BEING NOBODY in Clapham Junction Appendices
APPENDICES / RESOURCES / LINKS
It is hoped that you will enjoy this selection and find it helpful.
Below you will find a variety of material, different jewels you might say, about Non-Duality. These tools and resources are offered to guide you towards discovering ‘Who You Really Are’ and thereby enjoying a happy and peaceful life - no matter what.
A great amount of material has been written on the connection between science, Non-Dualityand spirituality. Many scientific experiments point to the veracity of the Non-Dualityparadigm that everything in the universe is connected. Marilyn Ferguson in her bestselling book ‘The Aquarian Conspiracy’ discussed this back in 1982.
A more recent book exploring this connection with science from a different angle is: ‘On the Mystery of Being - Contemporary Insights on the Convergence of Science and Spirituality,’ edited by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo (2019). When you Google “Non-Dualityand science,” 28,600,000 results come up!
In this book, I am not going into that interesting area - the focus suggested in these Appendices is on what the Direct Enquiry process offers. However, you may need to think differently from usual.
Whilst many of the items in the Appendices, etc. have a broad Non-Dualityremit, the following are particularly focussed on ‘The Direct Path,’ where possible, please choose material which is relevant. Preferably choose content associated with the teachings of, for example: Sri Ramana Maharshi, Niriragadatta Maharaj, Sri H.W.L Poonja (known as Papaji), Shantananda Saraswati and contemporary teachers such as Rupert Spira, Tony Parsons and Adyashanti.
If absolutely everything is totally connected in all sorts of ways and not as a multiplicity, what remains is just a sort of oneness. One may ask: “Where am I in this?” And then “Who am I?”
Let’s look at these questions in another way. Am I really my body or is my body rather like being in a car or a diving suit that I am wearing, and therefore - not me? If I lose part of my body, am I still here? Evidently, I am still here. Clearly, in the same way I am not my car, nor am I my body.
If you survive this question, the inquiry “Who am I?” can now be explored further. Lots of pointers in the Appendices.
It’s like going down a rabbit hole with surprises on the way, provided you dig deep enough. Help is always on offer to navigate this journey if one looks for it through teachers, books, clubs and organisations. Some of these gatherings are known as ‘The company of good friends’. A variety of pointers are provided in this appendix.
Websites –
● Hugely useful to meet many Non-Dualityteachers, etc. - really worth checking
● www.batgap.com - Over 575 in-depth Interviews with Spiritual Teachers & Awakening People.
● www.conscious.tv/ -Explorations in areas of Consciousness, Science, Non-Dualityand Spirituality. Over 400 programmes.
● www.awarenessexplorers.com - An illuminating podcast to help you dive deeply into the joy and peace of awareness. Many episodes.
● www.studysociety.org - A society in London sharing practical ways to help further inner peace, happiness and spiritual growth. Teachings on P.D. Ouspensky, Gurdjeff, Rumi and others. The Society values inclusion, equity, and kindness.
● http://www.advaita.org.uk/teachers/satsangs.htm - Satsang Diary – Satsang schedules in various countries and cities such as the UK and London. The Satsang Diary publishes the times, dates and locations of Satsangs of a large number of spiritual teachers of Advaita around the world.
● Books about Sri Ramana Maharshi - https://www.arunachala-ramana.org/publications or https://tinyurl.com/4zkf7hdt
● Online books about Sri Ramana Maharshi - https://tinyurl.com/35s6ct47
● Sri Ramana Maharshi Quotes - https://tinyurl.com/8vps9998 or https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/201908.Ramana_Maharshi
● Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Quotes - https://tinyurl.com/x8k6xhx5 or https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/172897.Nisargadatta_Maharaj
● Ram Dass Quotes - https://tinyurl.com/buezw94u or
● https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/14525.Ram_Dass
● Rupert Spira Quotes - https://tinyurl.com/yscpcw5j or
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2919607.Rupert_Spira
● Pamela Wilson Quotes - https://www.eatonsatsang.com/gift-of-pamela
Videos
● Living Non-DualityThe film (FULL): Robert Wolfe
● Living in Non-Duality- The Hard Questions by Gary Weber
● What "no thoughts" means - 3 different kinds of thoughts - by Gary Weber
● Living Non-Dualityin a Dualistic World: Chuck Hillig
Books - a selection
● Crisis and Spiritual Emergencies by Courtenay Young – A handbook about and for people experiencing various sorts of psychological, emotional and spiritual crisis, Publisher AuthorHouse
● A Pelican In The Wilderness Hermits, Solitaries And Recluses by Isabel Colegate, Harper Collins Publishers
● Ouspensky’s Fourth Way - Gerald de Symmons Beckwith, Starnine Media & Publishing Ltd Oxford. See also www.ouspenskytoday.org
● I Am That by Niriragadatta Maharaj, publisher The Acorn Press
● Oneness with all Life by Eckhart Tolle, publisher Penguin Random House, UK
● I Am by Jean Klein, publisher Non-DualityPress
● Acceptance of What Is - A Book about Nothing by Wayne Liquorman published Advaita Press
● Be As You Are - The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi edited by David Godman published Penguin Books
● The End of Your World by Adyashanti, publisher Sounds True, Inc.
