1

WALKING IN THE ETERNAL NOW

Retreat Talks

The Rev. Dr Ian Ellis-Jones Retreat Director

Sydney Unitarian Chalice Circle

Retreat Held Friday through Sunday, 26-28 October 2012 Edmund Rice Retreat and Conference Centre

‘Winbourne’, Mulgoa, NSW, Australia

Copyright © Ian Ellis-Jones 2012 All Rights Reserved

Ian Ellis-Jones 12A Nulla Nulla Street Turramurra NSW 2074

Australia

2

First Formal Group Session

‘The Omnipresence of the Eternal Now’

‘When the mind is completely quiet there is the vastness of space

and silence … This silence is the benediction.’ – J. Krishnamurti.

‘What is the Path? What is Truth?’ asked the disciple. ‘Walk on!’ said the Zen master.

On 2 August 1929, the Indian spiritual philosopher Krishnamurti, in an historic and oft-

quoted speech, delivered at Ommen in Holland, explained why religious organizations

cannot lead us to Truth. This is part of what he had to say on that momentous day:

I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. If you first understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organize a belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others. This is what everyone throughout the world is attempting to do. Truth is narrowed down and made a plaything for those who are weak, for those who are only momentarily discontented. Truth cannot be brought down, rather the individual must make the effort to ascend to it. You cannot bring the mountain-top to the valley. If you would attain to the mountain-top you must pass through the valley, climb the steeps, unafraid of the dangerous precipices. You must climb towards the Truth, it cannot be "stepped down" or organized for you. Interest in ideas is mainly sustained by organizations, but organizations only awaken interest from without. Interest, which is not born out of love of Truth for its own sake, but aroused by an organization, is of no value. The organization becomes a framework into which its members can conveniently fit. They no longer strive after Truth or the mountain-top, but rather carve for themselves a convenient niche in which they put themselves, or let the organization place them, and consider that the organization will thereby lead them to Truth.

…

As I said before, my purpose is to make men unconditionally free, for I maintain that the only spirituality is the incorruptibility of the self which is eternal, is the harmony between reason and love. This is the absolute, unconditioned Truth which is Life itself. I want therefore to set man free, rejoicing as the bird in the clear sky, unburdened, independent, ecstatic in that freedom. … Truth is in everyone; it is not far, it is not near; it is eternally there.

3

Organizations cannot make you free. No man from outside can make you free; nor can organized worship, nor the immolation of yourselves for a cause, make you free; nor can forming yourselves into an organization, nor throwing yourselves into works, make you free. …

Again, you have the idea that only certain people hold the key to the Kingdom of Happiness. No one holds it. No one has the authority to hold that key. That key is your own self, and in the development and the purification and in the incorruptibility of that self alone is the Kingdom of Eternity.

… My only concern is to set men absolutely, unconditionally free.

That is the aim of this retreat---to provide several opportunities to set you free,

absolutely and unconditionally. If you have come here to learn some ‘method,’ some

‘technique,’ by which you can set yourself free, forget it. There is no such ‘method’ or

‘technique,’ so if you are seeking one, or if you persist in so doing, you will never know

freedom or happiness. Methods and techniques are a form of programming or

brainwashing, by one person of another. That is a bad thing. The conditioned mind can

never know truth. Now, in the speech I just referred to, Krishnamurti spoke of himself as

being ‘free, unconditioned, whole, not the part, not the relative, but the whole Truth that

is eternal.’ Part of being ‘unconditioned’ is having no illusions and no beliefs which

would otherwise distort your experience of that which is, as it unfolds from one moment

to the next. Here are two other gems of wisdom from K:

It is the truth that frees, not your effort to be free.

The search for truth is the very denial of truth.

It was the spiritual psychologist and teacher Vernon Howard who said, ‘Real life is a

timeless renewal in the present moment.’ I like that. And Mary Baker Eddy got at least

this much right when she wrote, ‘Now is the only time.’ I also like these words from the

English poet Abraham Cowley: ‘Nothing is to come and nothing past: But an eternal

now, does always last.’ The Genevan philosopher, writer and composer Jean-Jacques

Rousseau wrote, ‘The moment passed is no longer; the future may never be; the

present is all of which man is the master.’ In a similar vein, Meher Baba said:

4

What happened yesterday? Nothing. What will happen tomorrow? Nothing. All happens now---the eternal Now from the beginningless beginning to the endless end.

I think so-called ‘time’ and ‘space’ – which are really one – are no more than mediums

in which all things exist. That was the view of philosopher John Anderson and many

other philosophers and cosmologists, and it makes sense to me. Life is movement---

ceaseless movement--- and life itself is timeless and spaceless. That much is clear.

Another thing is clear---everything is contained within ‘the Now.’ In Conversations with

God we read, ‘All time is Now.’ All duration – or time – is total and complete in the Now.

There is an ‘eternal’ quality about the Now---the word ‘eternal’ meaning not immortal but

ever-present. The Now is forever present---and forever new. The present moment has

its unfolding in the Now. The past, in the form of memories, inherited characteristics and

tendencies, the karmic consequences of past actions---all that is no more than the

expression of a ‘present’ reality, being a present ‘window link’ to the eternity of the Now.

It’s the same as respects the future---any ideas about or hopes for the future are

present ideas and hopes. Yes, the present is simply that which presents itself before us

in the Now---so the present embraces past, present and future. Amazing! Here’s what

Dr Annie Besant, Theosophist, says about the matter:

In the All everything IS always; all that has been, all that now is manifest, all that will be, all possibilities as well as all actualities, are ever in being in the All.

My favourite Christian theologian Paul Tillich says as much in his wonderful book The

Eternal Now. Tillich writes, 'The mystery of the future and the mystery of the past are

united in the mystery of the present. Our time, the time we have, is the time in which we

have "presence." Each of the modes of time has its peculiar mystery, each of them

carries its peculiar anxiety. Each of them drives us to an ultimate question. There is one

answer to these questions -- the eternal. There is one power that surpasses the all-

consuming power of time -- the eternal ... .' Yes, everything is a projection of the Eternal

Now, which always has been, and always is. It is all that is. It is everything. Everything

is One in the Eternal Now, which is a ‘point’ in relative time that stays constantly in the

5

present (regrettably, a time word). Another way of saying that is this---eternity, or the

eternal now, is instantaneous. The Eternal Now is the only time in which all things exist.

As I’ve said, everything---including the memory of things past and any hopes for the

future---exist in the ‘now.’ In the words of the New Testament (Jn 7:6), ‘your time is

always ready’---that is, is now. Dr Alan Watts, writer on Zen and many other subjects,

wrote:

In the Eternal Now we shall find that straight and narrow gate, that needle’s eye, through which we are taken into the infinite life of God. … The eternal life of God is GIVEN to us here and now in the ‘flesh’ of each moment’s experience.

Here are some other words I like. They really resonate with me. The words come from

the influential New Thought minister, lecturer and writer Dr Emmet Fox, who had this to

say about the 'Now':

Has it ever occurred to you that the only time you ever have is the present moment? We have all heard this said many times but probably few of us realize, even slightly, all that it implies.

It means that you can only live in the present. It means that you can only act in the present. It means that you can only experience in the present.

Above all, it means that the only thing you have to heal is the present thought. Get that right and the whole picture will change into one of harmony and joy. When some students hear this statement they may think, ‘Oh yes, I know that. I have known it for years’; but the chances are that they have not yet understood it thoroughly.

When they do, remarkable results will follow. All that you can know is your present thought, and all that you can experience is the outer expression of all the thoughts and beliefs that you are holding at the present time.

What you call the past can only be your memory of the past. The seeming consequences of past events, be they good or bad, are still but the expression of your present state of mind (including, of course, the subconscious). What are all the future things that you may be planning, or things that you may be dreading - all this is still but a present state of mind. This is the real meaning of the traditional phrase, The Eternal Now.

The only joy you can experience is the joy you experience now. A happy memory is a present joy. The only pain you can experience is the pain of the present moment. Sad memories are present pain. Get the present moment right. Realize

6

peace, harmony, joy, good will, in the present moment. By dwelling upon these things and claiming them-and forgetting during the treatment, all other things-the past and future problems alike will take care of themselves.

