Poem
What If
It’s all a dream:
Places
Situations
Relationships
It’s all fiction:
Mind
Senses
Intellect
It’s all an illusion:
Time
Space
Form
It's simply:
Existence
Awareness
Bliss
Lion or Sheep
A lion cub lost among sheep
Growing up in a dream reality
Bleating fearfully in conformity
Ignorant of its origin and identity
Along comes an enlightened Soul
Bemused by what she sees
Shows the lion dressed as sheep
A reflection of its true identity
Awakened from the dream
The liberated lion roars loudly
Free of misconceptions and duality
Aware of its origin and identity
One reality, imaginary many
Ask, 'Who am I—one or many?'
If one—acceptance and unity
If many—resistance and dichotomy
Who Am I?
Am I the body?
Am I the emotions?
Am I the senses?
Am I none of these?
Am I the mind?
Am I the intellect?
Am I the nothingness?
Am I none of these?
Am I the light?
Am I the mirror?
Am I the reflection?
Am I all of these?
Am I the seer?
Am I the seen, and
Everything in-between?
Am I the one and only?
What do you see?
Stand before a mirror
What do you see?
Is that you or me?
If it's you, why not me?
You say there is a difference
Is that true?
I say we are undifferentiated
Like the tree inside a seed
Go to sleep
What do you see?
Is that a dream or reality?
If it's a dream, why not reality?
You say there is a difference
Is that true?
I say they are undifferentiated
Like one having a waking dream
Wake Up
Wake up, wake up
From a temporal dream
Awake, I realise the truth
All is 'I' with no other
Wake up, wake up
First, I was undifferentiated
Later, infinitely variegated
By time-space-thought
Wake up, wake up
I am the magician
Manifesting things at will
Like the passing clouds
Wake up, wake up
I am the lucent vibration
Illuminating the false world
Making it appear as real
Wake Up
Wake up, wake up
Realise 'I Am That'
Knowing there is no other
Be still in a sea of activity
Wake up, wake up
I am pure Awareness
Streaming through the senses
And giving rise to knowingness
Wake up, wake up
I am not the body or senses
I am not the mind or intellect
All are ignorance and delusion
Wake up, wake up
I withdraw cognition
In deep sleep, not knowing
Absolute being in eternal bliss
Wake Up
Wake up, wake up
The truth 'Who am I?'
Is reflected in a dreamer
Self-aware and blissful
Wake up, wake up
The mind projects experiences
Like a movie viewed on screen
Nothing endures in this reality
Wake up, wake up
I am the timeless Self-of-All
Experiencing temporal existence
Like worlds perceived in dreams
Wake up, wake up
I am the nameless Self-of-All
Manifesting in an eightfold form
Eternally 'Being' and 'Non-Being'
Duality
Experiences are dual in nature
Knowing one creates the other
Opposites define one another
Without one there is no other
Recognise beauty, ugly is born
Without low, there is no high
Evil exists to make good apparent
Without pain, there is no pleasure
Be still in dealing with duality
Remain grounded in equanimity
All things bow to a natural order
In time one will follow the other
Be still until the mud settles
Wait for the water to be clear
Right action means effortless
In time, change occurs naturally
Experiences
What if experiences are
Conjured up by the mind
Perceived by the senses
Analysed by the intellect
What if experiences are
Like looking at holograms
One's thoughts and beliefs
Manifesting as reality
What if experiences are
Like flying in a dream
Asleep, indisputably real
Awakened, realises she’d slept
What if experiences are
Not fixed in space and time
What seems like here and now
Could be anywhere, anytime
Coming Home
Departure—
'I', 'Me' and 'Mine'
Space, time, thoughts
Separateness
Midway—
Doubts and uncertainties
Confusion and restlessness
Self-enquiry
Homestretch—
Faith and humility
Surrender and playfulness
Awakening
Arrival—
Self-aware and allowing
Reunion and communion
Existence-Awareness-Bliss
Happiness
When life is all but suffering
The apparent causes may be
People, places, and situations
Due to the veil of illusion
Go within and ask, 'Who am I?'
