start to see that no idea is actually awareness itself.
It is helpful to recognize non-conceptual awareness when you first hear the message here. What does it mean to recognize non-conceptual awareness? It means to drop all labels about yourself, others, the world, and life and simply rest as that non-conceptual sense of presence. In recognizing this non-conceptual awareness, you start to see that there are no separately existing objects “out there.” Objects are concepts. When you recognize non-conceptual awareness, there are no concepts — obviously. Therefore, there is no way to label something as an “object” existing separately “out there,” apart from awareness. Sticking with recognizing non-conceptual awareness is key.
In recognizing this unmoving, unchanging, non-conceptual awareness as what you are, you start to see that all appearances within awareness are not separate from awareness. You see that appearances are “of” awareness. Nothing has a separate existence from anything else. This inseparability or indivisibility, as it is sometimes called in this text, is also critical. Appearances include anything that is temporary, that comes and goes within awareness, including thoughts, emotions, states, experiences, and sensations.
Although appearances are not unmoving, unchanging awareness itself, they are not separate from awareness. They are “not two.” Just as reflections in a mirror are not separate in any way from the mirror, appearances within awareness are not separate from awareness itself. Yet appearances are not awareness. Appearances, like reflections, move and change. They come and go. Awareness, like the mirror, is constant, stable, and unchanging. It is timeless presence itself. Be careful with this metaphor and every metaphor, with the Living Realization text and all texts, and with all pointers generally. Despite the words used in this and every other teaching, no word is actual awareness. Words are appearances “of” it. Without the mirror, the reflections cannot appear. Similarly, without awareness, words cannot appear. Yet no matter what you think about yourself, others, life, the world, spirituality, science, politics, philosophy, or any other subject, that thought is an appearance within awareness. Thoughts do not happen without awareness, yet they are not awareness itself. Thought is like a movie. The world of separate things is really just a play of images that we call thought. And these thoughts have no existence separate from the awareness that sees them. Therefore, awareness and thought are “not two.” Being clear about this goes a long way in the recognition of awareness.
It is important to talk about non-duality in this way so that we don’t get stuck in extreme states of non-conceptualization, stillness, or emptiness. The mind can easily associate non-dual awareness with the absence of things including the absence of sound, emotion, thought, experience, excitement, or enthusiasm. In this detached state, life loses its vibrancy. There you are in some idea of being a witness separate from what is being witnessed. But there is no need to get rid of thought. Only another thought would seek to do that anyway. Awareness has no agenda to be rid of thought. The invitation here is always to recognize awareness as your real identity and see that appearances, including thought, are inseparable from awareness. That ends the idea that we need to achieve or do anything. Living Realization is a present seeing.
To create a split between awareness and its contents, between emptiness and form, is yet another form of separation. It is helpful to see that we are not any appearance, that we are not any thought, emotion, sensation, state, or experience. But this seeing reveals there is no center. It reveals that, in the place where you thought there was a separate self in control of life and living in time as a story, there is only space. And that space is not at all separate from what appears within the space. In this seeing, the entire world is seen to be totally alive. Life is seen to be intimacy itself. Total love recognizing itself in each moment, in each thing, in each thought, in each emotion, in each sensation, in each state, and in each experience. To be mentally identified with the idea you are space or the idea you are emptiness is still just an idea. States of silence and non-conceptualization are still just passing states. All states come and go. To be identified with or to cling to any appearance is to miss the simple and beautiful fact that what you are — absolutely nothing — is appearing as absolutely everything. This is when the most seemingly mundane moment, such as walking to your car on the way to work, feels totally free, as if the universe is recognizing itself for the first time with each step.