If you are reading this, you are alive---although it is necessarily the case that some

people are more alive than others. (Sorry, the motivational preacher in me gets carried

away at times.) Also, where you are right now is where you are---right now. (Deep stuff,

all this.) These things must be taken to be axiomatic. Further, we can never escape the

Now, so why not live fully---and mindfully---'in' it ... now! We do not truly live in the Now

when our minds are on other things. Unless we are mindfully present, from one moment

to the next, we are not truly alive. Our attention---which must be choiceless and non-

discriminating---has to be right here---right in the here-and-now. Guy Finley, author of

such wonderful books as The Secret of Letting Go, writes, ‘Attention is the anchor of

NOW.’ Without that bare attention to what is, we can never really be said to be truly

living in the Now. In addition, if we are to find any meaning or purpose in life we must

find it in the eternity of the Now. The Now is omnipresence itself, the ‘I AM-ness’ of all

things. No wonder mystics and holy ones have referred to God as the ‘Eternal Now’ or

the ‘Eternal Presence.’ God eternally subsists and expresses Itself in Its own Being---in

the Eternity of the Now---in all things and as all things. To quote from the New

Testament: ‘in him we live, move and have our being’ (Acts 17:28). We have our being

in God, and God has Its being in us---as us.

Scott Shaw, a Zen master and teacher, has written, 'Time is a scale we created in order

to measure our worldly accomplishments.' Ha! Very Zen. Yes, time – as we ordinarily

understand it – is a somewhat ‘relative’ construct, but I still think it is ‘real.’ The truth is

we live both in time and eternity. Now, eternity is not something we enter when we die.

No, eternity is ‘something’ we are in---right now! You are part of life’s Self-expression,

and life cannot die. Your body will die, and, I think, also your mind, but the life in you---

well, that’s an entirely different matter. Stop identifying with your body and your mind---

they are not you. Stop identifying yourself with time, for the less you think about time,

and the less you concern yourself with time, the freer you will be. You can't see time.

Even if you watch the hands of a clock move, you are seeing just that---movement. You

7

are not seeing time. The fact is that if you live entirely in time, you will be afraid of death.

If, however, you live fully and mindfully in the abundance of the Eternal Now, you will

know that you live forever! There’s a big difference.

As already mentioned, the disciple asked the master, ‘What is the path?’ The Zen

master replied, ‘Walk on!’ Yes, the ‘meaning’ of life lies in the living---the ‘walking’---of

life. Life is endless movement, and so we must walk---from one moment to the next.

Any ‘meaning’ we find must and will be found in the moment-to-moment experience of

the Now. Eternity is not the present time plus all the past and all the future, nor (as

already mentioned) is it a postmortem experience. It is a present---indeed, ever-present-

--reality. In truth, there is no time after time after time. No, eternity transcends time

altogether---and is despite time! The mystics and holy ones have known this for

centuries---there is an ‘eternal’ element to life which moves us beyond spacetime to

‘something’ which is the very ground of our being---indeed, Being itself. No wonder

Jesus exclaimed, 'Before Abraham was, I am' (Jn 8:58). He didn't say, 'I was before

Abraham was.' No, he said---altering the order of the words---'I am before Abraham

was.' He understood his essential and existential pre-existence, and I do not believe he

was claiming that fact uniquely and exclusively for himself. No, he never did that! That

was not his way. He never asserted a fact about himself which was not also applicable

to---you and me! Never forget that.

Vernon Howard is right. The Eternal Now is that ‘present’ which is forever renewing

itself in and as each new moment. The Eternal ‘now’ and the temporal ‘now’ are one

and the same, for everything occurs in the now. This Eternity supersedes time itself.

Never forget that every moment of time reaches into the eternal---the same eternal that

is ‘before’ our past and ‘after’ our future. To understand the ‘eternity’ of the Now, you

need to know that there is a ‘present’ in the present as well as a ‘present’ beyond the

‘present,’ but if you try to 'chase' the next present you will fail. Don't even bother---there

is no need. This concept needs to be experienced as a present reality. Intellectual

understanding only takes you so far. In a very real sense, the Eternal Now and the so-

called temporal now are---one and the same! Everything is---here now! Life is eternal,

8

and we are alive in eternity---now! What Life---God, if you like---offers us is the Eternal

Now, which is anything but a time on the clock.

H P Blavatsky, in the first volume of Isis Unveiled, said it all when she wrote, ‘The

human spirit, being of the Divine, immortal Spirit, appreciates neither past nor future, but

sees all things as in the present.’ No wonder the New Testament says, ‘Exhort one

another daily, while it is called today’ (Heb 3:11). We live for so long as it is still---today!

Here are some wonderful words from the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible:

To whom [God] said, This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.’ (Isaiah 28:12) [King James Bible/Cambridge edition]

‘This is the refreshing.’ The renowned pastor, lecturer and author Dr Norman Vincent

Peale wrote, ‘These few words remind us of a spring of cool water because of their

renewing quality.’ Yes, each new day---indeed, each new moment in the eternal now---

is, or at least can be experienced as, a ‘refreshing,’ for that is what it truly is. Each new

moment is a renewal. The moment is so brief---as I speak these words, many such

moments have come and gone----it is virtually timeless. Time is simply a medium in

which all things live, move and have their being. So, what we call ‘life’---or reality, truth

or God---is nothing other than a timeless renewal in the present moment. Each new

moment is a re-creation---or a refreshing.

The only power that can be ours is that which is found in the reality of the present

moment that is ever-before us ‘in’ the now. That is the only ‘place’---for want of a better

word---in which we can find ‘refreshment.’ Indeed, it is a refreshing. That is the only

‘place’ wherein we can find help in time of trouble, for if we seek that help in the past or

in the future we look in vain. Indeed, trouble really only occurs when we allow ourselves

to dwell in either the past or the future. True peace and acceptance can only be found in

the calm acknowledgment of the omnipresent reality of the present moment. I have said

as much on so many occasions. Not only peace and acceptance, but inner

9

transformation as well. In one of his many classes the spiritual philosopher and teacher

Vernon Howard, whose ideas about life have had a big impact on my life and

thinking, said this:

Truth exists at this very present moment. Truth, which is the great power, the only power, therefore exists right now by man-made time, about a quarter after nine, exists for anyone in this room who is no longer living in man-made time, that is in his acquired sense of self, developed from experiences of past and hopes of the future.

Truth not only exists at this present moment; it is this present moment---at least when

we are mindfully aware of what is going on. Awareness---a word I will refer to and use a

number of times. It has been said that pure awareness is ‘the real Buddha.’ Now,

mindfulness itself is a refreshing, for it is the choiceless awareness of awareness itself.

If we stay fixed and focused, and fully grounded, in the reality of the eternal now---that

is, if our minds are fully and mindfully engaged in what is taking place in and around us

now---we will experience a refreshing, no matter what happens. Yes, we live in the now

when we are not thinking of other things, when our mind is not desiring to be in some

other place or some other state.

Yes, truth is a ‘pathless land’ and you cannot approach it by any creed or path

whatsoever. Direct perception of truth is, however, possible, when there is what

Krishnamurti called ‘choiceless awareness’ of life as it really is. The important thing is

life itself. Whatever ‘it’ may be, it is all here now, and all we have to do is to learn to

perceive it here and now. We need to see each thing as it really is---as a new moment.

If you really want to come alive, start to experience each new moment as a refreshing.

However, this can only be done from one moment to the next. It cannot be done ‘in’ the

moment itself---despite the omnipresent reality of the present moment---simply because

the so-called ‘moment’ is so brief, so ephemeral, that no sooner has it arrived, it's gone.

It's the past. One cannot experience or live ‘in’ the moment because the moment,

although ever-present, is always changing ... into the next moment ... and the next ...

and then the next!

10

I mentioned Alan Watts earlier. Here’s something else he wrote:

The presence of God as the Eternal Now is a truth which … should be able to penetrate our consciousness with ease.

And here’s Paul Tillich again:

Eternal life is beyond past, present, and future; we come from it, we live in its presence, we return to it. It is never absent---it is the divine life in which we are rooted and in which we are destined to participate in freedom … .

