Just a game

Naming,  labeling comes after the fact.
Comes after perceiving.
It goes so fast that it is mostly unnoticed.

Before we were able to comprehend 
the babbling noises adults were directing at us,  
tiny tots still,
everything was perceived pristine,  
without filters.
Aware of all the sensory perceptions directly.

Then language comes into being. 
Everything which was perceived immediate 
and as non separative from the perceiving 
becomes a something with a name.

In the beginning this is a nice game.
As children we love to play,  
and we love to please our parents,
so we play along.   
Duck,  table,  spoon,  tree.

And then we notice that the whole adult world 
functions within this cardboard box reflection of reality.
After some time of going along in this game 
of naming and pretending we are different from what is,  
we forget that it is all a game.
Living in the illusion of being a somebody,
perceiving the world through naming and labeling.

 It is just a game.

Awareness is there before labeling started

Find out your natural state
your original face
What IS before any object makes an appearance,
before a supposed somebody divides it up into this and that.

There is only One.
The perceiving.

 The person you think yourself to be is an illusion. 

Fields with crops

Early morning.
The sun peeking over grey heavy clouds.
A vast landscape with the tops of trees 
and a lonesome church steeple 
sticking out of the fog 
which hugs the soil.
The road winds its way on top of the dike.
The smell of freshly cut grass.
Birds,  sheep,  fields with crops,  
green everywhere,
and water.

An endless vastness.
A gentle peace pervading all.

In nature it is easy to feel that existence 
has no boundaries.
No separateness.
It is one movement.
All happening in what we are.
As it is.

It is when we bump into human life, 
that we are confronted with seemingly others,  
with what appears to us as limitations and boundaries.

Strong personalities evoking reactions.
Demands and expectations of our surroundings.
Family,  work, society etc.

Its our own belief in being a person 
which will make it appear so.
These demands and reactions rub against 
what we believe to be a me.
If the belief drops away one sees that these 
apparent limitations have no reality.  
It is not that reactions or demands are not felt and noticed, 
they are seen in clarity.
But as they have nothing to hold on to 
they are gone in no time,  just passing by.
Everything appears in this vast space,
and disappears without a trace.

Investigating this apparent me is the key.
The key to the gateless gate.
Who are you?
Who am I?

Find out.

Paradox

Yesterday evening i attended, by chance,

a Buddhist meditation session:  Vipassana.  

Half an hour standing meditation,  
half an hour walking meditation,  

and half an hour sitting.

The intensity builds up as concentration gets stronger.   

With guidance one notices the outgoing 
tendencies of thoughts and feelings, 
and the involvement in the stories they spin.

Everything that happens gets named.  
There is no judgment,  

merely an observing.

Was interesting to meditate after so many years,  

and see that yes, for people still very much lost in the 

hypnosis of being a person in the world,  
this could be a first step.

To disentangle the knot of believing 
oneself to be an independent entity.   

To, through the technique of stepping back 
from all objects which present themselves in the meditation,  
the sensing,  the feelings,  the thoughts,  

to become aware of the space in which all occurs.

One of the many paradoxes:

There is no obstacle to see directly that 
what you are is awareness itself.

And that anything and everything 
could be a help or a tool to notice

the obstacles that are blocking Seeing.

In the end there is just Seeing,  
all else falls away.

All ideas of reaching somewhere,  
of practices and techniques.

Just This


p.s. Anything,  anything at all could be 
       a help or a hindrance.
      There are no sure practices, processes 
       to lead anybody anywhere.
      There is no road, nowhere to go,   
       and not a person to go anywhere.

Nothing to say

What to say..?
Its too simple for words.

The total perception of what is.
Immediate and intimate.

Always already the case.

Footsteps on cobbled streets

Sitting in an apartment in the historical heart of Amsterdam.
Overlooking a canal lined with boats and trees,.
A canal cruise full of tourists is passing by.
Leaving a wake in the water.
Tiny eddies catching the sun 
in a flickering play of light and shadow.

A door slams and workman's voices are heard.
Footsteps on cobbled streets.

A man in front of the house tries to figure 
out the parking ticket machine.
Cycles with big chains and locks clustered here and there

A tap drips and an aeroplane flies over.
The taste of coffee in the mouth 
and a sensation of warmth
reaching the stomach

Colors, and shapes,
Noises and sounds
Tastes and smells

The body moves as one leg is getting 
less circulation and starts to feel numb.
Fingers on the keyboard writing down what pops up.
There is no intention 
merely an observing what is happening.

A thought about lunch appears and disappears again.
No action results as there is no appetite.
A feeling of peace and quiet is present.

Thoughts and feelings
Sensations and perceptions.

Wherever you are, there you are.
One seamless totality in which all takes place.

All happening spontaneously
No one doing anything.
Life happening



Here a link to Sam Harris on Free Will
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCofmZlC72g
Clear and beautifully explained.

What do we know?

What do we know?
What is knowledge?
Is it all that is gathered and accumulated 
during our life time?

Imparted to us by parents, teachers, 
neighbors, friends, the media, society?

How to behave, how to speak, education, 
the 'facts' of life, and which ideals to follow.

Repeating what they told us, 
like trained monkeys?

As children having fallen out of paradise.
Believing the lie of separation 
because nobody told us otherwise.
What choice did we have?
Trained monkeys we are,  
all of us.

Shining through this veneer of 'civilisation', 
of an assumed identity,
the monkey we believe ourselves to be,  
there is a raw vital aliveness.
Life itself.

What we are, 
as there is no separation.
Perceiving, knowing going on..
Knowing without words.
Direct and immediate.
Intelligence itself.
Already operating.

Who and what were we 
before our training began?
Before conditioning started?
What is our original face?

Necessary?

Awareness is all there is,  
is what we are.
Does not need anything,  
as it is whole and complete.

But for the sake of joy, 
for the sake of celebration 
it is inventing for instance conferences to happen.

Recognizing itself in all and everything.

In the quantum scientists who discover 
that emptiness is the base of all, 
as 99,9999999999999 % is empty space 
when matter is looked at,
and who try to tell us about it.

In the young man who only 2 months ago, 
while reading about Non Duality finally 
found an explanation for his 'strange' condition. 
He came with so much fire and passion to know.

In the enthusiasm and openness of the 
young assistants helping with the organization. 

In the laughter and the sharing in between the session.

In the wonderful performances and movies 
who brought all who watched, 
to tears, or gratitude and wonder.

The publishers,  the filmmakers, the seekers,  the speakers,  
the organizers, the merely curious.



Someone asked:
 'Why do we need these conferences? Are they necessary?.'

How can we judge that?
And from where does this question arise?

Does the fact that they happen not indicate 
that they are necessary.

After all they take place.
It could not have been any other way.
And they are soo much fun.
Celebrating.
Just happening..
Just This.


The wild geese do not intend to cast their reflection.
The water has no mind to receive their image. 
                                                                               Zenrin Kushu