Y2ism.net

All That Is, but Nothing In Particular

I ordered a new book from Amazon this week, You Were Never Born, by John Wheeler. After reading a physics article (that I can’t find now) calling him a “poet physicist,” I began a search for books by theoretical physicist and Einstein collaborator, John Archibald Wheeler at Amazon. Instead, You Were Never Born by a totally different John Wheeler came up. It wasn’t what I was lookin for, but it had all 5-star customer reviews, and the first one, titled, “Probably the purest teaching I’ve come across,” intrigued me. It talked of a technique of spiritual teaching using “pointers” as a method to allow one to see one’s true nature. It is a recent book from a field known as Non-dualism whose principles were familiar to me, but whose name was not. On reflection, my very nickname, Y2, is a kind of non-dualist question/statement. Why two? Since of course, there is only one. This is the central precept of non-dualism in reaching its purpose, self-knowledge.

I’ve only read the introduction and have not yet gotten to the meat of the book, the dialogues, but already the book has affected me. Particularly Wheeler’s contention that there is no effort, special place or time, or work that needs to be done to reach true awareness of the truth of existence - what he and non-dualists call presence-awareness. Since presence-awareness is always what we truly are - it does not fade or change from waking to sleeping or due to changing emotional states or thought processeses - there is nothing that needs to be done to become aware of it. From this perspective, the very idea of enlightenment is a falseness and an impediment to reaching for what need not ever be reached for. So the logic of non-dualism goes, if enlightenment is a state that one must reach that is not currently attained, then a separation is required, which is against the aim of a non-dual state. The non-dual state is described as the consciousness or awareness that every experience, thought, emotion, and object of the world rests on. All of these are illusions of separation while the truth of awareness is infinite, unchanging, and forever.

At least, thats what I can describe it as at this early point in considering the teaching or pointers that John Wheeler has laid out. So far I’ve found the act of simply acknowledging (accepting? appreciating?) the state of being-awareness that is beyond thought and emotion is, as one questioner posed, a bit like a dog chasing its tail. Wheeler writes that the mind cannot process or think this state of being. It is not a concept. It is beyond thought. A fascinating proposition, but as of yet I must admit to difficulty in recognizing this state without cognition.

However, I do believe there was a time in my life that I may have been in acceptance and peace with this state for a moment and perhaps now look back on Read the rest of this entry »

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