You are here---right now! This is now. As the Bible says, ‘Now is the accepted time …

now is the day of salvation’ (2 Co 6:2). You are living what you are living---right now!

Who you are---in this moment---is what the next moment will be for you. Hear the words

of Eckhart Tolle: ‘The past has no power over the present moment.’

‘What is the Path? What is Truth?’ asked the disciple. ‘Walk on!’ said the Zen master.

11

Second Formal Group Session

‘Piercing the Moment with Mindfulness’

‘What is the Path? What is Truth?’ asked the disciple. ‘Walk on!’ said the Zen master.

Here are some words of wisdom from Buddha Shakyamuni:

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

How many times have people said to you, ‘Live in the moment’, or ‘Live in the now’?

It is said, quite rightly in my view, that one cannot actually live in the moment. The

reason is fairly simple. The so-called ‘moment’ is so brief, so ephemeral, that no sooner

has it arrived, it's gone. It's the past. Quick, catch it! You can’t. One cannot live in the

moment because the moment, although ever-present, is always changing ... into the

next moment ... and the next ... and the next! What is ordinarily referred to as

consciousness is nothing more than a psycho-physiological state of awareness from

one moment to the next.

Some people criticise mindfulness on the ground that it asserts that one must live in the

moment or the now. Not so. Mindfulness is concerned with being present, and living

with awareness, from moment to moment, that is, from one moment to the next.

Existentially, it is not possible to live in the moment but it is possible to live, and be fully

aware, from one moment to the next. That is the important thing.

You are alive, but just how alive are you---right now? Mindful living is all from moment to

moment ... being aware step by step, breath by breath, thought by thought, feeling by

feeling, memory by memory, sensation by sensation, and so forth. Such is the flow of

life, for what is life but the ongoing moment-to-moment livingness of living things and

beings living out their livingness from one moment to the next.

12

So, don't try to live in the moment or in the now, well-intentioned though such advice

might be. Live, with choiceless awareness and bare attention, from one moment to the

next ... and be fully present while you do so.

What is meditation? It is this---living mindfully in the Eternal Now. Mindfulness takes

meditation ... and applies it to one’s whole life. All very good, but how does one

meditate every moment of each day? Well, when I use the word meditation I am not

referring to those types of meditation where one goes into an almost trance-like state as

a result of highly focused attention on some object, sound or whatever. I am referring to

simply the presence of a choiceless awareness of, and bare yet curious attention to,

whatever presents itself before you as your reality ... from moment to moment.

The essence of Mindfulness is to be always in the present moment, for it is the case

that we can only truly learn and live by direct experience, not by the received wisdom of

so-called sacred texts and enlightened teachers. So, how does one actually go about

living mindfully on a continuous moment-to-moment basis? Well, a good starting point is

to breathe consciously … slowly … and deeply as you go about your daily life. Next,

observe everything inside and outside of you. Feel the ‘life’ all around you. Be fully

present ... here and now ... in the present moment.

Here is a must. In order to know what is real you need to disidentify with your so-called

‘ego-self’ as well as the various ‘me’s’ within your mind ... indeed, all your ‘mental

noise’, chatter and ‘movies’. Those things are not the person which, in truth, you are.

‘Selfishness is the essential problem of our life,’ Krishnamurti would say to his

audiences. What was required was ‘self-liberation.’ We must liberate ourselves from

‘self-ness.’ Do you want to know something truly amazing and wonderful? We can

instantaneously liberate ourselves from the past and from past conditioning - all thought

is nothing but memory - if we refuse to analyse the content of our consciousness and

we see things as they really are, without judgment or evaluation. Here is some good

13

advice from Eckhart Tolle: ‘Accept - then act. Whatever the present moment contains,

accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.’

Watch, almost with disinterest, whatever happens, as if it were happening to someone

else. Let there be no comment, judgment or attempt to change anything. Note the

presence of any unhealthy, painful thoughts or emotions. Don’t suppress or deny them,

and do not ‘resist’ them, for whatever you resist, persists. Whatever you fight, you

strengthen. The law of non-resistance—how very important, and true, that metaphysical

law is! Dr Norman Vincent Peale writes:

The power of non-resistance removes certain blocks and limitations in the human mind or soul. … Stop resisting your problems so furiously in your mind. Stop struggling to solve them yourself. If you do that, a great sense of peace followed by a great sense of power will come to you.

Closely associated with the law of non-resistance is another very important

metaphysical law, namely, the law of indirectness---that is, don't attempt to put a

thought or problem out of one's mind directly but rather let the problem slip from the

sphere of conscious analysis. That is the right way to proceed. Don't try ... instead, let.

And please remember this: we must let be before we can let go. Remember The

Beatles’ song, ‘Let It Be’? How very wise---those words!

Step back with dissociation from the ‘activating event’. ‘See’ and feel the emotion

instead. Practise willingness … and acceptance. Finally, observe, and be constantly

aware .. only to understand ... for awareness is insight. Remember these wise words

from Krishnamurti: ‘On the acknowledgment of what is, there is the cessation of all

conflict.’

Now, whatever arises is impermanent. Everything is impermanent, which is really a

blessing, not a curse. Sensations (in the form of thoughts, images, ideas, feelings,

bodily sensations, external physical sensations, and so forth) come and go. They wax

and wane. They arise and vanish. Reality – what is – is that which comes and goes,

waxes and wanes, arises and vanishes. Mindfulness enables, indeed empowers, us to

14

live in the immediacy and directness of the arising and vanishing of that which is truly

present in the now.

In order for there to be an immediacy and directness about our moment-to-moment

experience of life, three events need to occur more-or-less simultaneously. Those three

events are ... touch (or sensation), awareness, and mindfulness. If those three events

are not simultaneously experienced, then the chances are that what will be experienced

will be nothing but ... the past! Yes, the reality of the immediate experience will subside.

Indeed, it will die! Any consciousness of it will be in the form of an after-thought or a

memory, as we glance back to re-experience, and (sadly, yes) evaluate, a past

experience.

No wonder we talk about people who live in the past! However, we all do it when we are

not mindful of events in the immediacy and directness of their arising and vanishing.

There is one thing – more than all others – which keeps alive and reinforces that false,

illusory sense of ‘self’, and that is when moment-to-moment sensation is experienced

not as something which is happening, of which we are mindfully aware, but as

something which is happening to ‘me,’ or which ‘I’ am suffering ... that is, as something

being ‘inflicted’ upon us.

Don’t let reality die on you. Don’t experience it as a past event. Let your mind penetrate

sensation, not by anticipating it. No, that is not the way to go. Nor should you constantly

reflect upon or evaluate sensations as they arise and vanish. That is also not the way to

go. Let each sensation arise and vanish of its own accord. Watch it closely, without

analysis, judgment, evaluation or condemnation – indeed, watch it, without thinking any

thought associated or connected with the sensation. Otherwise, you will instantly lose

the immediacy, directness and actuality of the experience.

So, throw away what was (the past) and what you think should be (the ideal)---please,

no ‘shoulds’---in order to perceive through direct and immediate, and thus uninterrupted

15

and unmediated observation, what is---that is, what is occurring from one moment to the

next. Listen to these words of Dr Annie Besant:

In [the] eternal Now, no thought, as we know thought, is possible; in that eternal Present, no distinctions as we make them can exist … .

The essence of Krishnamurti’s teachings can be expressed in two oft-quoted

statements of his: ‘Truth is a pathless land,’ and ‘The observer is the observed.’ Why is

truth a pathless land? Because truth---reality, life---just is, and we are always in direct

and immediate contact with truth. A path implies a separation or a distance between A

and B. But there is no such separation or distance between us and our direct and

immediate experience of reality. Of course, all too often, our experience of reality is

filtered through the past in the form of conditioning, belief systems, etc. That is a very

bad thing. Now, as to the statement, ‘The observer is the observed,’ in a literal, physical

sense---and even in a psychological sense---that is not true, but the point Krishnamurti

is making---or at least one of his points---is that, in light of that directness and

immediacy I just spoke of, there is no separation or distance between the person who

sees or knows and the thing seen or known. Further, when it comes to the person who

is truly ‘free’, there is always that immediacy and directness about their moment-to-

moment experience of life. The three events I referred to---namely, touch (or sensation),

awareness, and mindfulness---occur more-or-less simultaneously, hence the import of

K’s statement, ‘The observer is the observed.’

