CONTENTS
Introduction
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1
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Time and Truth
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2
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The Game
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3
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Solidity and Self
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4
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Wholeness & Distinctness
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5
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Self and Other
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6
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Two-Way Looking
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7
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Helping Others
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8
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The Knower
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9
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Dividing Reality
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10
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Time & the Eternal
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11
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The Presence
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12
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The Boundless
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13
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Everything & Nothing
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14
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Seeking Form
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15
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The Miraculous
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16
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Attention & Illusion
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17
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Saying Yes
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18
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The Absolute & the Relative
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19
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Cosmic Laughter
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20
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INTRODUCTION
Our quest for drama has gone too far. We
are alienated from our true identity, at war within our Self and with apparent
others.
Love
is the recognition of the Self in the other.
You are that Self. Come home.
Life
is programmed for partisanship. We are
programmed to see and to relate to motion as a multitude of distinct systems
and patterns, which we tend to either support or oppose.
As
we mature, we begin to recognize the Self in all systems and patterns and to
see our identity wherever we look.
TIME
AND TRUTH
All things have their time. Now is a time to know Truth rather than
illusion. It is time for increasing
Knowledge of the Self rather than continuing to play the game of conflict. The drama of motion and form needs to emerge
from the desert of separation to flow into the universal sea of being. It’s time for us to awaken to the recognition
and realization of the Self.
We
normally know only part of what we are.
We know only our becoming, we overlook our being. Focusing on our becoming, we know only the
imperfection of the temporal; we overlook the perfection of the eternal Self, our
ever-present awareness, the host and knower of all form.
While
noticing the content of your awareness, notice also what contains that
content. While knowing objects, also become
aware of the Subject. In addition to being
aware of your imperfection in comparison to what you strive to be, know the
perfection of what you already, always are.
THE
GAME
Our game is the creation of form. You are formless, the eternal being, whole,
complete, ever present here and now, the only Self. Your game is to create definition, what is
limited, to experience becoming, to know time and space.
To
play the game, you have launched your Self into motion, stretching yourself toward
definition, into becoming. You have
denied your being, your wholeness. You
have embarked on an enterprise of time and space, of separation, of having
shape, size, direction, color, boundaries, and vulnerability.
Your
game is one of winners and losers, of uncertainty, striving, successes and
failures, appearance and disappearance.
When
you tire of the game, return to the reality of the Self; rest and be whole.
SOLIDITY
AND SELF
Solidity is an illusion, there is nothing
solid. Everything is in motion, a
continuous flow through changing patterns.
You
are what always Is. You are the only
being, the presence, the substance, flowing to form, alternating between
forgetting and Self-knowledge. You are the
only Self and the apparent multitude.
Though
presently experiencing yourself as separate, having form and boundaries, enter the
universal Self, your true identity, and be free, undefined, the essence of all things, the
single Subject.
WHOLENESS
AND DISTINCTNESS
Whenever you seek wholeness, it’s always
here, waiting for you. Nothing is external
to you. The cosmos is the movement of a
single being, your Self. Know both your
wholeness and your distinctness.
Your
movement particularizes you, creating unique trajectories of attention and
experience, with our sense of individual identity. Honor your eternal Self as
well as your temporal individuality. The
distinct you gives us the interest, drama, and adventure of the world. It also allows awareness of the universal Self,
since knowledge of anything is only possible in relation to its opposite.
We
love both the creation and contemplation of form, the defined, as well as
wholeness and the freedom of the undefined.
Your creativity, your becoming, requires tension; your being, your
wholeness, requires nothing, only the relaxation of tension. To know liberation from tension, to know
wholeness, relax in your perfect, formless being.
SELF
AND OTHER
The apparent other is you. The mind of others is your mind, the bodies
of others are part of your own movement, the Tao. What happens to others is done to you, and
will affect your continuing experience of the world.
There
is no part of life that is alien to you, and
that is not essential to the whole.
