Extinction-of-suffering.docx

EXTINCTION OF SUFFERING AND ENLIGHTENMENT It seems like most of us suffer from insufficient understanding of reality. The Buddha fundamentally said: “human are in a constant state of desiring. Normal human consciousness is consisted of mental conditionings which cover over our eyes and clouds reality.”1 We tend to see the world through mental filters of the mind, through mental perceptions which misrepresent reality, thus becoming the reason for all of our sufferings. Understanding reality comes when there is “acceptance and openness to what is; and to understand what is, there must be freedom, freedom from the fear of what is.”2 Reality is only occurring in the present. This present is a gift which cannot be taken anyway and it requires “no beliefs, nor does it require a particular and fixed position,”3 from which it opens up existence in a moment of revelation. This allows for the possibility of self-transcendence which consciousness expands and enlightenment comes into light. According to Thomas Hora4 “enlightened man views life as a dream from which he has awakened.” That recognition is the most important step in the cessation of all sufferings, like waking up from a dream, realizing that all that we know of the dream world is unreal including the suffering which is a constant normal state of that dream world. To recognize that the dream is a dream is the first real step for a person towards ending the illusion of human existence. Only with this recognition of the truth that once resolved becomes total and unwavering in ending the dream state of suffering that humanity is plagued with. That is the time when we can achieve a spiritual level of cognitive integration. In other words, being enlightened is becoming “a beneficial presence.”5 In the present of a beneficial presence, things have a tendency to work together for good in an almost mysterious . Eugene Thomas Long, The three marks of existence – Suffering, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Published online: 10 November 2006 © Springer Science and Business Media B.V. 2006, p. 1-3. 1

. Jiddu Krishnamurti, “The First and Last Freedom,” 1st radio talks at Colombo Ceylon 28 of December 1949. 33. 2

th

3

. Jonathan Evatt, Peace, Power, and Presence: A Guide to Self-Empowerment, Inner Peace, and Spiritual Enlightenment, Wisdom for a Life of Freedom, (New Zealand: Inspired Earth Publishing House, 2008), 52. 4

. Thomas Hora is a passionate seeker of spiritual understanding. His spiritual search was in full bloom, as he studied existentialism, phenomenology, Zen, Taoism, and Christianity. He also studied the works of such individuals as Plato, Shakespeare, Martin Heidegger, Carl Jung, James Legge, D.T. Suzuki, Mary Baker, Joel Goldsmith, and many others. 5 . Beneficial Presence is defined as a loving consciousness, capable of observing itself or of being aware of itself, (an individual who is capable of standing apart) that is aware of what he is doing and thinking. See, Thomas Hora, Beyond the Dream: Awakening to Reality, (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1996), 3- 7.

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way. While others are still involved in the dream, this beneficial presence is just a nonparticipating observer.”6 To be enlightened means not to attach ourselves to the conditions of living, pleasurable as well as painful, and experience life to be spontaneous. We must practice or enhance our capacity not to think in dualistic terms and primarily view life to be dynamic. We must also learn how to accept the impermanence of things including our own suffering and thereby embrace the truth that “everything is nothing, and nothing is everything,”7 In Buddhist meditation, the aim is to attain the realization of “emptiness” which is synonymous with “nothingness.” It means to have an open channel of awareness, and constantly listening for intelligent ideas to obtain in our consciousness. This is the state where we are always in “at-onement” or “in alignment” with the “Now” which is the natural state of Being or it is the only state of Being. To glimpse what Buddhism calls emptiness is to let drop away the small, limited self and to glimpse the fullness of human potential. In Heidegger’s philosophy, this is “a nurturing characteristic of being vis-à-vis to Being, a surrendered looking or a kind of acceptance to what “is” as a response to the self-concealment of poesis.”8 For Heidegger, of course, our essence resides in the role we play in the disclosure of Being; our essence is to be the place where Being discloses itself. Thus, we could only be able to respond authentically to the call of “spirit” only through an illumination of disclosedness, through an appearance of the disclosive partnership in the here and Now.9 Dasein’s spirituality10 directly depends on “openness” to see where true freedom lies. Openness leaves us free to accept that which is bestowed, free to receive what is offered. For Dasein, to hear Being must actively open itself to Being. Dasein must go out and meet Being pathway, must listen to Being, must engage itself to with all disclosive powers in the search for meaning of Being. When we say yes to the “isness” of life, or accept this moment as it is, we feel a sense of spaciousness within us that is deeply peaceful; thus, there is a complete “acceptance” or “surrender” to the call of Being. When we no longer argue with what is, the compulsion to think