Shakyamuni Buddha advised us to observe and watch closely ... that is, mindfully ...

whatever is occurring in time and space in the here-and-now, in the moment, from one

moment to the next. Not only watch, but the Buddha went on to say, ‘and firmly and

steadily pierce it.’ Pierce the reality of each here-and-now moment-to-moment

experience. Only then can you truly say you are alive and no longer living in the past.

You may ask, ‘How am I to have any insight into what is happening if I don’t reflect

upon, analyse, evaluate and judge what is happening?’ I say to you, ‘How will you ever

have any insight while you continue to do those things?’ The piercing of reality of which

16

the Buddha spoke is itself a penetration into the core and nature of reality, that is, into

the arising and vanishing of each moment-to-moment spatio-temporal occurrence. That

penetration is itself moment-to-moment ... but it is insight---that is, perception without

judgment, in other words, unconditioned perception---into the nature of reality as and

when it unfolds from one moment to the next. You can do no better than that! We are

told to ‘seize the day’ (carpe diem), and that is not bad advice, but you can still do better

than that. I say to you, seize the moment ... pierce it!

So, stay mindfully aware, in order for you to have immediate and direct access to the

real. Observe. Watch closely. Pierce the moment!

Awareness---that is, choiceless awareness, or unconditioned perception or insight---is

an integral part of mindfulness, but mindfulness is not simply awareness, it is

awareness of awareness. Yes, awareness of awareness .. a ‘two-dimensional

awareness’.

The Pali word sati literally means ‘memory’. The word sati comes from a root meaning

‘to remember’. So, mindfulness is ... remembering what is present ... remembering to

stay present in the present moment from one moment to the next ... as well as

remembering in the present moment what has already happened.

In other words, mindfulness is all about remembering the present ... that is, 'keeping' the

present in mind. Put simply, mindfulness is remembering to be 'here' ... and to stay

'here' ... now. Describing the simplicity of mindfulness, the Buddha said:

In the seeing there is just the seeing. In the hearing there is just the hearing. In the walking just the walking.

In an interesting article Dr Dan Siegel, the eminent professor of psychiatry and author,

writes:

17

Mindful awareness entails more than sensing present experience as it generates an awareness of awareness and attention to intention [sic]. These fundamental aspects of mindfulness can be seen as forms of meta-cognition ...

There it is ... an ‘awareness of awareness’. Mindfulness remembers awareness ... as

well as the object of awareness. The work of being mindful, of practising mindfulness, is

the work of reminding ourselves, not just to be aware, but also that we are aware ...

indeed, that we are already aware.

Many psychologists refer to this activity as being that of a so-called ‘witnessing self’ ... a

special relationship of ‘self’ to ‘self’, whatever that means. I have trouble with the whole

concept of ‘self’ – my power-not-oneself is the power of ‘not-self’ – so I like to keep

things simple. (Ha!) In any event, 'un-self-consciousness' (wu-hsin / mushin) or 'no-

mindedness' is, for me, the 'holy grail' of all meditative practice – 'a state of wholeness

in which the mind functions freely and easily, without the sensation of a second mind or

ego standing over it with a club' (the immortal words of the ever-quotable Zen Buddhist

Alan Watts).

Now, back to keeping things simple. First, there is the person who is aware. Secondly,

there is the object of awareness. Thirdly, there is the act of being aware. It just so

happens that the object of awareness can be awareness itself. Remember, it is the

person who is doing the awareness ... not some supposed illusory ‘self’ or 'second

mind' ... and mindfulness is all about the person that you are paying attention to that

person ... and not to a 'self' ... within each unfolding moment and from one such

moment to the next.

Yes, there are simply different ways of seeing. That is what the word vipassanā (insight

meditation) means. The word is composed of two parts – vi, meaning ‘in various ways’,

and passanā, meaning seeing. So, vipassanā means ‘seeing in various ways’ ... as well

as seeing things as they really are.

18

Buddhist meditation teacher, and renowned authority on vipassanā, Patrick Kearney

has written:

Mindfulness, in other words, implies not just awareness, but reflexive awareness, awareness bending back to itself. Normally, we are aware. We don’t have to make any special effort to be aware; we are already aware. We see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think. Technically, we can say that it is the nature of mind to contact an object; to be aware of something. So far, so good. We are already aware. But are we aware that we are aware? And of what we are aware? Have you ever had the experience of driving a car along familiar streets and suddenly realising you have no memory of the previous three blocks? Clearly, while driving through those city blocks you were aware, for otherwise you would now be dead or seriously injured. But did you know you were aware? Were you aware of your awareness? Or did this understanding occur only at that moment when you remembered you are now driving this car?

This is mind blowing stuff ... not so much what Kearney has written, which is

illuminatingly profound in its own way, but the bit about mindfulness being awareness of

awareness. Is there a ‘three-dimensional awareness’ ... an awareness of awareness of

awareness? What about a ‘four-dimensional awareness’ ... an awareness of awareness

of awareness of awareness? Yes, it’s almost too much.

Many centuries ago there was a great Zen master in Japan, a man named Takuan

Sōhō. He was a great poet, artist, calligrapher, philosopher, and master of the tea

ceremony. The Shogun called him to the court, where he became a teacher of the great

samurai warriors. Sōhō was able to teach them well because his mind was so still that

he could help to bring a swordsman into that timeless state where he could be aware of

what was happening in slow motion, so to speak, and be able to respond with absolute

accuracy. You see, he fused the art of swordsmanship with Zen ritual. In so doing, Sōhō

developed the concept of the 'unfettered mind,’ and he had a number of Samurai

students to whom he was teaching the art of swordsmanship, primarily through the

means of meditation.

Now, this idea of the unfettered mind is a very powerful concept. The idea is this---the

mind must not be detained, that is, stopped, by anything. The mind must remain forever

19

free. It must not be stopped. Do you want to know something? The thing that detains

the mind most of all is the ‘ego-I’ in us. The ego is a series of conventionalized thoughts

that have an emotional charge, and as soon as we get caught and fixated on any one of

those charges—any signifier, any self-image, any pattern, any emotion that's connected

to the ego—we're lost. So, the ‘answer’ is this---we must remain in the state where we

do not have an ego in order not to have anything that binds the pure and choiceless

awareness of what is, from one moment to the next, or prevents the emergence within

us of the full flowering of our creative potential.

Here are some pearls of wisdom from Sōhō’s book The Unfettered Mind:

‘It is essential that the mind not be detained.’ 'In not remaining in one place, the Right mind is like water. The Confused Mind is like ice, and ice is unable to wash hands or head. When ice is melted, it becomes water and flows everywhere, and it can wash the hands, the feet or anything else.' ‘The Right Mind is the mind that does not remain in one place. It is the mind that stretches throughout the entire body and self.’ ‘The mind that becomes fixed and stops in one place does not function freely.’ ‘Glancing at something and not stopping the mind is called immovable. This is because when the mind stops at something, as the breast is filled with various judgments, there are various movements within it. When its movements cease, the stopping mind moves, but does not move at all.’ ‘The non-stopping mind is moved by neither colour nor smell.’ ‘The mind that stops or is moved by something and sent into confusion---this is the affliction of the abiding place, and this is the common man.’ ‘Therefore, one should engender the mind without a place for it to stop.’ ‘The mind of attachment arises from the stopping mind.’ ‘The mind that thinks about removing what is within it will by the very act be occupied. If one will not think about it, the mind will remove these thoughts by itself and of itself become No-Mind.’

20

So, in order to be free of a ‘mind of attachment’, observe but don’t stay, look but don’t

stop, be aware but don’t analyse, judge or condemn. In the words of Sōhō, ‘Make it a

secret principle in either seeing or hearing not to detain the mind in one place.’

We always have a choice---at any moment. We can act mindfully---or mindlessly. One

‘way’ is correct. The other ‘way’ is not. The rightness and wrongness of each ‘way’ can

be empirically tested by its consequences. It is as simple as that.

