The FREEDOM Blog

Many people are familiar with the phrase "Be as you are," and many are also familiar with the book of the same name by David Godman, about the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. But how many are really familiar with what it is to Be As You Are? What I'd like you to do for a moment is really explore and investigate the 'feeling' that accompanies being as you are. Right now, be as you are! Now a question might come up of what does this mean, or how do I do that. The real question is how do you NOT do that? How can you not be as you are? Primarily by trying to be something that you're not. I ran into a wonderful quote the other day. It's from the Hasidic tradition featuring Rabbi Zusya. The quote has Rabbi Zusya saying, "When I reach the next world, God will not ask me, 'Why were you not Moses?' Instead, he will ask me, 'Why were you not Zusya?'" This is exactly the problem. Everyone is trying to be a Buddha or a Jesus or an anything ot...

"Is there an out there, out there? I don't recall where I first heard this phrase, but it re-arose in consciousness the other day. I like I because it really begins a process of self inquiry. People - most people - take it pretty much for granted that there IS an out there out there - that what they perceive is certainly real and concrete. But as both the mystics from nearly all variety of traditions, and many of the modern day quantum theorists and scientists are telling us is that there is no out there. Of course, this begs the question, if there is no out there out there, then what is there? Or what is here? Or even what is? The traditional response is to start spewing out mentally or intellectually conceptions based on what you have heard. But what if you take a different approach? What if you begin to directly explore what is present, right now? Where do you begin? The best place to begin is with the idea of who or what is it that is assuming that there is an out there, i...

Stop and Be Presence! Being Presence is being Pre-Sense...before the senses Being Presence is Being the Self, the Awareness Being Presence is Abiding as the Self Being Presence is Resting in (and as) the Infinite Being Presence is the eradication of the false self Being Presence is the Gateway to the Absolute Being Presence Awareness of Awareness Being Presence is not.... Discussing how to do it, Arguing over who does it better, Philosophizing on why it is important, Checking out which teacher says it better, Wondering if it's the right path for you, Deciding on how it will look when you get there, Even trying to figure out HOW to do it... It's simply Stopping and Being Presence, And when you've noticed you're not being presence Stopping (again) and Being Presence And when a thought comes up Stopping (again) and Being Presence Ignoring the thousands and millions of strategies the ego has for catching your attention and bringing your attention back to attention Bringing ...

Often the path must be paradoxical by nature, apparently contradicting itself in order to point out the truth. The following is a perfect example of that. It is a quote from the Ashtavakra Samhita (or Gita) 'My son, you may recite or listen to countless scriptures, but you will not be established within until you can FORGET EVERYTHING.' 16.1 So, how would you know this unless you read the scripture (Ashtavakra Samhita) which tells you not to read scripture? Actually, it doesn't tell you not to read scripture, but rather forget all. Often, reading scripture (or other spiritually oriented matter) becomes a pastime to escape the Reality. After all, the scripture is still in the dream world. Who is reading it? Who is contemplating it? This was Ramana's constant question. A large percentage of the time when a question was asked of him, he pointed the questioner back to them-Selves by posing, "Who is asking the question?" The moment you recognize the I Am or I-I ...