Guided Inquiry Into Awareness And Identity

This guided exploration offers gentle inquiry into present-moment awareness and the sense of identity.
Listeners are invited to notice thoughts and self-images as experiences arising in awareness, pointing toward a simple recognition of what is already here.

Transcript

Today, We're going to take sort of an experiential journey together. And what we're here to do is to examine exactly what you truly are not. This seeing what you truly are not is the foundation of the living method of awakening. That's always where we start. And we're not going to do anything different here. We're just going to start. With this finding out what we really and truly are not. So. Let's jump into that. Close your eyes. If you're in a position you're in driving or something like that are busy doing something, And this is sort of in the background, Then just cut this all. And come back to this when you can actually pay attention to the most important thing in your life. You can give your full attention to the only thing of genuine consequence, I shall say. In your life. So we have a dark field here. Those of you who've been with me a while have visited this dark field before. There's a dark field here, And when we notice this dark field, We can see we can just stretch and try to find a boundary to this dark field. Go up down left right out in front behind wherever. If you can find a boundary to this dark field. Can you find someplace where this dark field actually stopped, Not someplace that you imagined. But someplace where the dark field actually ends. As an edge. And we can. We can't find. An edge to this dark field because there isn't an edge to this dark field. There is only this dark field. Within this dark field. That we just noticed has no boundary. Let's notice that by definition. There can be no center. A boundless thing does not have any center unless you want to say the center is everywhere, But I think that's confusing. There's a sense of center, Perhaps. But there's no center. There's a sense of center. Then there's identification with the body. And the body is not you. The body is not you. The body. Is. An appearance. Within boundless awareness. Because not as this dark field. Is aware. And their sensations within this dark field. And those sensations seem to point to a body. But do they really point? To a body. And notice sensations. And a story forms. Just notice that I'm not fanning this. I'm making this up. Or it's just arising, I'm not even making it up, It's just happening. A story arises. That there is pressure. Behind my head? Behind my back. Underneath my butt underneath my arms. And underneath my feet. Let's just notice something if you did that with me. And you may not have pressure behind your head because you may not have a back rest. But I think the most, The rest of that will apply. So let's just notice that we can't actually find. The head, Which is experiencing pressure. There we cannot find the back or the but. Or the elbows or the hands or the feet that are experiencing pressure. Which begs the question. Is there pressure? Or is there a sense of pressure? Is there a story of pressure? Is there a story of head, Back, Butt, Elbows, Hands, Feet? Yes, There's a story there, But can you actually locate any of those things? And while you're. Look, Trying to locate those things. Let me ask you this. In the absence of a body. Who are you? The body is not you, That's clear, Without doing this. But there's not even a body here. There's a story of a body built off of pressure points and actually. We can't prove there's pressure because we can't prove there's anything. Actually feeling this pressure. What we can say is that there's a sense of pressure. Within a story. Of a body that we can't actually find. Notice that if there's sight happening, It's just to the dark field. Is what's heard outside of the dark field. Well, Actually, There is no outside to the dark field, Is there? So anything seen is within the dark field, Anything heard is heard within the field. We've already said felt. I find no taste to the dark field itself. And there comes the story of a tongue to check. There's something. Or there's a sense of something. Moving behind my teeth. And there's a sense of mouth that opens. That the stone tongue may stick out. In my imagination. And taste a dark field that has no taste. So. What they're really here is here. Is tastelessness. How about smell? There may be a smell. Sense of smell, If you will. Within the dark field, It may smell like dinner. It may smell like dirty clothes. Or it may be like the field here. Which is that they're simply. No odor here, Good or bad. So are we finding a dark field? And if so. . . What is there outside of the dark field. That's finding a dark field. There is no outside to this dark field. That means the only thing that can be finding this dark field is this dark field. Now is the dark field based on senses? Well, It's based on a lack of sight. But I'm not sure that the absence of something is the same thing as the truth of something. So it'd be hard to say. That this field is built on the site. There are noises within it. But who's the hearer? What is it that hears those noises? If there are noises, There are no noises here. This dark field itself is tasteless. It's odorless. Because we can notice that there might be odors within the dark field. But they are arising. Within the dark field and they will not remain. They are not permanent. What is within this dark field that is permanent? About the story of body. That's not permanent. No story is permanent. How about a sense of personality? Can we find that sense of personality? Can we locate it? This dark field has no head. There is only vacant space. And we could say. Spaciousness. Because within this. Vacant spaciousness. There are risings. There are risings of pressure. Which lead to. The arising of a story about a body. Which stimulates. The arising of a story about. Someone who's experiencing this. See if you can find someone who's experiencing this. Just actually find it. I, So to speak. Come up empty-handed, So to speak. Notice this dark field. And then point out to me or yourself. Or now other please. Find other. Point to other. There's no pointing going on here. Because there is no other, And there is even no sense of other over here. There is a dark field and I noticed that this dark field that there's an aliveness to it. And I noticed that there is. On alertness to it. And I noticed that. This story of body, The story of what's here. It feels alive. It feels like it's here. And it feels alert. Does it feel? Asleep? Or do you notice that sleep just doesn't make any sense here? Notice that all of these stories even including the dark field. Occur within awareness. Can you find anything outside of awareness? Don't think, Look. Stretch. Stretch. What you think of as your mind or your imagination. But then trying to find the you're that owns. Imagination. Is it your imagination? Or is it just imagination? And does the content. Of imagination. Actually lie outside of imagination? Or is it wholly within imagination? And the only reason that. This imagination can be noted. Is because it is here. In the vast vacant. Field. Of a weary. Notice the difference between. Awake, Not awake, Even between awakeness. And the verdness of a wearing. There is a wearing taking place. Is it you're a-wearning, A-wearing? Or can you not actually find yourself here? In the absence of any identification whatsoever. What's experienced. There is this awaring. This awareing, However, Is not. This awareness is not the presence or the experience. This is a wearing is not an experience. Because there cannot be experience in the absence of others. There's no other. There's not even a dark field. There is pure awareness. Notice that it is pure, Unowned awareness. Notice that it is pure, Unowned, Unknowing awareness. There is a subtle sense of presence here. You may feel that sense of a subtle presence. But I want you to recognize that there's no presence that can be verified. And you are not. A subtle presence. You are a subtle absence. As I heard from Nisargadatta's work today. You are the hole in the paper. The hole in the paper. Is not of. The paper. The hole in the paper can't be said to be here. But we can't say it's not here. The statement. There is a wearing, Were we to make that statement. Would within the normal realm of things certainly be true, Would it not? There is a wearing. Is there anything that a wearing is aware of? No. Is a wearing. Aware of itself. Or is that, Too, A story? Is the hole in the paper aware of the hole in the paper? Is the absence aware? Of absolutes. Or presence. Absence is not consciousness. Absence. Is no thing. At all. That cannot be imagined. It cannot be spoken of. And it cannot truly. Be experienced. Because I. Because it. This absence. Is prior. To experience. Prior to language. Prior to knowing. Simply prior. Rest as absence. Can absence rest? It's not here. Can what's not here rest? We do not rest. In absence. There is resting. As absence. We cannot see it. We cannot know it. We cannot describe it. We cannot think about it. But we cannot. Not be it. Stay as long as you like. There's nowhere to go.