And, as already mentioned, the one thing that, more than any other thing, that results in

a 'stopping' or 'confused' mind is this---a misbelief that we are the innumerable false

selves (the hundreds and thousands of 'I's' and 'me's') that wax and wane in our

consciousness. Until we let go completely of this false self---and recognise that 'it' is not

the real person each of us is---our mind will continue to 'stop' and be 'occupied' in

useless, self-defeating ways. Whenever we are troubled by a repetitive or habitual

thought, a persistent memory, an obsession, or whatever, if we just let go of that

thought, memory or obsession, the entity itself dissolves because it is only kept alive by

the attention that we give to it. Let it be, let it go, and then you will experience the

unfettered mind. There's freedom, and liberation, and enlightenment.

There are many ‘ways’ but only one ‘Way’ as such, according to Sōhō:

While hands, feet and body may move, the mind does not stop any lace at all,

and one does not know where it is. Being in a state of No-Thought-No-Mind, one has come to the level of the scarecrow of the mountain fields.

There is no 'way' to that Way of No-Thought-No-Mind. The Way itself happens of its

own accord---effortlessly---when we just let it happen.

Let it happen---now!

21

Third Formal Group Session

‘Mindful Walking’

‘What is the Path? What is Truth?’ asked the disciple. ‘Walk on!’ said the Zen master.

‘What is Zen?’ asked the student. ‘That’s it!” was the reply of Ummon, the great Chinese

Zen master. In other words, forget about wanting a rational reply to a question couched

in conceptual form, which may be meaningless for all that. Truth---that which is, that

which unfolds from moment to moment---is not rational. It is beyond the intellect. It

cannot be snared in a net of words. It just is, but it can be experienced in all its

immediacy and directness. Indeed, it is only in the immediacy and directness of

moment-to-moment experience of daily life can it be known and experienced.

I referred to Zen master Ummon. When Ummon was 85 (or 86), he composed a

farewell letter to his patron, the new king of the Southern Han, and gave a final lecture

to his monks, finishing with the statement, ‘Coming and going is continuous. I must be

on my way!’ (Reminds me of Groucho Marx: ‘Hello, I must be going.’) Well, after saying

those words Ummon then sat in a full lotus posture and died. That’s the way to go out in

style!

‘Walk on!’ we are instructed. Why walk? Well, walking is movement, and life is

movement---even though we cannot see where it came from, nor yet its supposed

endpoint. Here’s something else that is movement---learning. Krishnamurti said,

‘Learning is movement from moment to moment.’ Of course, he also made it

unambiguously clear that you will only learn when you look and observe with what he

referred to as ‘choiceless awareness.’

Mindfulness is simply the presence of a calm, alert, steady, open, deliberate,

‘curious’ but choiceless (that is, accepting, non-judgmental and imperturbable)

awareness of, and bare attention to, the action of the present moment ... one’s body,

22

body functions and sensations, the content of one’s consciousness (thoughts, feelings,

images, memories, etc) and consciousness itself … from one moment to the next.

Mindfulness is awareness of awareness. Mindfulness is training in self-culture, self-

improvement and self-help.

Although most, if not all, mindfulness instructors and practitioners advocate some

individual, personalised tuition and guidance in the beginning ... for very good (and not

self-serving) reasons ... what follows is a very simple or basic form of mindfulness

walking meditation for use at home, in the office, in the park ... or anywhere for that

matter.

Most people don't know how to walk. Sad but true. ‘Walking meditation is an art!’ writes

Martine Batchelor. ‘You are not going anywhere, you are walking just for the sake of

walking.’ Walking meditation helps to foster calmness, relaxation ... and, most

importantly, awareness. As with all mindfulness, the ‘key’ is to be aware as you walk.

Walking meditation is meditation in action, using the natural movement of walking to

foster mindfulness. It is the bare experience of walking. For many, including myself,

walking meditation is the preferred form of mindfulness meditation, and ordinarily should

precede a sitting meditation as it centres the mind.

How does walking meditation differ from ‘normal’ walking? Well, walking meditation is

similar to ‘normal’ walking but it is considerably slower, as well as deliberate, intentional

and mindful. Now this is important. Walking meditation is not physical exercise but

wakeful presence.

In order to engage in walking meditation, first choose a quiet place … without

distractions. It may be indoors or outdoors. All you need is a short path, which doesn’t

have to be a ‘path’ per se but simply one you ‘create’, so to speak, by walking

backwards and forwards ... or, if you prefer, in a circular fashion. The path should be

23

some 3-10 (preferably around 6) metres in length, must have a definite ‘start’ and ‘end’,

and its surface should be flat and even.

Walking meditation has been described as ‘walking with presence and mindfulness’. It is

a wonderful means to connect mind and body with the here and now, for it keeps one

centered in the present moment. Begin by standing at the beginning of your path. Start

with a ‘standing meditation’ (‘Standing, standing’) for a minute or two. The focus is on

your body ... not your breath ... in a walking meditation. Feel the sensation of your feet

‘pressing’ against the floor/earth. Does it feel hard or soft? Warm or cold? Feel the

whole body standing … and later slowly and gently turning (‘Turning, turning’) ... with

awareness. Focus your attention minutely and purposefully on each action. Remember,

you are not going anywhere ... you are just walking.

In sitting meditation the focus of attention is the breath. However, in walking meditation

the focus of attention is the moving body. Walk barefooted or with socks only …

preferably. Now begin to walk slowly. Focus on each step. Feel each step as it comes.

Be fully present with each step. Notice every sensation of the walking process. Walk

‘flat-footed’. Place the foot down flat … heal first … toes later. ‘Left, right, left, right …’

Steps short … about 15- 20 cm apart.

Maintain correct posture in the standing position ... Walk mindfully … eyes half-open ...

looking straight ahead (not around). Your pace should ideally be very slow to brisk.

Note (and mentally note or label, at least at the beginning) the lifting of the heal (‘lifting’),

the forward movement (‘pushing’), and the placing of the foot down (‘putting’ or

‘dropping’).

Over time, you can build up to noting all 6 component parts of each step ... concurrent

with the actual experience of the various movements ... ‘raising’, ‘lifting’, ‘pushing’,

‘dropping’, ‘touching’, and ‘pressing’. Be aware of the contact between your foot and the

ground. Allow some 60 per cent of your ‘tension’ to dissipate through your feet ... with

24

the remaining 40 per cent dissipating in the non-resistant ‘zone of airspace’ in front of

you, into which you are constantly entering.

Feel the airspace in front of you as yours to feel, enter and embrace. Feel its non-

resistance, emptiness and friendliness. Be gentle with yourself. Say to yourself,

interiorly, ‘Be well’ ... sending out loving kindness to others and yourself. Walk through

this airspace mindfully but gracefully, effortlessly and without resistance ... for such is its

nature. At the risk of repeating myself, don't follow your breath or abdominal movements

in this type of mindfulness meditation.

Observe the movement of your feet whilst engaged in your walking meditation ... but

don’t look at your feet. Feel each step mindfully as you lift each foot off the floor/ground.

Feel the sensations in each foot, ankle, leg, knee, the hips, the back, the neck, the

head, the face, etc.

Look at a place about 2 metres ahead. Don’t gaze about here and there. Maintain good

posture … straight back. Hands by side, in pockets or clasped in front or at rear ...

resting easily ... wherever they’re comfortable. Breathe normally. If background

thoughts, etc, arise ... simply keep focused on noting your steps. Be aware of the

movements with your mind as well as the sensations throughout your body. If you

become distracted, and focusing on noting your steps doesn’t help ... stand for a few

moments, and watch your breath ... until the mind calms. Be fully mindful with an alert,

relaxed attention to the present moment. Continue to walk mindfully for 10 to 20 minutes

... or longer.

At end of walk, stand (‘standing, standing’) for a short while, observing your posture and

breathing … mindfully and attentively. After standing mindfully for a few moments,

gently return to your ‘daily life’ ... and don't forget to reflect upon whatever insights you

gained into yourself and others as a result of your walking meditation.