6

. Thomas Hora, Beyond the Dream: Awakening to Reality, (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1996), 1. 7

. Ibid, 254.

8

. Richard Rojcewitcz, Gods and Technology: A Reading of Heidegger, (New York: State University of New York Press, Albany, 2006), 153-154. 9

. Ibid, 154.

10

. Spirituality means self-conscious awareness and nurturing of the interconnectedness of reality empowered or inspired by a motivating dynamic movement or spirit. See, James H. Olthius, Knowing Other-wise: Philosophy at the threshold of Spirituality, (USA: Fordham University Press, 1997), 21-22.

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lessens is replaced by an alert stillness. Being or this vast intelligence can then express itself through us and can assist us, both from within and from without. The Flowering of Human Consciousness Throughout the ages, most mystics, yogis, saints and philosophers have been seeking the answer to the riddle of life. Many believe that enlightenment, a spiritual awakening, is the answer. Some proponents of the new age spiritualty claim that spiritual awakening is not something new. It is not something strange, peculiar, unnatural or supernatural. Since, some of us have the tendency to become forgetful due to unconscious identification with something and not be able to control or watch the way how the mind works, we never pay any attention to it therefore we seem to lack awareness of what it is all about. In the distant past, the possibility of radical transformation of human consciousness came only to few individuals. A man called Gautama Siddhartha, who lived 2,600 years ago in India, was perhaps the first who saw the absolute clarity of spiritual awakening. Later, the title Buddha was conferred upon him. Buddha means “the awakened one”. At about the same time, another of humanity’s early awakened teachers emerged in China. His name was Lao Tzu. He left a record of his teaching in the form of one of the most profound spiritual book ever written, the Tao Te Ching.11 Those rare individuals pointed out the possibility of awakening from the collective nightmare of human existence. They showed the tentative flowering of human consciousness that had emerged by recognizing the path towards the process of enlightenment which is the beginning of healing and transcendence. The new spirituality, the transformation of consciousness, is arising to a large extent outside of the structures of the existing institutionalized religions. 12 In the past, this would have been inconceivable, but now there are signs of change. Due also to an influx of the ancient Eastern wisdom teachings, a growing number of people are able to let go of identification with rigid belief systems and discover the original depth within themselves. Gradually, humanity is already experiencing within the breakup of the old egoic mind patterns and the emergence of spiritual awakening. Spiritual awakening is “a state of real freedom, when events, circumstances, habits and thoughts do not disturb or affect our inner level of stillness, and we come to understand that our life, our true essence, is actually beyond the world of thoughts.”13 . Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, (USA: Plum and Namaste Publishing Inc., 2006), 13. 11

12

. Ibid., 17.

. Remez Sasson, “Spiritual Awakening, Enlightenment, Consciousness, Being, Freedom”, Internet, available from http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_000013.html, accessed 8 March 2010. 13