Unlearn what you’ve learned
Allow silence to undo doubts
Let intuition replace intellect
What’s inside appears outside
Imaginary world—a dream state
Experiences driven by the mind
Neither real nor permanent
One indescribable reality
When the dreamer awakens
Temporal illusions cease to be
Happiness blossoms naturally
Bliss
Let go of:
I
Me
Mine
Let go of:
Worry
Grief
Anxiety
Let go of:
Choice
Effort
Outcome
Let go of:
Past
…
Future
Musing
All is Well
We are 'Awareness' embodied in human form. Nothing that happens in worldly life can affect or alter our inner essence. Life is no more than a fleeting dream for passing time. Reign in the mind. Don’t allow thoughts to go astray. Be still and observe the endless manifestations. Think of it as going to the movies and enjoy the show from start to finish without becoming emotionally overwhelmed or unduly attached to the characters and storyline.
Joy of Being
We are merely a fiction for the Source to experience physical existence and explore infinite possibilities through creativity; therefore, we should remain open and not judge, react, or resist anything. Let everything run its course without interference. Each unfolding experience is an invitation to just be ourselves and allow the Source to express itself through us and others. Accept this to awaken from the illusion of separateness and restore the joy of being.
Be Yourself
We did not come to seek perfection because all that exists is in perfect balance and harmony. We don’t need to make the world a better place—nothing is broken. We came to experience creation in all its polarities. We came to love all things unconditionally. We did not come here to meddle or intervene with 'What Is'. Our role is to remain still and observe everything that comes into our direct and indirect experiences without resistance, judgement, or expectation.
Oneness
We are in everything and everything is in us. Imagine a dark room with a candle placed in a pot with many holes where rays of light pass through in different trajectories to appear as individual beams. To think that the rays are separate and distinct from each other and from the source is an illusion. Like the lamp, the light of the Source streams through infinite points of awareness to take tangible and intangible forms to experience temporal reality from unique perspectives.
Existence
The Source
The Source is nameless, formless, and timeless. The Source gave birth to one. The one divided itself into two. The two gave rise to three. The three conjured up temporal reality—a dreamlike state. Everything comes into Existence and returns to Non-Existence (No-thing-ness) in an eternal cycle precipitated by the illusions of space, time, and thought. The Source is the mother of Existence and appears in temporal reality as 'Awareness' embodied in forms to explore, experience, and know its innumerable aspects. The mind, being an imaginary phenomenon, is an aggregation of thoughts. The mind is the progenitor of multiplicity and creator of existential reality. The first and foremost thought in the mind is 'I Exist'. The 'I' or ego is no more than an illusion of separateness that enables experiencing; it creates a subject and object. The Source forgets itself (like one falling asleep) when embodying names and forms to perceive a transient dream reality.
Inner Stillness
Inner stillness is where bliss lies; it's experienced when awareness is focused inwardly and outwardly at the same time but remains non-reactive to the movement of thoughts, emotions, and experiences. This state is also known as Existence-Awareness-Bliss. Inner stillness cannot be achieved through physical effort or intellect; it requires us to be choiceless and effortless. How then do we relate to people, events, and situations? We remain centred in the blissful knowledge of our inner essence and engage naturally and playfully with a heart and mind that are ever cool and tranquil. We simply play our role without becoming entangled in the drama.
The World is a Mirror
The external world reflects our inner world. We manifest experiences based on conditioned thoughts and beliefs. Our habit of thought on any subject is moulded by impressions derived from past experiences and desires for fulfilment in future experiences. Our thought patterns influence the way we perceive everything. Nothing is inherently good or bad, right or wrong. All manifestations have a purpose in maintaining balance.