25

Now I want to say something about walking the labyrinth. The labyrinth is found in

various forms in most religious and spiritual traditions and cultures, including Christian,

Buddhist, Native American, Greek, Celtic and Mayan). The labyrinth has been around

for over 4,000 years, provides innumerable opportunities to walk with an open heart and

mind. In the process of walking mindfully and meditatively, whether in a labyrinth or

elsewhere, you gain insight by simply walking ... and observing. Yes, walking can be a

spiritual, indeed a sacred, experience, and the labyrinth is a powerful ‘tool’ for psycho-

spiritual growth, self-alignment and transformation. The labyrinth brings us back to our

'centre', that is, to the 'core' of our being, which is the very ground of being itself ... the

very self-livingness of life!

The labyrinth, with its mandala-like shape and pattern, is a most ancient archetypal

symbol. Now, symbols are very important ‘things’. The Greek word sumbolon (‘throwing

together’) ‘means really a correspondence between a noumenon and a phenomenon,

between a reality in the higher archetypal world and its outer physical expression here’.

However, the labyrinth is more than just a symbol. As a walking meditation, the

labyrinth is a ‘living symbol’ – what H P Blavatsky referred to as ‘concretized truth’ – in

that it not only ‘symbolizes’, ‘represents’ or ‘stands for’ something else (the ‘inner reality’

and, in this case, ‘inner spaciousness’), it actually is instrumental in bringing about that

reality and, in very truth, is that reality. Life is dynamic and not static. So is the labyrinth.

Walking the labyrinth, in the form of 'Circling to the Centre', is engaging in a nonlinear,

psycho-spiritual, transformative ritual.

The labyrinth is also a metaphor, and an objective metaphor at that. It is a metaphor for

the so-called spiritual journey. Now, I have written elsewhere that, in a very profound

sense, there is no journey. We are already ‘there’. The so-called ‘there’ is nothing more

nor less than the eternal here-and-now ... and it is, or at least ought to be, more than

enough for us! We simply need to be consciously awake, from one moment to the next.

That is perhaps why the labyrinth has only one nonlinear path over which you meander

back and forth, and that path is unicursal – that is, the way ‘in’ is also the way ‘out’ – as

well as being operatively multicursal. (So it is with life. I will have more to say about that

26

below.) Actually, the metaphor of the labyrinth is not so much the labyrinth but the walk

itself.

I love the symbolism of the circle. In metaphysics and esoteric spirituality the circle

represents the whole universe, eternity, infinity, life itself (as well as the continuum of

life), reincarnation or rebirth, God, Spirit, perfection, oneness, the unity of all persons

and things ... and so many other things as well. A circle has no beginning and no end,

and so refers to what some refer to as the ‘cycle of existence’. Now, the great

monotheistic religions assert that life is linear – that is, life had a definite beginning, and

life will come to an end at some future point in time. Buddhists and certain others see

life as being cyclical and nonlinear in nature. I lean more toward the latter view, but not

in the rather mechanical way it is sometimes presented in Buddhism. One thing I do

know is this – life is a spatiotemporal continuum of moment-to-moment experiences.

Life is endless. In that regard, I love these oft-quoted lines from The Bhagavad-Gita:

Never the spirit was born, the spirit shall cease to be never. End and beginning are dreams. Birthless and deathless, timeless and ceaseless remaineth the spirit forever.

When we think of Aristotle we tend to think of logic, reason and frame-by-frame thinking,

but it was Aristotle who said, ‘The soul thinks in images.’ I like that. The soul thinks in

images. We need symbols, metaphors, ritual, myth and legend, for by means of those

things we find connection.

Now, back to walking the labyrinth. There are three basic designs to the labyrinth –

seven circuit (being perhaps the most common design today), eleven circuit, and twelve

circuit. More importantly, there are three stages to walking the labyrinth: first, the path in

to the centre; second, the centre itself; and third, the path out of the centre.

As already mentioned, there is only one meandering path leading to the centre and

back out again ... and there are no dead ends! A maze is altogether different. It has

dead ends and trick turns. Some cynics will say that life is like that! Well, the labyrinth is

27

not like that. If you keep walking, you will reach the 'centre'. In my view, life is like that.

Yes, as has often been said, no one is lost who knows the 'way' home. You see, there is

no one 'right' way to walk the labyrinth. Being a Buddhist and a Unitarian Universalist, I

love that! (I have no patience whatsoever for those who assert that there is only one

way to Heaven, God or whatever.) Here, however, are some simple guidelines for

walking the labyrinth.

In the Western Christian tradition there are three basic stages to the spiritual path or

journey or the ‘mystical’ experience: purgation (or purification), illumination (or

contemplation), and union. That is known as ‘The Threefold Path’. Outside, or beyond,

the Western Christian tradition, we can speak of the ‘three R’s’ – releasing (that is,

emptying the mind, and letting go of 'self'), receiving (that is, experiencing an ‘at-one-

ment’ with All that is), and returning ... calmer, and with a deeper connection, as well as

sense of connectedness, to oneself (that is, the person you are), to others, and to life

itself.

The mystic Paul Brunton expressed it beautifully when he wrote, 'We must empty

ourselves if we would be filled.' I have found in my own life that walking the labyrinth

mindfully is a simple yet wonderfully powerful tool for self-emptying and spiritual infilling.

The Rev. Dr Lauren Artress, an Episcopalian (Anglican) priest, is the celebrated author

of several books on the labyrinth including the invaluable Walking a Sacred Path:

Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice. Dr Artress, a renowned

‘labyrinthologist’, writes that walking the labyrinth enables a person to 'gather an inner

spaciousness inside' – a transrational and nonlinear experience that others refer to as

entering sacred time and space. Dr Artress writes, 'We [have] lost our sense of

connection to ourselves and to the vast mystery of creation. The web of creation has

been thrown out of balance.' (The great mythographer Joseph Campbell used to say

more-or-less the same thing.)

I need hardly say that there is great benefit in walking the labyrinth---mindfully!

28

Remember this. Mindfulness meditation is not about stopping the mind or stopping

thoughts. Mindfulness Meditation is about allowing thoughts to be present but not letting

them run you. In walking the labyrinth, anything can 'happen' ... in the form of, for

example, thoughts, feelings, sensations, sounds, the physical experience of passing

others, and so forth. Whatever arises, whatever happens, can serve as an insight.

Returning from and out of the labyrinth is an opportunity to go forth ... ‘awake’. When

Shakyamuni Buddha woke up, he said, ‘Now all beings have woken up.’ Perhaps the

Buddha was saying that, in truth, there is no difference between the so-called

enlightened state and our ordinary life. We live our life as if we were unenlightened. We

simply need to observe ... and wake up.

Walking the labyrinth is a right-brain experience. The insight derived comes not from

logical, rational frame-by-frame thinking – or any kind of thinking for that matter – but

from psycho-spiritual intuition, imagery and imagination. The experience gained ought

not to be talked away or analysed in any way. It is sacred. Like the initiatory

experiences of the ancient mystery schools, the experience of walking the labyrinth is

ultimately unspeakable.

As I have said before, truth – that is, reality – cannot be grasped by rational analysis or

linear thought. Truth, and the experience of truth, are entirely a matter of direct

experience. Once you start analysing truth, you are in the realm of ideas, opinions and

beliefs. You have ceased to be in direct contact with truth itself. Ideas, opinions and

beliefs are barriers to truth. Krishnamurti may have said (indeed he did say), 'Truth is a

pathless land.' Well, the labyrinth may have a path of sorts, but it is as close as you can

get to a 'pathless land', for the real 'path' of spacious pathlessness is within you ... in

inner space.

One final, most important, matter. Mindfulness meditation needs to be brought into

every aspect of one's daily life. In the words of Lama Yeshe, ‘Whether you are walking,

talking, working, eating ... whatever you do, be conscious of the actions of your body,

speech and mind.’

29

Fourth (and Final) Formal Group Session

Walking in the Eternal Now

‘What is the Path? What is Truth?’ asked the disciple. ‘Walk on!’ said the Zen master.

Here are some insightful words from Ken Wilber, from his book No Boundary:

To no longer resist the present is to see that there is nothing but the present--no beginning, no end, nothing behind it, nothing in front of it. When the past of memory and the future of anticipation are both seen to be present facts, then the slats to this present collapse. The boundaries around this moment fall into this moment, and then there is nothing but this moment, with nowhere else to go.