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It is neither something to be reached, nor something to be gained, rather it is just the removal of erroneous concepts, attitudes and thoughts which makes the mind to be in silence. The way is open to everyone who is willing to step on this path. Anyone can engage in a spiritual quest, it does not matter whether he is rich or poor, single or married with children, working or retired. Consciousness is evolving throughout the universe in billions of forms. There is a growth in human consciousness that is currently emerging in a growing number of people from different countries, cultures, and secular institutions all over the planet. There are groups of people coming together in a state of presence generating a collective energy field of great intensity making the state of presence increasingly more accessible to individual. Thus, this study that was made possible is a clear sign that new consciousness is gaining a foothold. The Power of “Now” The power of “Now” manifests itself in our ability to bring lightness and freedom through mindfulness, or being at-one in the present moment. Mindfulness allows us to observe our thoughts instead of just thinking them, giving us the opportunity to choose how to respond to worrisome thoughts. “Now” to put it simply, is as it is-“a natural consequence of humanity’s present state of self-realization.”14 It is a beneficial presence which can only be experienced in stillness. In other words, one can only be fully present when there is no identification with thoughts which is the activity of the ego-mind- the rationalizing, and the thinking mind.15 According to Eckhart Tolle, “nothing exists outside the “Now.”16 The only thing that is taking place right now is the present moment. The past does not exist – it is over with and should be nothing but a fading memory trace, stored in the mind, of a former “Now.” When we remember the past, we reactivate a memory trace-and we do so “Now.” The future does not exist - it simply has not happened yet. It is an imagined “Now,” a projection of the mind. And when the future comes, it comes as the “Now.” Both the past and the future have no reality of their own. Just as the moon has no lights of its own, but can only reflect the light of the sun, so as past and future only pale reflections of the light, power, and reality of the eternal present. Their reality is borrowed from the “Now.” Past and future are merely concepts which consist of thoughts and memories. The only thing that really exists right now is the very present moment that we live in and from this present moment we can 14

. Jonathan Evatt, Peace, Power, and Presence: A Guide to Self-Empowerment, Inner Peace, and Spiritual Enlightenment, Wisdom for a Life of Freedom, (New Zealand: Inspired Earth Publishing House, 2008), 293. 15

16

. Ibid, 297.

. Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, (Canada: New World Library and Namaste Publishing Inc., 1999), 50.

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draw tremendous power - the kind of power that can change our life and allow us to achieve spiritual awakening or enlightenment.17 Most people confuse the “Now” with what happens in the “Now,” but that is not what it is. The “Now” is deeper than what happens in it. It is the space in which it happens. So we should not confuse the content of this moment with the “Now.” The “Now” is deeper than any content that arises in it. Since ancient times, spiritual master of all traditions have pointed to the “Now” as the key to the spiritual dimension. The whole essence of Zen18 consists in walking along the razor’s edge of the “Now”- a complete present without any form of suffering. In the “Now,” in the absence of time, all problems dissolve and nothing that is not who we are in our essence cannot survive in the “Now.” “Zen is the peculiarly Chinese way of accomplishing the Buddhist goal of seeing the world just as it is, that is, with a mind that has no grasping thoughts or feelings. This attitude is called “no-mind”, a state of consciousness wherein thoughts move without leaving any trace. Unlike other forms of Buddhism, Zen holds that such freedom of mind cannot be attained by gradual practice but must come through direct and immediate insight, which means to be receptive by sitting in meditation while simply observe, without mental comment, whatever may be happening.”19 The “Now” is also central to the teaching of Sufism,20 the mystical branch of Islam. Sufism has the saying: “The Sufi is the son of time present.” And Rumi, the great poet and teacher of 17

. Ibid, 51.

18

. Zen is respectively, the Japanese and Chinese ways of pronouncing the Sanskrit term dhyana, which designates a state of mind roughly equivalent to contemplation or meditation, although without the static and passive sense that these words sometimes convey. Dhyana denotes specifically the state of consciousness of a Buddha, one whose mind is free from the assumption that the distinct individuality of oneself and other things is real. Separate things exist only in relation to one another; this relativity of individuals is called their “voidness” (Sanskrit sunyata), which means not that the world is truly nothing but that nature cannot be grasped by any system of fixed definition or classification. Reality is the “suchness” (Pali tathatā) of nature, or the world “just as it is” apart from any specific thoughts about it. See, Irmgard Schloegl, The Zen Teaching of Rinzai, (Berkeley, California: Shambhala Publication Inc., 1976), 5-6.