In pointing beyond the idea that you are any temporary appearance within awareness, Living Realization does not seek to vilify appearances (i.e., thoughts, emotions, sensations, states, and experiences). We are simply pointing you to the fact that suffering, seeking, and conflict arise when we identify with (i.e., focus on, cling to, or emphasize) appearances rather than recognizing awareness as our real identity. In recognizing awareness as our real identity and seeing that appearances come and go within awareness, the tendency to cling to appearances comes to rest. We see that appearances are beautiful reflections of awareness itself. Appearances are like ripples on a pond. There is no way to separate the ripples from the water itself. Although the ripples come and go and each one is different than the others, the ripples are “of water” itself. In the same way, we see that appearances have no separate existence from awareness. In this seeing, we celebrate appearances rather than vilifying them. Life is alive. You are that aliveness.
The remainder of the text of Living Realization only seeks to clarify the basic outline above. The main invitation in Living Realization is this:
Recognize awareness right now, do not move to manipulate any appearances within awareness, and see that the appearances are not separate from awareness.
You will see this invitation in many places throughout the text. Stick with this simple but potent pointer.
Awareness is the great space in which all ideas appear and disappear. Human organizations are essentially ideas. They may have referents that appear “out there” in the world such as buildings, members, doctrines, by-laws, and leaders, but first and foremost organizations are ideas. Even the referents such as “buildings” and “members” are ideas. When you say, “I belong to Organization X,” that is a thought. In seeing that your real identity is awareness itself, the need for finding a sense of self in any organization tends to decrease or disappear. We are often looking for hope, comfort, belonging, love, acceptance, or change of some kind when we join organizations. In recognizing awareness as what we truly are, we see that awareness contains these things we were seeking. We never again have to look outside of ourselves for these things. We see that there are no individual selves, there is only awareness, which is to say, there is only love. Boundaries, divisions, people, religions, political parties, spiritual teachings, organizations, nations, planets, and universes appear as thought appears. Outside of thinking, there is no way to conceive of actual boundary lines. And thought itself is inseparable from awareness. This indivisibility reveals that love is inherent in awareness.
Nonetheless, as appearances of awareness, organizations can be helpful to provide a supportive atmosphere for pointing to and recognizing awareness. In that sense, Living Realization is such an organization. In no longer actually believing that there is a separate “me” that is a member of some other separate thing called an “organization,” then being a member of an organization is no longer about identity, seeking a sense of self, defending the organization, or attacking other organizations or people who are perceived as threats to the message of the organization. It is no longer about separation and conflict. The ego gets taken out of the picture. What is left is a community of people that support each other in the recognition of awareness. It becomes a worldcentric organization, devoted to the care and concern of all, not just “those who belong to our group.”
Living Realization is not a philosophy about how the universe works. It is not a cult. It is not an explanation of the way things really are. The way things really are depends on what concepts you buy into. Christians see a particular world. Scientists see a different world. Postmodern thinkers, ecologists, Integralists, nondualists and philosophers see different worlds. There may be some overlap, some agreement about certain concepts. But in Living Realization we do not start with the assumption that thoughts are delivering or mirroring reality. We invite you to question the very thoughts that you believe to be reality. It is questionable as to whether there is one single reality lying around out here waiting for us to discover. Our concepts play a big part in what we call reality. Living Realization, then, is not an explanation of reality. It is path to complete liberation. In Living Realization, we are not giving you a message you can believe in. We are not giving you the ultimate reality as something that you can express in a neat, conceptual package. We are challenging your already-existing paradigms. This is about looking into those thoughts and beliefs you’ve been carrying around, the ones that make you believe there are separate objects and people, the ones that make you buy into time, space, and cause and effect, and the ones that make you believe you know what reality is. In Living Realization, this depth of freedom is valued and cherished. It sets us free completely and totally to be in this world in a very open and loving way.