Life
is entirely seamless, and is rent apart only by the nature of perception. Greet others as your Self. Honor the creative variety of life in all
movement, and know it as your own.
TWO-WAY
LOOKING
We normally look in one direction only—out
at the world of time and space, at the front portion of who we are.
Learn
to look also in the other direction, at the back portion of who you are, at the
looker.
The
front part of who you are appears solid, defined; the back portion is empty,
undefined. The front portion is limited,
confined; the back part is infinite, without limits. The front part of you is full of imperfection;
in the other direction lies perfection.
The front part consists of objects; the back part is the Subject.
Your
front part is what you see and feel; your back part is the One who sees and
feels. Your front portion is always
changing; your back part doesn’t change.
Your
movement is always different; your awareness is eternal. The Self is both the temporal you and the
eternal you. Practice two-way looking.
HELPING
OTHERS
Look for ways to help those in distress to
discover their wholeness. Those who know
the Self, who experience the perfection of their being, are better able to engage
in the adventure into the imperfection of
time and space.
You
can best help others by recognizing them as your Self. As you encounter each person or thing, say
internally, “Here is the Self.” Your actions toward them will then begin to reflect
your own Self-awareness.
Beyond
the beneficial impacts of your respectful action, on occasion you may have the
capacity to help others to experience their wholeness.
Look
for ways to help others to realize that their wholeness is not out there
somewhere, it’s here, where we are. Wholeness
is not in becoming, but in being, which is now, and already complete.
Wholeness
is not in the future, or in the past, or in only part of what is, but in the
entirety of the present moment, which is the Self.
THE
KNOWER
You are not your changing thoughts, which
are simply abstractions from the movement of the Self; you are the knower of your thoughts,
The
knower, whose attention wanders the cosmos and occasionally returns home, is
the host of all that is.
Be
careful not to confuse the knower with the known. The known is only an imperfect image of a portion
of our movement. The knower is what cannot
be lost, and is always here.
The
knower is our identity—awareness itself, undefined, infinite, eternal. The knowing Self is the Holy Grail, the
Source, and the Sustainer.
DIVIDING
REALITY
We create form by dividing the Self, becoming blind to our fullness, and focusing
our attention on only a small portion of our seamless reality.
Dividing
life, we create a limited identity, which is the sense that we are separate
individuals.
Abiding
in the Self, I am free from limiting definitions, and encompass all of the
present moment, not just part of it. Allow your attention to return home, to what
exists without effort, here and now.
Rest in the simple presence of your undivided being, the eternal
Self.
TIME
AND THE ETERNAL
Time is your adventure into
imperfection. When it becomes too
painful, come back to the perfection of the immediate present, what you
eternally are.
Deny
the images of time a separate existence.
What you see is only a passing appearance; what sees is true, and beyond
time.
You
are not becoming anything; you are the changeless, and are complete in the
present. You are not in time and you occupy
no space. Space and time are within you.
Your
present being is complete, and extends to infinity, containing all that is,
was, and will be. Know your eternal being,
in the here and now.
THE
PRESENCE
When you experience your infinite
presence, there is no room for any other.
All existence is complete and accounted
for. Nothing has been left out; it is
all within you.
In
the experience of the presence, here and now, the Tao moves according to its
nature, needing no assistance or interference.
In the present you are unbound and unconditioned. Here is true Value.
Know
your Self, what you always are, in the utter present, the eternal moment, the
center of time.
THE
BOUNDLESS
The
key to the Self is boundlessness. If
anything has bounds, it’s not the Self, and will pass away and be lost. The Self has no bounds and cannot be
lost.
Let
the Tao deal with objects, which have bounds.
They will all pass, and more will come.
Enjoy them in their time, but hold them only lightly. They are your play, they are not your Self.
Unlimited
by form or definition, in your natural motion you are the creator of worlds through
the flow of the infinite Tao.
EVERYTHING
AND NOTHING
We can experience the Self as everything,
or as nothing—as the single fabric or substance of all form, or as the
pointless point and formless source of all motion.