19

. Watts, Alan Wilson. "Zen." Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008. . Sufism or Taṣawwuf (Arabic: ‫ ) ّفوصت‬is, according to its adherents, the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣufi (ّّ ‫فوص‬ ُ ِ‫)ي‬, though 20

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Sufism, declares: “Past and Future veil God from our sight; burn up both of them with fire.” Likewise, Meister Eckhart, the thirteenth-century spiritual teacher, summed it all up beautifully. “Time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time.” 21 We all live in the present moment but very few of us utilize the power of this very present moment, because we often do not accept the present moment as it is. When we think about the past and the future, we are wasting the valuable time and power that we have at the present moment. The only reason why sometimes we feel unhappy is because we fail to live at the present moment, or we fail to embrace the “Now.” Instead, we often think about what our present moment should be and allow the ego to dominate and be in control, thus, the unhappiness sets in. Because we were not living in the present moment, this is where the ego dominates the power of presence that is in us so that we may lose our focus and be trapped on mistakes of the past, or be consumed by the promise of the future that we tend to forget to live in the present moment. It is impossible to have a problem and live in the present moment at the same time. When we live in the present moment, our attention is completely focused on what is happening at that very moment. There are no thoughts of the future or the past. Once we begin working on the present moment with the intent of improving our life, we begin to utilize the power of now and leave the past in the past. We do not concentrate on the future and instead we start living in the present moment doing everything that we can to improve life. Suddenly, everything feel alive, radiates energy, and emanates Being. This concept is easy to understand but the challenge is in applying it. While many will be able to grasp and to understand the concept of living in the “Now” and working with the power of the present moment - practicing it is quite another thing. In order to do this, we have to first start working with a process that involves getting our mind to work differently - something that is not used to and through that process it enables us to begin to live in the “Now” while moving forward and improving our life. Thresholds to the Power of Now The reason we have trouble living in the “Now” is because our mind is not simply used to doing this. Our mind is used to remembering the past or worrying about the future - it cannot live in the present because it does not know how. As stated by Eckhart Tolle, “the mind habitually deny

some adherents of the tradition reserve this term only for those practitioners who have attained the goals of the Sufi tradition. Sufism is known as "Islamic Mysticism," in which Muslims seek to find divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. See, Dr. Saleh As-Saleh, Sufism, Origin and Development, Unayzah 16th Rabee’ Al-Aakhir, 1426 AH, May 24, 2005, p, 1. 21

. Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, (Canada: New World Library and Namaste Publishing Inc., 1999), 53.

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or resist the “Now” because it cannot function and remain in control without time, which is past and future, so it perceives the timeless “Now” as threatening.”22 The mind always seeks for something to attach itself into in order to uphold and strengthen its illusory sense of self. Heidegger called this the ‘self of everyday Dasein’ or the ‘they-self’ which does not live itself but as ‘they’ live and it exists in a state of fear. 23 Fear exist only in relation to something which is a fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of being hurt, but ultimately all fears ar the ego’s fear of death, of annihilation. According to Jiddu Khrisnamurti,24 “fear exists in the process of accumulation and the desire to live in a particular pattern which it has created for itself. Fear also finds various escapes or seems to have many causes. The common variety is identification- identification with the country, ideas, belief system, possession, the work we do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal and family history, political, racial and other collective identification. None of these will tell who we truly are. Actually, this identification is a self-forgetfulness, a forgetfulness of Being. It is therefore a form of escape from the self and the non-acceptance of what is.”25 When we are absorbed in every thought and completely identified with it is the forgetfulness of Being that turns reality into nightmare. So, anyone who is identified with his mind and, therefore, disconnected from the deeper-self rooted in Being, will have fear as his constant companion. We often enter into a compulsive pursuit of ego-gratification and things to identify with in order to fill the intense craving, wanting, and needing we feel from within. We strive after possession, money, power, success, recognition, and a special relationship so that we can feel better or feel more complete. Nonetheless, even when we attain all these things, we soon find that the emptiness is still inside, that it is bottomless.