Quiet the Mind
As soon as resistant thoughts arise, turn within and ask, 'To whom are these thoughts occurring?' The unspoken reply would be, 'Me'. Ask further, 'Who am I?' without conceptualising an answer; then, observe the gaps in-between thoughts. As you repeat this exercise regardless of how many resistant thoughts arise, the reactive thinking mind would lose momentum and calm down. Why? Because the depths of your inner nature is 'Stillness', and mental noise - which is no more than movements on the surface - would subside when you stop engaging in resistant thoughts and be the non-reactive observer. You would need to be alert and ask the question as soon as resistant thoughts arise. Over time, this self-enquiry will lead to a noticeable reduction in mental noise and a corresponding increase in inner peace.
Existential Reality
Existence is not an objective reality; it's a subjective dream. Every point of awareness is experiencing a unique individual existence. Most of us are unaware of the dream state due to the veil of illusion. Eventually, the allure of dreaming would lose its stranglehold and our false sense of self will start to erode, giving rise to doubts and confusion. In our darkest moment, an inner voice will nudge us to go within and inquire, 'Who am I beyond the body, mind, and emotions?' As we persist with this enquiry, we'll be guided to discard all misconceptions until the mind is returned to childlike innocence—reinstating alert presence. Only when there is alert presence does 'Awareness' become the means of teaching and the teaching itself. This gentle and gradual process will culminate in the realisation of our innermost essence and awaken us from the state of ignorant dreaming.
Awakening
Once awakened, a three-fold transformation occurs: first, we'll become centred in self-knowledge and simply play our role in the dream; second, we'll no longer become overwhelmed by or unduly invested in the drama of everyday life; third, we'll adopt a more natural and playful attitude towards people, events, and situations because we've ceased to treat the unreal as real. After the awakening, we'll go back to living our lives as before, but without the constant worry, grief, and anxiety. Occasionally, we'll get caught up in the drama due to the law of duality; however, we'll be able to snap out of it without falling back into the previous state of ignorant dreaming.
Creative Playground
Physical existence is a creative playground with limitless possibilities. We came to experience the world of matter and creation through our physical perspective and navigate the maze of unpredictability through our non-physical perspective; it's a co-creative process. We did not come to compare or compete (except playfully) because our physical and non-physical perspectives are two sides of the same coin. We are spirit and matter in one manifestation. We are part of the indivisible whole: experiencer, experiencing, and experienced.
Pain & Suffering
Pain is the opposite of pleasure. The moment we experience pleasure, pain is born. Like rain, pain comes and goes with varying intensities and for different lengths of time. Pain can be experienced without any suffering. At the root of all suffering is one or more of the following causes: first—ignorance of our true nature; second—belief in a separate and distinct existence; third— ‘attachment’; fourth—lack of equanimity; fifth—fear of death.
Do Nothing
Existence and non-existence is a hologram. The hologram is an imaginary bubble that encapsulates your existential reality. You - the embodied awareness - are inside the bubble. You - the indescribable reality - are outside the bubble. You, on the inside, are physically focused with a limited perspective. You, on the outside, are non-physically focussed with a limitless perspective. Each inside-the-bubble perspective gives birth to unique preferences from its vantage point. The creative energy nourishes and fulfils all preferences without discrimination but ultimately adjusts excesses and makes up deficiencies to maintain balance; therefore, egocentric pursuits will only flourish for a while. When there are competing interests, the one who practises moderation and humility will eventually succeed. All preferences will manifest if you can be humble and patient while things take their natural course. What does that mean? First, refrain from using force or manipulation to make things happen. Second, accept all and resist nothing because each occurrence - pleasant or otherwise - is an essential step. Third, don't react—wait, only respond if necessary. Fourth, shape and revise your thoughts as things manifest. Fifth, follow the path of least resistance, meaning, act when it feels natural and effortless.
I am That
An indivisible part of the whole appears in temporal reality: formless, perfect, and unaware of itself; it then takes form and allows circumstances to bring it to completion—returning to non-existence. A natural order maintains balance and harmony in this self-impregnating cycle of renewal and repetition. I am 'That'.
The Eternal Cycle