● Emptiness Dancing by Adyashanti, publisher Sounds True, Inc.
● Being Aware of Being Aware by Rupert Spira, publisher Sahaja Publications co-publication with Harbinger Publications
● Being - The Teaching of Advaita, A Basic Introduction by Philip Jacobs, publisher The Study Society
● Writings from the Zen Masters compiled by Paul Reps, published Penguin Books - Great Ideas
● Being Bliss by Indigo Ocean, publisher Bodhi Press
● Outrageous Openness - Letting the Divine Take the Lead by Tosha Silver, publisher Atria Paperback
● Journey into Now - Clear Guidance on the Path of Spiritual Awakening by Leonard Jacobson, publisher Conscious Living Publications
● Heart is Thy Name, Oh Lord - Moments of Silence with Sri Ramana Maharshi, publisher V.S. Ramanan
● Being Nobody, Going Nowhere by Ayya Khema, publisher Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, originally published by Wisdom Publications, USA
● On the Mystery of Being - Contemporary Insights on the Convergence of Science and Spirituality edited by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, publisher Reveal Press, an imprint of New Harbinger Publications
● Only That - The Life and Teaching of Sailor Bob Adamson by Kalyani Lawry, publisher Non-DualityPress, an imprint of New Harbinger Publications
● Letting Go - The Pathway of Surrender by David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D., publisher Hay House Inc.
● Whatever arises Love that - A Love Revolution that Begins with You by Matt Kahn, publisher Sounds True
● More Doubts and 100 More Answers(1) by Ramana Maharshi edited and compiled by A.R. Natarajan, publisher Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning, Bangalore-560 094
● Teachings of His Holiness Shantanand Saraswati - A Selection by The Society for the Study of Human Being, Inc New York
● Wisdom of the Ages - 60 Days to Enlightenment by Wayne W. Dyer, publisher Quill, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
● The Orange Book - A Method of Self Realization compiled by The Society for the Study of Normal Psychology, publisher The Study Society, Colet House, London
● The Man Who Wanted to Meet God - Myths and Stories that explain the Inexplicable by His Holiness Shantananda Saraswati, publisher The Study Society, Colet House, London
● Conversations on Non-Duality- Twenty six Awakenings edited by Eleonora Gilbert from Conscious TV, publisher by Cherry Red Books
● The Nature of Consciousness - Essays on the Unity of Mind and Matter by Rupert Spira, publisher Sahaja Publications co-publication with NewHarbinger Publications
● Invitation to Awaken by Tony Parsons, publisher InnerDirections Publishing
The Truth Is - a collection of spontaneous songs spoken by Sri H.W.L. Poonja, compiled and edited by Prashanti De Jager, publisher FullCircle Publishing
Breath of the Absolute - dialogues with Mooji - the Manifest and Unmanifest are One, edited by Manjusri and Zenji, publisher Yogi impressions
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry - How the Heart grows Wise on the Spiritual Path by Jack Kornfield, publisher Random House (There are many accounts in this book about teachers and seekers on this Path. He asked many teachers ‘What’s it like being enlightened’ - hence the title. It is included here also because of a chapter he calls The Dirty Laundry (Chapter 10) where some famous gurus are shown to be not as holy as one would hope, the point being one needs to be very discriminating who one takes as one’s teacher. Be very careful what you ask for and who you ask.)
On Having No Head: Zen and the Re‑discovery of the Obvious Douglas Harding Amazo
Footnotes:
1. In this small booklet, to see a great Q&A on ‘Heart’, on pp. 38 to 44, use this link: tinyurl.com/2h2kz52n
ART EXHIBITION
Art Exhibition by Moich Abrahams featuring Michael in The Project Space. The Project Space is part of The Lotus Foundation and is a kind of viewing room. It is the room separate from the main gallery where privileged art buyers are taken to sip champagne and view an artist's work. Over a few months in 2020, The Blue Lotus Foundation hosted some of its favourite artists. As a brief, each artist was asked three questions, their response could be in any form they desired. In June 2020, it was the artist Moich Abrahams’s turn.