22

. Ibid, 48.

. Roy, Hornsby, “What Heidegger means by Being-in-the-World,” Internet, available from http://www.WhatHeideggermeansbyBeing-in-the-World.html accessed 08, March 2012. 23

24

. Jiddu Krishnamurti is the great Indian philosopher or spiritual teacher who spoke and traveled almost continuously all over the world for more than fifty years attempting to convey that which is beyond words, or beyond content. Many people in the audience had been coming to listen to him for twenty or thirty years and still failed to grasp the essence of his teaching. . Jiddu Krishnamurti, “The First and Last Freedom; On Fear,” 1st radio talks at Colombo Ceylon 28th of December 1949, 52. 25

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Observing the Mind At this point we are calming the mind. This does not mean that the mind becomes blank or inactive. It means the mind is not lost in blind un-centred reactions. The dualities of grasping or avoiding, love or hate, attaching or avoiding are no longer engaged in. These dualities are the cause of suffering as stated in Buddha’s Second Noble Truth. Master Hakujo said; “by paying attention to the events in life without repressing or denying on one hand and not indulging or attaching on the other hand is the path to Liberation.”26 We can teach the mind to start living in the “Now” with simple steps. Observing the habitual tendency of the mind will give us more presence. The moment we realize that we are not in the present moment, we become present. In fact, for Eckhart Tolle, whenever we are able to observe our mind, we are no longer be trapped in it. We become the watcher of our mind-of our thoughts and emotions as well as our reactions in various situations. We therefore cease to make problem out of them. We are able to feel something more powerful than any of those things that we observed.27 Once we recognize the root of unconsciousness as identification with the mind, we become present. When we are present, we allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it. The mind in itself is not dysfunctional. It is a wonderful tool. Dysfunction sets in when we seek our self in it and mistaken it of who we are. It then becomes the egoic mind which creates preoccupation with past and future and an unwillingness to honor ad acknowledge the present moment and allow it to be. Awareness of the Surroundings “Awareness of the surroundings occurs through the five sense organs. The surroundings are, in fact, the sense objects - that which one is aware of. The mind has many old habits that distort how the sense objects, ones surroundings, are perceived.”28 The mind takes the data of the senses to create an objective reality – example, because the tree is over there and ‘I’ am over here, therefore, it is other than me. When I touch the table, it is over there and I am here. One becomes stuck in a fixed notion of ones identity in relation to the external. For Tolle, this mistake is called “ignorance” and it is the undoing of this mistake that constitutes awakening. 26

. Ven Eshin Godfrey, Ven Guren Martin, Ven Sik Yin Tak, and Susan Kong, Bodhidharma’s Teaching, (Hong Kong: Tung Lin Kok Yuen Publishing Inc., 2001), 28-30. 27

. Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, (Canada: New World Library and Namaste Publishing Inc., 1999), 238. 28

. Ven Eshin Godfrey, Ven Guren Martin, Ven Sik Yin Tak, and Susan Kong, Bodhidharma’s Teaching, (Hong Kong: Tung Lin Kok Yuen Publishing Inc., 2001), 26-27.