Nothing that is said in the Living Realization text should be taken as absolute truth. Living Realization is a language constructed for the purpose of gaining insight as to why we suffer and seek as humans and finding release from this suffering and seeking. One could just as easily take up the practice or language of another teaching, including one that does not use the word “awareness” as its basic foundation, and find freedom from suffering and seeking. Living Realization is a construction, a way of speaking and investigating your present experience. Its value and benefit are revealed when we treat it as a construction and utilize its language as a tool for investigation. Living Realization does not deal with issues such as whether something is absolutely true, whether things absolutely exist or not, or whether something is real or not real. In Living Realization, we appreciate the vast diversity of views in life including the various religions, philosophies, worldviews, languages, cultures, teachings, political views and other conceptual frameworks. We know that everyone who comes to Living Realization looks from a particular lens e.g., a scientific or rational lens or through the lens of a certain religion, political view, culture, philosophy, worldview or other framework or perspective. We understand that questions and statements regarding issues of truth, reality, and existence are set within these contexts. What is true, real, or existent within one context is not true, real, or existent in another context. For this reason, we discourage questions and answers such as “What is ultimately true?”, “What is absolutely real?”, and “What ultimately exists?” Instead, we focus on “What is helpful and beneficial?” and “What provides freedom and wisdom and an unconditional sense of love, compassion, and peace?” Words and language are used for a utilitarian purpose in Living Realization. We invite you to accept the language in Living Realization for this purpose rather than for the purpose of deciding ultimate issues of truth, reality, and existence. Once the language of awareness and appearances within awareness is accepted and utilized, the benefits of the language start to become apparent.
These days, words pointing to awareness are clearer than ever. You can search books, stores and the internet and find very clear pointers to present awareness. Yet none of these teachings or teachers owns awareness. Awareness is that which sees all teachings. Awareness cannot be owned exclusively by any appearance. Can what is looking right now be owned? Awareness is its own light. No appearance within awareness owns awareness. People, teachings, teachers, authorities, and religions are all appearances within awareness. “Living Realization” is merely another idea or set of ideas appearing within awareness. Therefore, there is no ultimate authority, embodied either in human form or in the form of an organization. An appearance can never own awareness to the exclusion of other appearances or be an authority on it. No reflection is the mirror and no reflection represents the mirror exclusively. All reflections are “of” the mirror. All waves are “of” the ocean. All ideas are “of” awareness.
Awareness doesn’t belong to any person, lineage, teacher, teaching, nation, group, culture, organization, or religion. Awareness is our basic identity. As the message regarding awareness has passed down throughout history from one teaching to the next, it remains like sand sliding through fingers. It cannot be held onto in any way. No one owns it. No word captures it. No set of words captures it. In fact, the notion of something “passing down throughout history” is just an idea appearing in it.
Awareness cannot be reduced to an idea because it is not an idea at all. It is not any idea. Be clear about that. It is that which is aware of all ideas and all methods, practices, religions, teachings, organizations, cultures, political beliefs, and every other thing (and it isn’t the idea contained in that last sentence either). Ideas that point to awareness are not separate from awareness.
It is important to speak in this way so you see that “Living Realization” is nothing more than an idea appearing in awareness right now as you read this. In staying “true” to that seeing, Living Realization can never be made into a belief, position, or religion. There is nothing here to defend or protect, to follow, or believe in. Any kind of clinging or identifying or arguing about words in this text or any other teaching or sharing comes from not seeing that ideas are transparent appearances of awareness. Organizations surrounding the message of awareness including “Living Realization” are transparent appearances of awareness. There is great love and clarity in this seeing. We come to realize a capacity to look at all views, through the lens of all frameworks, teachings, cultures, and worldviews. We no longer identify with thought, which allows us to take others’ perspectives. This dissolves boundaries. Far from being a denial of the world of appearances, it becomes a celebration of the radical diversity of views. In recognizing our real identity as awareness, we are free for the first time to look from many different angles and to be compassionate towards others who share different values and belief systems.