The complete small exhibition (which was virtual due to Covid) can be viewed by copying into your computer, ipad or mobile phone browser, the links provided..(See, shown below, the 3 Q & A’s included as part of the written part of the exhibition).
https://www.lotusfoundation.org.uk/project-space.html
Viz: when opening: The Blue Lotus Foundation / Project Space Archive / scroll down to artist: Moich Abrahams. See also; instagram: @thebluelotus328
Q & A
1 - What fuels Your work? Currently, a playful interest in exploring Self.
2 - What do You expect to get from it? To create something personal, yet with universal appeal, which acts as a mirror helping me to be the best that I can be.
3 - How do recent world events affect Your creative outlook / if at all? The suffering that is seen in many manifestations of world events, particularly creating separation between people, calls me even more to enquire, with the deepest questions that I can, about Life. Then to 'allow' what needs to be done, and just get on with it.
Glossary
Tentative definitions as in Non-Duality usage
● Advaita is a Vedantic doctrine that identifies the individual self (atman) with the ground of reality (brahman). It is associated especially with the Indian philosopher Shankara (c. 788–820).
● Atman It is the true self as opposed to the ego. The pure consciousness of the atman remains untouched by what the ego sees or experiences. It is the soul or spirit that is attached to the body. So fundamental was the Atman deemed to be that certain circles identified it with Brahman.
● Awake to arouse from sleep or a sleeplike state. One can be asleep ‘spiritually’ as well as in other ways. Awake in a non-dual context is synonymous with the term ‘being enlightened’.
● Awareness In the context of Non-Duality, awareness is the state of consciousness of who we really are beyond the egocentric perspective.
● Beggar1 a person who lives by asking for money or food.
● Brahma2 in the Upanishads (Indian sacred writings), the supreme existence or absolute reality. One of the triad of Hindu gods. The triad consists of Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Preserver, and Siva, the Destroyer
● Brahman3 used in the Upaṇiṣhads is derived from the Sanskrit root bṛh which means ‘to expand’ or ‘to grow’ and as such indicates that Immensity which includes everything. This Immensity is beyond the comprehension of any being. Brahman as a metaphysical concept refers to the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe. It has been described in Sanskrit as Sat-cit-ānanda (being-consciousness-bliss) and as the highest reality. According to Advaita, a liberated human being has realised Brahman as his or her own true self. Incidentally, it is the sound that conveys insight into ultimate reality if heard properly.
● Buddha The word Buddha means “enlightened.” According to Buddhist teaching, the path to enlightenment is attained by utilizing morality, meditation and wisdom.
● Buddhism Its followers don’t acknowledge a supreme god or deity. They instead focus on achieving enlightenment—a state of inner peace and wisdom.
● Duality Duality refers to two sidedness. In our context, on one side we have “I, me, mine” based on the existence of the ego. On the other side resides you and the rest of the world. The two sides being somehow separate.. In this context, the question ‘Who am I?’ may have many familiar answers, such as: “I am my body and my mind” etc.
● Enlightened A state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering and attains nirvana.
● Enquiry, as in Self Inquiry Self-enquiry, also spelled self-inquiry, is the constant attention to the inner awareness of "I" or "I am" recommended by Ramana Maharshi as the most efficient and direct way of discovering the unreality of the "I"-thought. Ramana taught that the "I"-thought will disappear and only "I-I" or self-awareness remains.
● Guru "Gu" means darkness, and "ru" means light; thus a guru turns ignorance into enlightenment.
● Heart4 It is the seat (if such may be said) of the Self. It is not the physical heart.
● Hermit a person living in solitude as a religious discipline.
● Intuition the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning.
● Non-dual, Non-Duality meaning "one undivided without a second". Non-dualism primarily refers to a mature state of consciousness, in which the separation between the I-other is "transcended", and awareness is described as "centerless" and "without separations".
● Paradigm a pattern or model
● Paranormal denoting events or phenomena such as telekinesis or clairvoyance that are beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding.
● Psychic A psychic is a person who uses extrasensory perception (ESP) to get information hidden from the normal senses, mostly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws.
● Sadhu is a religious ascetic, or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced worldly life.
● Sage One venerated for experience, judgment, and wisdom.
● Satsang is a Sanskrit word made up of two words: "sat" means truth and "sang" means together. The literal translation is "finding the truth together."
● Schizophrenic someone with symptoms that can include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking and lack of motivation.