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If one gains sufficient stability with meditation it becomes possible to contemplate the nature of things more deeply. One can notice that the world revealed by the senses is not an objective, independently existing reality. Every sense experience, at its source, is a union of subject and object, of the sense organs, their objects and the mind that senses. The tree over there comes into being with the observer; it is not separately other, even though appearing in the sense world as other. From the meditative perspective, when the subject is emptied of self, the object and subject unite. Everything that one experiences, at any time, arises from this deep mind. Real peace and calmness appears when we keep conscious of the surroundings through the five sense organs. Sense object, sense organ and sense mind come into balance. Inside and outside are in harmony. When inside and outside are in balance there are no disturbances as one is constantly coming into contact with what is arising. This is peace in action. It is keeping with the flow and change of circumstances.29 The Breath According to Bodhidharma, there are many types of meditation methods. They are all effective and beneficial. Breathing meditation is one of the most basic methods. Within breathing meditation, there are several different methods. One first settles the physical body. It is said traditionally that full lotus is best. However this is not easy for most people and one can sit half lotus, kneeling, or even in a chair. The back should be straight and be supporting itself, not leaning against something. Head is straight on the body, not tipping forwards or backwards. The hands form a mudra against one’s abdomen. Old habits make one want to bend a little and aches occur. In time more energy is generated and this will naturally help a straighter posture.30 Attention is given to the breath cycle, breathing in and breathing out. As one becomes more aware of the breath the mind slowly settles. Many people without a meditation method will have scattered mental energy. This results in random and bubbly thoughts arising. Focusing on the breath also focuses the mind and the mental scattered-ness subsides. Often at first this is difficult because the mind is accustomed to stimulus from the outer sense world and reacts to them with thought patterns. As one becomes less involved with one’s surroundings and also focuses more fully on the breath then a natural inner stability and a comfortable lodging so to speak, develops. Being aware of our own breathing takes attention away from compulsive thinking and creates space. It is one way of generating inner peace. One conscious breath is enough to make some space of stillness. Breathing happens by itself. The intelligence within the body is doing it. Because breath has no form as such, it has since ancient times been equated with spirit-the formless

29

. Ibid, 28.

30

. Ibid, 23.

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one life. The German word for breathing-atmen- is derived from the ancient India (Sanskrit) word Atman, meaning the indwelling divine spirit.31 The fact that breath has no form is one of the reasons why breath awareness is an extremely effective way of bringing space, and of generating enlightened consciousness. Being aware of our own breathing moves us into the present moment-the key to all inner transformation. Whenever we are conscious of the breath, we are absolutely present.32 Inner Body Awareness Another simple but highly effective way of finding space is closely linked to the breath. By feeling the subtle flow of the air in and out the body as well as the rise and fall of the chest and abdomen makes us becoming aware of the inner body. The inability to feel the life that animates the physical body is the greatest deprivation that can happen to anyone. The inner body is not solid but spacious. It is not our physical form but the life that animates the physical form. It is the intelligence that creates and sustains the body. When we become aware of it, what is really happening is that the intelligence is becoming aware of itself. Feeling the aliveness of the inner body is to feel the aliveness that is an intrinsic part of the joy of Being. It serves as an anchor for staying present in the Now and prevents us from losing the inner self in thinking, or in external situations. Stillness and Silence What is stillness? According to Eckhart Tolle, “stillness is our essential nature, it is our innermost sense of self, of who we are, and is deeper than any name of form.”33 Listening to silence awakens the dimension of stillness within us because it is only through stillness that we can be aware of silence. When we become aware of silence, immediately there is that state of inner still alertness. We are present. Stillness is really another word for space. Becoming conscious of stillness whenever we encounter it in our lives will connect us with the formless dimension within ourselves, that which is beyond thought, beyond ego. Stillness has no form-that is why through thinking we cannot become aware of it. To be still is to be conscious without thought. Stillness is our inner self, it is who we were and always will be beyond our temporal existence.34 . Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, (USA: Plum and Namaste Publishing Inc., 2006), 243. 31

32

. Ibid., 254-255.

33

. Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks, (Canada: New World Library; First Edition, 2003), 3.

. Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, (USA: Plum and Namaste Publishing Inc., 2006), 256. 34

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Beauty arises in the stillness of our presence. It is a moment of no-mind and total presence that gives us a taste of enlightenment. Presence is needed to become aware of the beauty, the majesty, and the sacredness of nature. To become aware of such things, the mind needs to be still. Beyond the beauty of the external forms, there is something more that cannot be named, something ineffable, some deep, inner, holy essence. Whenever and wherever there is beauty, this inner essence shines through somehow. It only reveals itself when there is still presence. 35 When consciousness frees itself from its identification with physical and mental forms, it becomes pure or enlightened consciousness, or presence. Silence is an even more potent carrier of presence. Listening to the silence immediately creates stillness. Only in stillness that we can perceive the silence, it enables the sound to be, every music, note, song and word. We cannot pay attention to silence without simultaneously becoming still within.36 According to Jiddu Krishnamurti, when the mind is silent that silence is a new dimension, and when there is any rampant pettiness, it is instantly dissolved because the mind has now a different quality of energy which is not the energy engendered by the past. This is what matters: to have that energy that dispels the carrying over of the past. The carrying over of the past is a different kind of energy. It is like the sea, receiving the dirty river, yet remaining pure. This is what matters. It is only this energy that can wipe away the past. Either there is silence or the noise of the past. In this silence the noise ceases and the new is this silence. It is not that you are made new. This silence is infinite and the past is limited. The conditioning of the past breaks down in the fullness of silence.37 Space Just as no sound can exist without silence, nothing can exist without no-thing, without empty space that enables it to be. Every physical object or body that has come out of nothing, is surrounded by nothing, and eventually return to nothing. Even inside the physical body there is far more nothing than something. Physicists tell us that the solidity of matter is an illusion. Even seemingly solid matter, including the physical body, is nearly 100 percent empty space-so vast are the distances between the atoms compared to their size. What is more, even inside every atom there is mostly empty space. What is left is more like a vibrational frequency than particles of solid matter, more like a musical note. “Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form,” states the Heart Sutra, one of the best known ancient Buddhist texts. The essence of all things is emptiness. The inner equivalent of space is the consciousness that allows all things to be. By becoming an empty space, we simultaneously become aware of the

35

. Tolle, The Power of Now, 96-98.

36

. Tolle, The Power of Now, 136.

37

. Jiddu Krishnamurti, The Urgency of Change, (Harper and Row Publisher, 1970), 108.

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space of no-mind, of pure consciousness, of Being. Space and silence are two aspects of the same thing, the same no-thing.38 Acceptance/Surrender To some people, surrender may have negative connotations, implying defeat, giving-up, failing to rise to the challenges of life, becoming lethargic, and so on. True surrender, however, is something entirely different. According to Tolle, surrender is “simple yet profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life.”39 The only place where we can experience the flow of life is the Now, so to surrender is to accept the present moment unconditionally and without reservation. It is to relinquish inner resistance to what is. Acceptance of what is immediately frees the mind from identification and thus reconnects consciousness with Being.40 This means that there is no judgment, emotional negativity, resistance or without mentally labeling of the “Now.” Surrender reconnects our consciousness with the source-energy of Being. For Heidegger, it is a moment wherein Dasein is called to participate, to nurture, to shelter, to abet, to nourish, and to be receptive to with Being. That is because Dasein is the midwife of Being and not the God of Being.41 It becomes a joyful celebration of life energy that takes us more deeply into the “Now.” Presence or “Now” is the key to spiritual awakening or enlightenment. Our acceptance of what is takes us to a deeper level where our inner state as well as our sense of self no longer depend on the mind's judgment of “good” or “bad.” When we say “yes” to the “isness” of life, when we accept this moment as it is, we can feel a sense of spaciousness within us that is deeply peaceful. The Inner Purpose Life has an inner purpose. Inner purpose concerns Being, that is to be awaken or to be enlightened. Finding and living in alignment with the inner purpose is the foundation and basis for true success. Awakening is a shift of consciousness in which thinking and awareness separate. It is a conscious connection with the universal intelligence or presence, a kind of consciousness without thought. To understand our purpose, there must be a still alertness to know what is, that is, to follow every thought, feeling and action. What “is” is our “inner self,” it is our innermost invisible and 38

. Tolle, The Power of Now, 139-140.

