Douglas Harding

How do you discover your original true nature? Do you think it is by reading holy scriptures and books? You will never find a total answer to this question by reading holy scriptures and books. By seeking an answer to this age old question you have to become the answer; in essence god discovers himself all along. Nevertheless books can help if your struggling to overcome any obstacles on your search.

When the student is ready, the teacher appears. But this need not be limited to physical appearances as such. Your own intuition is the inner teacher and it will guide you to what is most appropriate for you at the time. On the other hand, you may have cultivated self-reliance, independence and balance to such an extent that you need no ‘guru’. In that case, no teacher will appear, your own intuition will provide direct guidance from within.

On the spiritual search one often hears that our true nature is the easiest thing to see, as it is always present, right underneath our noses. Douglas Harding has devised a method of radical self inquiry that is based on simple, practical exercises that anyone can do anywhere. He calls his discovery headlessness, which he says is the same as “seeing who you really are.”

Douglas Harding passed away on January 11, 2007. He was a remarkable sincere individual whose sole interest was helping individuals to “see who you really are.”

His view is that “seeing who you really are” is available right now and not only after a lifetime of seeking, meditation and esoteric practises. Respectively, he lines up with Maharishis view. “All are seeing God always, but they don’t know it. I see what needs to be seen. I see only just what all see, nothing more. The self is always evident.”

The Self

The self is simply a bundle of perceptions. Perceptions themselves, their organs, and things perceived are without substance, as the Heart Sutra tells us. Yet at the same time, the self is the agent of realization and the setting of serious practice. The Buddha pointed out that it is difficult to be born a human being and difficult then to find the Buddha Dharma. Indeed. When you reflect on the infinite number of happenstances that coalesced to produce you, then you understand how unique, how precious, how sacred you really are. Your task is to cultivate that precious, sacred nature and help it to flower.

~ Hakuin Zenji (1689-1796)

You Can't Sit Too Much

The helpfulness of sitting cannot be exaggerated. By sitting and being still, resting in silence, you begin to feel a natural movement, a shift in the direction toward what you are. It is the most typical setting in which one will experience an awakening.
Please note that I'm not suggesting that you meditate or do practices or other exercises.

You can, and these are often a vital part of many people's journeys. But sitting, to me, is just that: sitting. No agenda, no goal, no plan, no purpose. You sit, you rest, you allow. By sitting you acknowledge an inescapable fact of existence: everything is perfect as it is. All is well. The universe is functioning flawlessly, right now, without any assistance on your part.

This simple act of sitting can have a profound effect. You have no idea what will happen. But the main thing to remember is that by sitting, by allowing everything to be, you are aligning yourself with the truth of what you are. For what you are is always at rest, always still, always allowing everything to be exactly as it is.

Yes, I did learn this "technique" from Adyashanti. And yes, he is quite correct: sitting is the best thing you can do.

Life Is Living You

Get over it! Life is living you! You are not living life and it is really that simple.

Don't believe me? No, probably not. But as soon as you start to see the truth of this, that there is no "I" or "me," then this  becomes self-evident. I am not "me." What I am is all of Life. Therefore, what is living through this body? The little psychological self, what we call the ego? Or all of Life?

Life is living Itself. The more you cooperate with this fact, the happier you will be.

Who Are Our Greatest Teachers?

On a spiritual search there will come a time when you seek the guidance of a teacher. An old ancient proverb comes to  mind: “When The Student Is Ready, The Teacher Appears.” It is a mistake to think that our greatest teachers can be found only in monasteries, hermitages and ashrams  away from hustle and bustle of worldly existence.

Your greatest teacher may have already made a brief appearance in your life, but you seldom realize this. Every circumstance, every person can teach us lessons but you have to be willing to reflect and look beyond the  obvious. By asking the question “What is the lesson I have to learn?” You learn to see the lesson hidden behind the circumstances or event that is causing distress or unhappiness.

Mistakenly we  like to believe that our greatest teachers are those that love and support us. Nevertheless we will not identify with difficult circumstances, people who challenge us and are able to bring out our worst behaviour. You can usually recognize this by your own responses; includes feelings of embarrassment, righteousness and anger.

Those who may frustrate, anger, hurt, confuse or abandon us are our greatest teachers. They could be parents, family, friends, work colleagues, parents, children or strangers. Usually they have an uncanny ability to bruise and displease us, prompting a range of vengeful reactions from us. However these “irritating” people hold powerful keys to our own personal freedom and realization.

Throughout our battles in daily life we learn much about ourselves and we have the opportunity to recognize the value of these people in our lives.

I’m Drawing God

A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's artwork. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "but no one knows what God looks like."

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

~Unknown Author