What is life? Perhaps these words from Zen Master Keizan, from the book Transmission

of Light, might assist:

This [life] is not unchanging, yet it is not moving. It has never been void; there is no question of inside or outside, no separation of absolute and relative. Realize that this is your own original face: even if it appears as ordinary or holy, even if it divides into objective and subjective experiences, all comes and goes completely within it, all arises and vanishes herein. It is like the water of the ocean making waves; though they rise again and again, never is any water added. It is also like waves dying away; though they die out and vanish, not a drop is lost.

Scott Morrison, in There is Only Now, writes:

There is only now. Everything we call the ‘past’ is absolutely nothing but present memory. Everything we call the ‘future’ is absolutely nothing but fantasy and commentary, that is, present memory rearranged. If we continue to pretend that there is some other time or place to be, besides right here, right now, we are cruelly and pathologically deluding ourselves.

We live in both time and eternity. We don’t have to wait until we die to enter eternity. We

are in eternity now. Time is but a medium in which all things exist. In the words of Zen

Master Huang Po, ‘Beginningless time and the present moment are the same. . . . You

have only to understand that time has no real existence.’ Zen Master Seppo expressed

it well, when he said, ‘If you want to know what eternity means, it is no further than this

30

very moment. If you fail to catch it in this present moment, you will not get it, however

many times you are reborn in hundreds of thousands of eons.’

‘If not now, when?’ asks Eckhart Tolle.

Back to Ken Wilber, who has written some great books on developmental psychology,

mysticism and many other subjects. In No Boundary Wilber writes:

Eternity is not, and cannot, be found tomorrow--it is not found in five minutes--it is not found in two seconds. It is always already Now. The present is the only reality. There is no other.

That giant of the Christian Church, Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, said much the same

thing when he wrote, ‘All temporal succession coincides in one and the same Eternal

Now. So there is nothing past or future.’

In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas Jesus is quoted as having said, ‘You examine the face

of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence,

and you do not know how to examine the present moment’ (Saying 91). Who is this ‘one

who is in [our] presence’? Is it not the very livingness of life itself as it unfolds from one

moment to the next? Is it not the mindful experience of the immediacy and directness of

the eternal now, when we come to know the Self as One, when the observer and the

observed are one---not in any monistic sense but simply that in the immediacy and

directness of moment-to-moment experience there is no room for any ‘space’ except an

interior one.

What we call the past at any moment is a present concept, or we would not be aware of

it. Don’t intellectualise this. Experience it as a moment-to-moment reality. That is the

only way to live. To walk continuously in the eternal now is a moment-to-moment

experience.

Now, whatever exists are ‘occurrences’---or ‘situations’---in one space-time. Things exist

31

‘in situations.’ This is known as situationality. Further, at any ‘point’---for want of a better

word---in space-time there is always (yes, always) a plurality of space-time interacting

situations or occurrences (‘complexes’). Indeed, there are literally countless such

pluralities, and all these situations exhaust the whole of reality. There is nothing else ...

or supposedly 'beyond' or 'above' all this. Things may be distinct---indeed, they are---but

they also connected in space-time, and these connections are very real. The Buddha

reportedly said:

Monks, we who look at the whole and not just the part, know that we too are systems of interdependence, of feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and consciousness all interconnected. Investigating in this way, we come to realize that there is no me or mine in any one part, just as a sound does not belong to any one part of the lute.

Situationality and plurality---such is the nature of reality. Never forget that!

The third Zen patriarch Seng-Tsan described situationality and plurality in this way:

One thing, all things: Move along and intermingle, Without distinction.

Truth---reality---is never static but always dynamic. In his Meditations Marcus Aurelius

wrote:

Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.

It was the great pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus who wrote, 'You can't step

into the same river twice.' Everything is in a state of permanent flux and, hence, reality

is merely a succession of transitory states. Everything is forever anew. The Buddha is

also reported to have said that ‘things are different according to the forms which they

assume under different impressions’. One could substitute the word ‘situations’ for

‘impressions’ without distorting meaning. Here is a typical saying attributed to the

Buddha:

32

The thing and its quality are different in our thought, but not in reality. Heat is different from fire in our thought, but you cannot remove heat from fire in reality. You say that you can remove the qualities and leave the thing, but if you think your theory to the end, you will find that this is not so.

At any ‘point’ in space-time there exists a plurality or multiplicity of interacting factors

that can, at any time, produce a certain effect. We are talking about a complex, ever-

changing, dynamic system whose parts are mutually dependent. In the ‘Fire Sermon’

(Aditta Sutta), the Buddha is recorded as having said:

The eye, O monks, is burning; visible things are burning; the mental impressions based on the eye are burning; the contact of the eye with visible things is burning; the sensation produced by the contact of the eye with visible things, be it pleasant, be it painful, be it neither pleasant nor painful, that also is burning. With what fire is it burning? I declare unto you that it is burning with the fire of greed, with the fire of anger, with the fire of ignorance; it is burning with the anxieties of birth, decay, death, grief, lamentation, suffering, dejection, and despair. The ear is burning, sounds are burning, … The nose is burning, odors are burning, ... The tongue is burning, tastes are burning, ... The body is burning, objects of contact are burning, ... The mind is burning, thoughts are burning, all are burning with the fire of greed, of anger, and of ignorance.

The Fire Sermon presents, albeit in a highly lyrical way, a plurality of multiple situations

that are in continuous process. That is causation---processes continuing into one

another. Such is life ... wandering, wandering, waxing and waning. We live and die from

moment to moment. Indeed, in order to experience life fully---that is, in all its immediacy

and directness---we must die to self constantly, that is, in each moment. The Indian

spiritual philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti had this to say about the matter:

Death is extraordinarily like life, when we know how to live. You cannot live without dying. You cannot live if you do not die psychologically every minute.

The Vietnamese monk and Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh uses the expression

‘InterBeing’ to refer to this state and process of interdependence. Please note, I am not

saying that all things are in reality one. No, that is not the case. Everything is not

present to everything else in ‘one vast instantaneous co-implicated completeness’ (to

33

use William James’ words). There are interrelationships throughout nature, but there are

also cross-currents and conflicting forces. There are partial unities but no one, vast,

overarching unity. There is no one system, completely unified, that fuses together tightly

all the subsystems. However, this much is true---a single ‘logic’ applies to all things, for

all things exist in the same ‘level’ or plane of existence and observability. Everything has

some relations with some other things. No entity is independent of all other entities.

Now, back to this idea of living and dying from moment to moment. That is what I mean

when I talk about ‘walking in the eternal now.’ Zen Master Seung Sahn elaborated on

this topic in his excellent book The Compass of Zen:

Everyone thinks that this is extremely difficult teaching, something beyond their reach or experience. How can things appear and disappear, and yet there is, originally, even in this constantly moving world, no appearing and disappearing? A student once asked me, 'The Mahaparinirvana-sutra seems very confusing. Everything is always moving. And yet everything is not moving? I don't understand this Buddhism . . .' But there is a very easy way to understand this: Sometime you go to a movie. You see an action movie about a good man and a bad man--lots of fighting, cars moving very fast, and explosions all over the place. Everything is always moving very quickly. Our daily lives have this quality: everything is constantly moving, coming and going, nonstop. It seems like there is no stillness-place. But this movie is really only a very long strip of film. In one second, there are something like fourteen frames. Each frame is a separate piece of action. But in each frame, nothing is moving. Everything is completely still. Each frame, one by one, is a complete picture. In each frame, nothing ever comes or goes, or appears or disappears. Each frame is complete stillness. The film projector moves the frames very quickly, and all of these frames run past the lens very fast, so the action on-screen seems to happen nonstop. There is no break in the movement of things. But actually when you take this strip of film and hold it up to the light with your hands, there is nothing moving at all. Each frame is complete. Each moment is completely not-moving action. Our minds and the whole universe are like that. This world is impermanent. Everything is always changing, changing, changing, moving, moving, moving, nonstop. Even one second of our lives seems full of so much movement and change in this world that we see. But your mind--right now--is like a lens whose shutter speed is one divided by infinite time. We call that moment-mind. If you attain that mind, then this whole world's movement stops. From moment to moment you can see this world completely stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Like the film, you perceive every frame--this moment--which is infinitely still and complete. In the frame, nothing is moving. There is no time, and nothing appears or disappears in that box. But this movie projector--your thinking mind--is always moving, around and around and around, so you experience this world as constantly moving and you constantly experience change, which is

34

impermanence. You lose moment-mind by following your conceptual thinking, believing that it is real."