● Self-remembering5 Ouspensky said: “To remember oneself means the same thing as to be aware of oneself — ‘I am’.” A topic which needs exploring.
● Spiritual Relating to thoughts and beliefs or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.
● Upanishads6 present a vision of an interconnected universe with a single, unifying principle behind the apparent diversity in the cosmos, any articulation of which is called Brahman. Within this context, the Upanishads teach that Brahman resides in the Atman, the unchanging core of the human individual.
● Void, the is the philosophical concept of nothingness manifested and is closely associated with the contemplation of emptiness, and with human attempts to identify and personify it.
● Who am I? The classic question in non-dual enquiry. From the physical perspective we are the identity we adopt through values, experiences, culture and relationships. But we are more than that and this is the universal question which when enquired into deeply offers the possibility of allowing us to transcend a limited and limiting view of ourselves.
● Zen - Zen employs rigorous self-restraint, meditation-practice and insight into the nature of the mind
Footnotes:
1. In 2015, India came to know about its richest beggar — Bharat Jain — who would earn Rs 70,000 to 80,000 per month by begging. He used to beg at the crowded Terminus (known as CST) in Mumbai, India. He had also bought a personal flat worth Rs 80 lakh.
2. Brahma is the father of Manu7 , and, in Hindu tradition, from Manu all human beings are descended. He is often referred to as the progenitor or great grandsire of all human beings. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedānta philosophy known as Brahman, which is genderless. .Incidentally, Brahma is also known as the "Lord of Speech and Sound." https://www.definitions.net/definition/brahma
3. Brahman :22 definitions: https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/brahman
4. Heart: Fascinating definition is taken from the booklet More Doubts and 100 More Answers by Sri Ramana Maharshi edited and compiled by A.R. NATARAJAN (published by Sri Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning, Bangalore -560 094 - ISBN 81-85378-89-4) see pp. 38-44. tinyurl.com/2h2kz52n
5. Self-remembering: https://www.ouspenskytoday.org/wp/about-teaching-today/self-remembering/
6. The Upanishads were derived from dialogues between gurus and their students and contain information regarding the philosophical principles and concepts of Hinduism, including karma (right action), brahman (ultimate reality), the atman (true Self or soul), moksha (liberation from the cycle of reincarnation) and Vedic doctrines that explain Self-realisation..They were written in the sixth century BCE, during a period of great ferment – the time of the Buddha.
7. Manu (Sanskrit) In early Hindu texts, refers to the archetypal man, or to the first man (progenitor of humanity). The Sanskrit term for 'human', means 'of Manu' or 'children of Manu'. – Wikipedia. PS: Unless you just love academic research, I recommend that you leave it there, let go, and simply have fun with the question / enquiry / meditation: “Who am I?”
Quotations - a few more to meditate on
1. “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” Buddha 8. “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.” ― Alan Watts
2. “Words can be communicative only between those who share similar experiences.” ― Alan W. Watts
3. “Perception is projection.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana.
4. “We never look with fresh eyes. Our mind is never young.” – Krishnamurti
5. “You can only stop the flow of thoughts by refusing to have any interest in it.” - – Ramana Maharshi
6. “When one remains without thinking one understands another by means of the universal language of silence.” – Ramana Maharshi
7. “Don’t belong to anything. Don’t belong to anyone. Just be.” – Mooji
8. “Mind is time and effort! Reject it.” - Mooji
9 “Realisation is not acquisition or anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage.” – Ramana Maharshi
10. "For one who realizes that “there is no ‘you’ as the hard-core thinker of thoughts.” - Alan Watts .