It is also impossible to use awareness to make or support relative arguments. Statements such as, “Religion X is the only right religion,” “child molestation is wrong,” and “America is the best country in the world,” are statements of relative truth. These things — religions, countries, child molesters — exist only in relationship. They exist only in mind. Child molesters only exist because there are others who are not child molesters. America only exists because there are other nations that are not America, such as China. Religion X only exists in relationship to other religions. In Living Realization, we call this the mirror of relationship. Things are actually thoughts. They are not separately existing things at all. Their separateness arises through thought and language. It arises through reliance on mental labeling. Our language is entirely dualistic.
Language only operates through the creation of conceptual boundary lines (e.g., self v. other, right v. wrong, black v. white, America v. China, Religion X v. Religion Y, Living Realization v. other organizations — the list is endless). Relative statements about “the world” continue once there is a recognition of awareness as our true identity. Opinions, thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and views are all appearances of awareness. Yet as the boundary lines between “things” are seen to be purely conceptual, great compassion, freedom, love, wisdom, and peace are naturally realized. In the recognition of awareness, we don’t stop making decisions. We don’t stop using the mind. Awareness is not a concept that can be used to defeat other concepts such as Christianity, Buddhism, or some other philosophy, religion, idea, method, or practice. Awareness is not about the destruction of discrimination, concepts, nations, beliefs, religions, philosophies, and worldviews. Awareness is the great space within which all concepts, nations, beliefs, religions, philosophies, and worldviews inseparably appear and disappear. In this seeing, the tendency to identify with appearances relaxes and great wisdom is revealed. This wisdom infuses every decision and every judgment in our lives. We move beyond limiting views that are selfcentered and/or group-centered only, into a natural care and concern for all individuals, groups, and worldviews. It’s no longer about “me,” or “our group.” It’s all of us. Everything is an inseparable appearance of awareness. We can argue for thousands of years about which idea, philosophy, conceptual framework, religion, or worldview is better, clearer, or right. But we cannot argue with the simple fact that what is looking at all these ideas is what we really are — awareness.
The boundaries of the Living Realization organization are therefore transparent. Although the Living Realization sharing can be helpful in assisting us to see our real identity as awareness and to see that all appearances are not separate from awareness, Living Realization is merely a set of words. Because no one can own awareness, Living Realization cannot purport to be the final word on awareness. There is nothing to absolutize here. Treating awareness or any words pointing to awareness as some final truth is like holding space in your hands and claiming to exclude other space. It’s impossible! Absolutistic viewpoints are appearances of awareness. They are not awareness itself. There is no final word on awareness because awareness is not a word. It is the bare naked pure seeing that sees all words and all views, whether those views are personal, religious, fundamentalist, scientific, rational, philosophical, modern, pluralistic, postmodern, or integral.
Awareness is the pure seeing that sees these words right now before you come to agree or disagree with what is said here, before you identify with them or forget them completely. In the direct and immediate discovery of awareness as your real identity, the tendency to identify exclusively with these words or anything about Living Realization or any other view or organization relaxes. A broader view arises from this relaxation, a view that encompasses and includes all views of humanity. This broader view does not find its roots in thought alone. It does not seek to land solidly and finally on one side or the other, on one dualistic viewpoint instead of its opposite. Therefore, it cannot be defended as a “thing” against other “things.” This view is pure naked awareness itself. All thoughts or mental views are seen to be temporary appearances of this broader view of awareness. When there is seen to be no center — including no self or group that can claim exclusive ownership of “knowledge,” “truth,” or “reality” — the universe is seen to be like undivided energy. It is a wide open, stable, unchanging space appearing inseparably as every temporary movement of thought. In that seeing, everything is seen to be perfect as it is. This is an unconditional and limitless love that cannot be contained or owned exclusively by any conceptual view (including any view here). This love sees itself everywhere, in everything and every view. In this seeing, absolutizing and insisting on “being right” gives way to our true nature as love itself, which includes and integrates every expression of itself.
