“Like you, I am searching for who I am, and by now I know that I am not going to find an answer in my functional machinery, ticking away automatically, but in my essential mind, just aware attention, watching. As the Dalai Lama has been pointing out in recent years, the Tibetan language has two words for these two very different kinds of “mind”: The ordinary automatic mind that they call Sene, and this other receptive stillness, which has no judgments, no associations, that they call Rigpa and translate as “awareness.” It’s a beautiful statement in a few sentences of what has previously been a very secret Tibetan practice called Dzogchen, closely allied to what Gurdjieff and others have taught as the wordless way of being totally present now, in this moment ... We’re all designed with this possibility. But what is obstructing the realization of that human potential?”

~ Jim George, in 'Last Call', from an interview with David Ulrich

This Universe is a compassionate one, and will help you when you Surrender everything to find the Presence. - Robert Adams

Dechen Gyalmo - Queen of Great Bliss

Happy Dakini Day! 🪷🔴🔱

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"You ask: how can we cognize the infinite? I answer - not with reason. The business of reason is to distinguish and determine; the Infinite, therefore, cannot stand among its objects. You can comprehend the Infinite only with a higher ability than reason, coming to a state in which you cease to be your finite Self, in which the Divine Essence is communicated to you. This is ecstasy, this liberation of your mind from its finite consciousness. Only the like can be known when you cease to be finite, you become one with the Infinite to her simplest Self, to her Divine Essence, you bring about this union—this identity.”

— Plotinus

"The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth."
― Peter Abelard

Notes: Within Christianity, doubt is often portrayed as a weakness, indicating a lack of blind belief, with figures like Doubting Thomas serving as cautionary tales rather than examples to be admired. His doubt is presented as a failing, and he is ultimately rebuked by the Jesus character for needing physical proof of such a remarkable claim. This attitude towards doubt reflects a broader trend within Christianity and more widely, the Abrahamic religions as a whole, where questioning or challenging established beliefs is discouraged or even condemned, as doubt is seen as antithetical to faith. However, doubt is not a hindrance to wisdom but instead, as the quote posits, is a necessary precursor to it.

Image: The Incredulity of Thomas by Caravaggio

“When I say, “Lord have mercy,” I am not making a pious devotional statement. It’s not about worthy or unworthy, shame and guilt, blame and punishment. Rather, I am feeling to my very bones that yearning for being and sharing of being that permeates the entire created order. I am implicitly acknowledging that one cannot know without also being known. I am affirming my willingness to stay awake, to endure the vulnerability. I am actively engaging humility—not obsequiousness, but a recognition of the scale of things, the depth of the suffering and the yearning that binds the created order to the uncreated light.”

~ Cynthia Bourgeault, 'Mystical Courage'

"It is necessary that we should seek and knock, and thereby ask the Omnipotent Power within ourselves, and remind it of its promises and keep it awake, and if we do this in the proper form and with a pure and sincere heart, we shall receive that for which we ask, and find that which we seek, and the doors of the Eternal that have been closed before us will be opened, and what was hidden before our sight will come to light."

~ Paracelsus

“It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.”

~ Wendell Berry, 'Standing by Words'

Photo by Darrell Young

Don't explore the root of things, explore the root of the mind! If you find the root of the mind, you will know One thing, and everything will be liberated. If you do not find the root of the mind, you will learn a little bit of everything, and in the end nothing.

Hakuin Ekaku

"There is great discussion among the masters in the schools about how it is possible for the soul to know God. It is not due to God's justice or His severity, that He demands much of man, rather it comes from His great bounty, for He wants the soul to be capacious, so as to hold the largesse He is ready to bestow.

No one should think it is hard to come to this, even though it sounds hard and a great matter. It is true that it is a little difficult in the beginning in becoming detached. But when one has got into it, no life is easier, more delightful or lovelier: and God is at great pains to be always with a man and to lead him inward, if only he is ready to follow. No man ever wanted anything so much as God wants to bring a man to knowledge of Himself."

~ Meister Eckhart

“LIBERATION LEADS TO LIBERATION. These are the first words of truth — not truth in quotation marks but truth in the real meaning of the word; truth which is not merely theoretical, not simply a word, but truth that can be realised in practice. The meaning behind these words may be explained as follows: By liberation is meant the liberation which is the aim of all schools, all religions, at all times. This liberation can indeed be very great. All men desire it and strive after it. But it cannot be attained without the first liberation, a lesser liberation. The great liberation is liberation from influences outside us. The lesser liberation is liberation from influences within us.”

~ Gurdjieff

Virtue in the Classical Tradition: Techniques

The Rule of the Stoics

“There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power.” These are the opening words of the Handbook by the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus. He continues, “Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever affairs are our own. Beyond our power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in one word, whatever are not properly our own affairs.”

Method:
This technique can be used in any setting and for any length of time, but I recommend sitting quietly and taking at least 5 minutes to go through the following steps.
Note what kinds of things are in your power: opinion, aim or intention, what you avoid, what you move towards. Note what kinds of things are not truly in your power: everything else, including your body, your property, your reputation, as well as the behaviors and opinions of other people. Then, recall anything you may be anxious about, angry about, feel guilty about, or are otherwise troubled by, and determine whether those worries belong to the class of things within your power or to the class of things that are beyond your power. If they are within your power, commit to taking corrective action. If they are beyond your power, release them and return your focus to those things within your power.

Source: Epictetus, Handbook 1

Your consciousness has no concreteness and is primordially pure, inherently empty and not created by any thought. Therefore, abide in this state where there is no meditation, meditator, or object of meditation. This is true meditation and samadhi. Through this you will attain the fruit - the state and status of Buddhahood!

Guru Padmasabhava

"Simply by detachment from the association of worldly people, and by associating with exalted devotees, anyone can attain perfection of knowledge and with the sword of knowledge can cut to pieces the illusory associations within this material world. Through the association of devotees, one can engage in the service of the Lord by hearing and reciting. Thus one can revive his dormant God consciousness and, sticking to the cultivation of God consciousness, return home, back to Godhead, even in this life." (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.12.16)