11. “When I heard the sound of the bell ringing, there was no I, and no bell, just the ringing.” - Tony Parsons
12. “It’s all real and it’s all illusory: that’s Awareness!” – Ram Das
13. “Boundary lines, of any type, are never found in the real world itself, but only in the imagination of the mapmakers.” - Ken Wilber
14. “Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.” - Rumi
15. “They who have gone beyond the duality of pain and pleasure have nothing to escape or chase.” - Mokokoma Mokhonoana
16. “Thoughts are impediments to seeing your own face. Don’t give rise to any thought,
and discover who you are.” - Papaji
17. When I heard the sound of the bell ringing, there was no I, and no bell, just the ringing.” - Tony Parsons
18. You can only stop the flow of thoughts by refusing to have any interest in it. - Sri Ramana Maharshi
19. The mind is the projection machine, which constantly projects pictures on the screen we call reality.” - Remez Sasson
20. The World is illusory, Brahman alone is real. The world is Brahman - Sri Ramana Maharshi
21. God will make a way out of no way Anon
22. When you make yourself into zero, your power becomes invincible - Mahatma Gandhi
23. Wherever it leads you, it will be a dream. The very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory. Why go anywhere? Just realise that you are dreaming a dream you call the world, and stop looking for ways out. The dream is not your problem. Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another. Love all, or none of it, and stop complaining. When you have seen the dream as a dream, you have done all that needs to be done. - Sri Nisargadatta
24. When I know I am nothing; that is wisdom. When I know I am everything; that is Love. My life moves between the two. - Sri Nisargadatta
25. “Treating everything as a dream liberates. As long as you give reality to dreams, you are their slave.”–Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
26. "The parts are abstractions from the whole, they have no independent existence." - David Bohm
27. Love is a magician. Everything it touches turns into itself - Pamela Wilson
Bus Terminus metaphor by Moich Abrahams
One of the most immediate ways I know to remain 'peaceful', as a sort of personal 'therapy' goes like this. To begin with, remember to breathe. If 'dodgy' that is, unconducive thoughts arise and you are able to be aware that they have come up - imagine them, one at a time, to be destinations on the front of a bus. Then ask: "Do I want to jump on that bus and go where that destination says it’s heading?" Simple analysis should provide the answer.
If it's a 'dodgy' thought, quite likely the bus is heading to an unsatisfactory or unhappy destination or maybe just going round in circles. If your awareness tells you that, do you want to jump on that bus? Not a good idea. It's going to give you a very bumpy ride to say the least.
Use this technique for as many thoughts as you catch arising… don't get on those buses. Let the bus go, let the thought go. Stay calmly in the bus terminus called Peace Terminus. Example: If the thought "I am depressed" arises. Imagine this thought as the destination on the front of a bus. Do you really want to go where that bus is heading, a place called 'I am depressed'? OK. Don't get on that bus. Let the bus go. Have a go and see if this technique assists you not to get caught up in and by those thoughts. Incidentally, all thoughts about the past or future are 'dodgy' thoughts, about a sort of illusion, taking you literally for a ride nowhere.
Postscript
“First there is a book, then there is no book, then there is”
Moich Abrahams, March 2021
“Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.”
Ramana Maharshi
The question was asked: how Non-Duality philosophy affects ‘my’ daily life… does it help ‘me’ or ‘others’1 to be more peaceful. Answer: “From the perspective of ‘Who I Really Am’, Compassion and Love Shines - guiding and allowing the ‘sufferer’ the grace and insight to travel the path leading to peace. The more this is understood the more peace manifests. Ultimately the ‘sufferer’, sometimes referred to in Sufi literature as the Lover2, and ‘I’, referred to as the Beloved, become One, and Bliss Awareness Consciousness prevails -- Absolute Peace. “a peace that surpasseth understanding”3
Footnotes:
1. “There are no others”, Sri Ramana Maharshi...
2. ’The Lover and the Beloved’, One version of the story goes like this: The Lover as an immature young person went on a long journey, eventually arriving at a clearing in a forest. There, before him stood a beautiful shining spectacular tent, with cedar posts carrying flags fluttering in the breeze positioned outside what looked like a covered entrance. He boldly marched up to the entrance and banged loudly on a door post.
A voice from within said, “Who is there?” He answered, “It is I, me.” The voice replied, “Go hence, for there is no room inside for Thee and Me.” Perplexed by this he stumbled back into the forest and continued his journey. Through a long life he had many experiences in many different locations and countries. - He worked and lived sleeping amongst the pigs in a farm yard.
Later, he progressed in his ambitions leading him to becoming a successful businessman. Eventually he commenced a process which led him to studying and teaching both advanced secular academic topics and profound spiritual philosophies. Ultimately this led him to become a very learned and wise elderly person. Once more, walking through a forest now wisened with white hair he came across a clearing.
To his astonishment standing there before him was that same awesome tent that he had come across in his youth. This time, with his new understanding, he approached the entrance with great humbleness and respect. He knocked once more on a door post. Once again, a voice from within said, “Who is there?” This time his answer, informed by his deep spiritual knowledge was this, “It is Thou.” The voice from within who we may say came from the ‘Beloved’ replied, “Enter then, for I am within. The ‘Lover’ entered and sojourned with the ‘Beloved’, and they melded into ‘One’.” With time passing, the Lover returned to his walk in the forest, shining brightly.
3. For similar Sufi stories see e.g. https://tinyurl.com/27p8t5pu Also possibly ‘The Prophet’ by Kahlil Gibran, and Rumi
“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand .....”.New Living Translation;
Philippians 4:7--- https://tinyurl.com/5a4b93uf