39

. Tolle, The Power of Now, 205.

40

. Tolle, The Power of Now, 206.

41

. Richard Rojcewitcz. Gods and Technology: A Reading of Heidegger, (New York: State University of New York Press, Albany, 2006), 15, 65.

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indestructible essence. It is our deepest self or true nature.42 Similarly, in Sartre’s term, “it is the authentic for-itself which does not pretend to be something nor occupy any specific role or identity that is collectively derived from opinions or viewpoints that tries to tell what and who the human person is.”43 It is only through self- knowledge or self-understanding and accepting what is that we can fully realize our own being and be able to actualize our own potentialities. It is through self-knowledge and self-revelation that enables us to achieve the highest form of awareness and authenticity. To know ourselves means to know our relationship with the world - not only with the world of ideas and people, but also with nature, with the things we possess. Understanding the meaning of relationship is the beginning of seeing reality as a whole and this requires awareness, or acceptance of what is given. Having this kind of awareness, we are now “At-one-ment” with reality44 since, we are all interconnected and part of one world. Life is relationship; we exist because we are related. To be is to be related. And, “true relationship becomes possible when there is an awareness of Being.”45 Relationship is the realization of oneness, which is love. Love is a state of Being. The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, calls it as the “I and Thou” relationship. He contends that “it is only in the I and Thou that love can be perceived through equal sense of each other’s unity, care, respect, commitment, and responsibility. In the I Thou relationship, interaction with the world in its whole being is possible. The more that I and Thou share their reality, the more complete is their reality”.46 Relationship is the challenge of everyday life. If we do not know how to meet each other, we are creating conditions that breed incessant confusion as well as suffering. Self-knowledge is not an easy task. It is not a thing to be bought in books, nor is it the outcome of a long painful practice and discipline; but it is awareness, from moment to moment, of

42

. Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, (Canada: New World Library and Namaste Publishing Inc., 1999), 13. 43

. Jonathan Webber. Reading Sartre: On Phenomenology and Existentialism, (New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis e-bookstore, 2011), 2. . The word “At-one-ment” is a mode of Inter-connectedness with everything that promotes mutuality, power-with, tranquility, and harmony. It is a state of full-presence, spirited or enlightened consciousness. See Thomas Hora, Beyond the Dream, (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1996), p 305. 44

. Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, (USA: Plum and Namaste Publishing Inc., 2006), 195. 45

46

. Martin Buber, I and Thou. Translated by Ronald Gregor Smith, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1958), p, 26

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every thought and feeling as it arises in relationship.47 In Being and Time, Heidegger said that “self-awareness is to be obtained through the anguish discovery of oneself as a free, responsible and situated being. It is a duty that comes to us both from outside and from inside since our “inside” is our outside.”48 What we are within has been projected without, on to the world. What we think, feel, and do in our everyday existence is projected outwardly, and that constitutes our world. What we are, the world is.49 The world is the projection of ourselves and to understand the world we must understand ourselves. That world is not separated from us, we are the world. Thus, the transformation of the world is brought about by the transformation of oneself. Without knowing what we are, there is no basis for right thought, and without knowing ourselves there can be no transformation. Without the transformation of the individual there can be no radical revolution in the world. The revolution in social order without the individual transformation will only lead to further conflict and disaster. Apparently, in our present condition, there is a diminishing rate of understanding of relationship because some (if not all) use relationship merely as a means of furthering achievement, or self-gratification. It is the lack of understanding of relationship that causes conflict. Without understanding relationship, human suffering is inevitable.

. J. Krishnamurti, “Action and Relationship,” Colombo Ceylon 1st Radio Talk 22nd January, 1950, 3. 47

48

. Jonathan Webber, Reading Sartre: On Phenomenology and Existentialism, (New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group e-Library, 2010), 5. . Jiddu Krishnamurti, “The First and Last Freedom: On Relationship and Isolation,” 1st radio talks at Colombo Ceylon 28th of December 1949. 58-59. 49