The nothingness of awareness is appearing as the everything-ness of the world of relative appearances. As products of thought and language, appearances exist and have independent meaning only in relationship to each other. To identify with appearances is to buy into the illusion of separation. As soon as we buy into separation as real, we welcome conflict. We welcome the false notion that people, groups, organizations, nations, and religions actually exist apart from awareness and apart from each other and are somehow at odds with each other or need to be reconciled in some way. The universe is never at odds with itself except in the human mind. Love has never been broken. The universe has never actually existed as separate pieces of a puzzle that need to be put together. This recognition resolves the tendency towards separation, seeking, conflict, and war.
The goal of any good teaching regarding awareness is to selfdestruct. It is not to gain followers and to become a force that opposes other forces within the universe. Once awareness is directly recognized to be your real identity, you won’t need these pointers or this sharing. In the end, Living Realization has done its job only when it too is seen to be nothing more than an appearance of awareness. Living Realization, therefore, does not condone teacher-worship of any kind. Please do not look to the teachers in Living Realization as “enlightened beings” or “awakened beings.” All words and ideas, including “enlightenment,” “teacher,” “student,” and “awakened being” exist only in dualistic relationship. Enlightened teachers do not exist without so-called “unenlightened students.” This is the illusion of separation. The most a teacher can do is point you to the fact that his or her identity is the same as yours. Your identity is everyday, ordinary awareness. Stick with this simple yet extraordinary fact. It is the key to freedom. Any notion that a teacher has something that you do not have is merely your personal mental projection.
The most freeing thing is to see that there is no need to rely even on the teaching of awareness itself. The point of all good teachings is to help one realize his or her real identity as awareness. Timeless awareness is the true guru. A good teaching that points to awareness as our real identity will self-destruct. By self-destruct, we simply mean Living Realization is like space itself. Its usefulness as a teaching or set of pointers dies the moment it is seen that it is merely pointing to awareness itself and that “Living Realization” is an appearance of awareness, an appearance which — like all appearances — is empty just as awareness is empty. This may sound strange at first until it is directly recognized. It is then seen that what the word “awareness” is really pointing to empty space seeming to appear as a realm of duality, a realm of ideas, organizations, religions, teachings, nations, people, and things. The realm of duality is like a hologram. The apparent separation is not denied, but the boundaries of the hologram are seen to be unreal. The “things” that appear in space are inseparable from the space. They are none other than space itself.
We talk about the self-destructive aspect of Living Realization because humans have a tendency to want to find and believe in grand narratives about future utopia or organizations that will fulfill some future promise. This tends to keep people hooked into the idea that the future holds salvation or freedom. Living Realization makes no such promise. Its sole aim is to reveal that present awareness is our real identity and that all ideas, including grand narratives are appearances of awareness.
Any apparent evolution, change, or transformation of the world occurs only as a natural unfolding within and as timeless awareness itself. Grand narratives including narratives surrounding enlightenment, God, science, religion, culture, and so forth are ideas. We can enjoy ideas. We can use them as maps, injunctions, pointers and tools of communication. We can play with them. We can express them freely and use them to communicate and create in the world of appearances. But to buy into the idea that ideas are anything more than appearances of awareness is to buy into the illusion of separation and to miss the obvious basic fact that awareness is the unmoving, unchanging, unevolving fundamental emptiness within which all movement, change, and evolution inseparably appear and disappear.
We invite you not to buy into anything that has been said here. Instead, we invite you to simply look with us and see for yourself that your real identity is the actual present awareness to which the words can merely point. That seeing provides the freedom, love, compassion, peace, and wisdom you have been seeking. This is why there are no promises in Living Realization regarding future attainment of special states, enlightenment, bliss, or anything else. What we have been seeking is already here. It is what is looking presently. All we have to do is be open to its recognition. If you feel so moved, please join us in this endeavor to speak openly, freely, and directly about our real identity as that which cannot be contained. To join the Living Realization mailing list or to participate in online meetings, contact us at livingrealization@hotmail.com.