When
we focus fully on the present, reality is seamless, both in essence and in its
flow. The completely Here is whole, the
eternal presence, the Subject that contains everything.
When
you are rooted Here, as the source of all existence, undefined, formless, then
the world of apparently distinct objects and forces becomes a single flow, all
of which is you.
When
you are totally Now, you are nothing, and at the same time you are
everything. Come to Here, and Now.
SEEKING
FORM
It is the nature of the Self to seek and
to produce form, which in turn makes us more keenly aware of its opposite, the
formless, which it is also our nature to embrace.
We
stretch our Self into time and space, seeking definition, then rebound into
balance and peace through Self-awareness.
We
are fascinated and enchanted by form and motion, even when they are
painful. The pursuit of form clearly has
its time, as does the need to be free of form.
Recognize
the joy of definition and the need for form in their time, as well as the need
for wholeness and peace which is also fundamental to your being.
THE
MIRACULOUS
You
are a miracle substance, absolutely clear and transparent, yet able to generate
and contain unending complexity.
You
are the infinite, eternal, boundless presence.
You are unchanging and at rest, yet also in motion and constantly transforming. Your ability to diversify and surprise yourself
is an amazing feature of the cosmos.
You
are continually stretching the strings of your being, seeking manifestation and
drama, before subsiding again into wholeness and peace.
Your
motion is a magical tour, the supreme adventure of the Tao.
ATTENTION
AND ILLUSION
The truth is that we are all a single
substance; the illusion is that we are all separate.
The
Tao concentrates our attention, creating an illusion of individuality and temporarily
blinding us to our fullness of being.
The
sense that we are limited objects among others is an illusory image we abstract
from the single flow of the Self.
No
matter how petty or disturbing the objects of your attention are, remember that
they need your pure awareness, your undivided mind in order to appear. Let the perfection and infinity of the knower
balance the pain and limitation of the known.
The known will soon pass; the knower will endure.
Bring
your attention home to the Self. The
universal Self is the ultimate value.
SAYING
YES
Take an inclusive approach to life instead
of an exclusive one. Rather than rejecting
any experience, add to it what is missing.
Be
the here and now; accept all of it.
Enlarge what is petty, make what is partial part of your own wholeness.
Say
Yes! Honor everything, no matter how limited,
by adding to it and not denying it.
In
truth, each thing is part of the seamless flow, the One being, your being. Acknowledge and embrace it as your Self.
THE
ABSOLUTE & THE RELATIVE
You are absolute being, what always
is. You are what is beyond description,
the always here.
Words
are temporal and relative. You are
beyond all becoming and change, the Self eternal, for which no words are
adequate,
You
are the All-Value, existence itself, One without a second, the Self in
everyone.
You,
the Absolute, are not in the world. You contain
everything. You are the unmoved mover,
the Tao, Mind itself.
COSMIC
LAUGHTER
One day your attention will turn a
corner, and you will be there, laughing at your absolute freedom and wholeness.
The
biggest joke is when we realize that we have been imagining ourselves to be
separate and our motion to be independent, bringing cosmic laughter at the enormity
of our mistake.
Time
is a charlatan, form is a fraud. When
you see through these illusions, you may find yourself laughing or singing with
joy. I do.
First printed in the United States of America, June 2014.
Third edition, July 2017
ISBN 9781497411074
Daniel Clark has also written "Experiences with Truth" containing four titles, "Notes to the Self," "You are the Self," 'It's all the Self," and "A Spiritual Jourrnal," as well as “The Nature of the Self”
containing six titles, “The Nature of the Self,” “The Dream and the
Dreamer,” “The Paradox of Perfection,” “The Divine Game,” and the “Doing and
the Doer,” and in addition has written “The One: A Collection,” containing three additional
titles, “The One,” “The Experience of the Absolute,” and “One Mind.”
He can
be contacted by writing to PO Box 1222, Walla Walla, Washington, USA, 99362, or
by email to clarkdn@charter.net.