‘Moment-mind.’ Elsewhere I have referred to this state of awareness as ‘the mindful

mind of non-mind.’ We are talking about pure, unconditioned, timeless, ever-present,

choiceless awareness. A mindful mind is a mind of no-mind (Jpn mushin no shin). Yes,

pure Zen, but it does make sense in a Zen sort of way. The doctrine or concept of ‘no-

mind’ means no deliberate mind of one’s own. It does not mean the absence of mind, or

absentmindedness, but rather a mind which is non-discriminating, uncoloured, fluid,

unbound and free from deluded thought ... indeed, a mind where there is no conditioned

thinking, desiring or controlling ... a spontaneous and detached state of mind

characterised by inward silence and no knowing awareness ... a mind which

effortlessly thinks what it thinks ... without there being any interference (judgment,

analysis, etc) by some 'thinker' or 'ego' within the mind.

In order for a mind to be free from deluded thought it needs to be kept fully engaged in

the present from moment to moment ... without there being any subjective evaluation or

interpretation. Once we start evaluating and subjectively interpreting what is, we cease

to experience life instantaneously and spontaneously. (Trying not to think, as opposed

to forgetting to think altogether, is, of course, doomed to failure.) Alan Watts described

'no-mindedness' as a 'state of wholeness in which the mind functions freely and easily,

without the sensation of a second mind or ego standing over it with a club'. Whatever

comes up, moment by moment, is accepted without being embraced ... even non-

acceptance.

So, a mind of no-mind is a mind which is unconscious of itself and empty of itself (yes,

that supposed 'ego-self' which we mistakenly believe is us!) ... a mind which is ever

imperturbable, that is, undisturbed by affects of any kind ... a mind which is effortlessly

engaged in being here now ... a mind where there is no-effort and no-thought ... a mind

which is present only to that which is happening now ... a mind which is, yes, ‘empty’ but

35

whole … a mind which is 'nowhere in particular' (Takuan Sōhō). Listen to these words of

Krishnamurti:

It is only when the mind is quiet that there is light. But that light is not to be worshipped by the mind. The mind must be utterly still, and only then comes the light which will dispel the darkness.

A state of ‘no-mind-ness’ or ‘no-mindedness’ ... that is, a state of ‘no-thing-ness’ ...

characterised by effortlessness and a constant non-discriminating yet gentle-on-oneself

'unbinding' of the mind and letting go of all mental effluents and other ‘traffic’. This state

of non-mindness is what Krishnamurti refers to as an ‘utterly still’ mind. Now, stilling the

mind does not come through such means as thought control or thought stoppage,

concentration or any other ‘methods’ of self-discipline. No, never! A state of non-

mindedness arises of itself when the mind understands its own processes. In order for

that to occur, you must be constantly and choicelessly aware. Then and only then can

there be that ‘total revolution’ (or psychological mutation or transformation) of which

Krishnamurti constantly spoke. You can be totally free---at any moment. It’s entirely up

to you. No one else can do ‘it’ for you. I am not talking here about change as a result of

intellectual analysis or any form of traditional psychology including psychoanalysis. My

view on the latter is encapsulated in that well-known phrase ‘analysis paralysis.’ The

more analysis, structured or unstructured, the more internal division and conflict. The

conditioned mind is, in varying degrees, a sick and divided mind. It is the result of time,

and thus the past. Do you think that such a mind, which is the result of the past, be

liberated from time, such that it can ‘look at reality directly’ (K’s words), by and as a

result of a process of analysis over time and in time?

Self-analysis fails because of the problem of self-bondage---you need to understand

that the analyser (the so-called witnessing and judging self) and that which is being

analysed (mental manifestations of self in myriads of forms and thousands of ‘I’s’ and

‘me’s’ over a considerable time period) are a joint phenomenon. The first mentioned

‘self---the so-called witnessing or transcendental self---is just another of those annoying

little, pesky ‘selves’ that we all too often allow to run riot through our mind, and need I

36

remind you that no effort of the self can remove the self from the centre of its own

introspection and machinations. For example, a thought of anger arises in the mind. The

part of the mind which analyses the anger is part of the anger. There is simply no way,

by that means, to free ourselves from the background. So, intellectual analysis and all

other forms of introspective dissection are not the way to go. No, true psychological

transformation can only arise when one is entirely free of the ‘background’ (or ‘mental

furniture’). It is a total re-creation of the person we are without dependence on time or

any method grounded in or otherwise dependent on time. Look and observe. Be aware-

--choicelessly. Don’t analyse or interpret. Just look, observe and see things as they are-

--both the things outside of us as well as the contents of our own mind. The insight you

gain will change you forever---that is, if you want such change in your life. This is the

‘much simpler … more direct way’ spoken of by Krishnamurti and many other teachers.

A state of no-mindedness. You are ‘no-minded’ when you let life live out its self-

livingness in and as you ... and as all other things and persons. You are 'no-minded'

when you let go of all self-identification, self-absorption, self-obsession and self-

centredness. You are 'no-minded' when you let go of all attachments, presuppositions,

assumptions and stories ... when you leave the mind empty of all greed, anger and

delusion (ignorance). You are ‘no-minded’ when you cut down the ego at its source.

How do you do that? Again, don’t ask how. Just stop generating it – the ego, that is.

Heaven forbid, don’t try to suppress the ego. We are talking about its complete

eradication – what Krishnamurti would refer to as a ‘total revolution.’

All of this is very profound---but also very simple. Delightfully so. Truth is like that, you

know. This very moment is itself the ‘key’ to your permanent and eternal (timeless)

liberation/salvation/enlightenment. Dr Norman Vincent Peale, in one of his many books,

wrote this about time: ‘The real purpose of time is for the discernment of God.’

I have a problem with the word ‘purpose,’ and would substitute for it the word

‘opportunity.’ Some of you may also have a problem with the word ‘God.’ If so, you can

substitute for it any of the following words---life, truth, reality, the eternal. Dr Peale would

37

not object, for he himself used those other words on occasions in an attempt to describe

what is ultimately indescribable. So, we then get this: ‘The real opportunity afforded by

time is the discernment of life, truth, reality---that is, to experience that which is eternal.’

In the book Krishnamurti on Education Krishnamurti spoke of the ‘religious mind’. This

mind, or mindset, does not hold any specific belief or follow any formal religious

practice. Indeed, it is a mind that is, in K’s word, ‘alone.’ This mind has seen through

‘the falsity of churches, dogmas, beliefs, traditions.’ Not being conditioned by its

environment nor the thinking of others, this mind ‘has no horizons, no limits. It is

explosive, new, young, fresh, innocent … It is only such a mind that can experience that

which you call god, that which is not measurable.’ Krishnamurti said that when you

combine, in the one person, a truly ‘religious mind’ (in the sense just described) with a

‘scientific mind,’ being a mind or mindset that is very factual, intent on objective

discovery, ever-inquiring and open, when these two qualities are combined, ‘a new

human being’ is created.

I used the word ‘enlightenment’ a minute or so ago. The famous Japanese Zen master

and teacher Dōgen Zenji had this to say about enlightenment:

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky. The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.

We are now drawing to a close. These words of the Buddha mean a lot to me, and they

express what I have been trying to say to you, in various ways, this weekend:

Don’t revive the past, Or on the future build your hopes. The past has been left behind And the future is yet to come. Instead with understanding see,

38

Each presently arisen moment Invincibly, unshakably. Today is the day this effort can be made Tomorrow, death may come, who knows? No bargain with mortality can death defy But a person who resides fully present and awake By day and by night They are the peaceful sage.

Now---note that word, now---you can perhaps know the true meaning of those New

Testament words, ‘Today is the acceptable time. Now is the hour of salvation’ (1 Thess.

5:3).

I will finish with these words of Charlotte Gilman from The Forerunner:

Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time. We are in it now.

-oo0oo-

NOTE. Acknowledgments are due to the relevant rights holders

whose intellectual property rights are strictly reserved.