You have a great site, by the way.

*smile* I’m excited to read alot more on this site.

Speaking about where one is or seems to be, as you do, has great value for people in your area of progress. Another view of what is.

But for someone still captured by the image, the story, it is a foreign land with little to relate to. This is why many teachers speak of the process. Tole suffered then woke. Adya practiced Zen. Others followed a tradition, did service, yoga, or meditation. Perhaps psychotherapy or diad or inquiry. Many are the ways to where we already are (laughs).

As you observe, its true that cause is harder to answer. Mainly because it is such a complex weave of Self emerging, individual opening and all of it arising from the one through the many. Drawn indeed, that pull of surrender. And unique for each of us.

But I do place value in the process and the study of the evolution of perspective or consciousness. It does help people see the path and get a sense of where they’re going and why it has value.

Nonetheless, I love your posts. They illuminate aspects that are not always seen.

…where does it lead?

I have heard that a lot, and in the past, that was where my mind lived. I always wanted to know where everything went. “Where does it lead, what is the purpose, what will happen?” etc. Eventually, it became clear that where one is holds more weight than the imaginary place one may go. You are never where you are going; you are only where you are.

It is very easy to say and, for that matter, easy to understand. But that is not enough.

It could lead anywhere, but really that is just an idea. We’ll never know until we are there, but when that happens we are not there but here.

The most important question might be How does it affect you? Do you have some feeling of yearning, or a desire to be more than you are? A feeling of living in a shell, as if somehow you are incomplete and not whole?

Where are you, and where is your mind? Where do you feel it can go? Are you sure that it can go anywhere? If you are not sure about any of this, then it is your responsibility to find out. No one can give it to you.

Tell me how has your life changed and for what purpose do you do what you do?

When you ask how it has changed, do you mean has it gotten better or worse? Or do you mean are things perceived differently? I am not sure how to answer the question.

The original purpose of this website was to find a way to communicate this thing to others. As far as that goes, I am not at all satisfied that it has happened.

I do write a lot, even though I don’t post it all. I would say 10 to 20 percent of what I write makes it to this blog. And I do speak a lot, even if there is no one to hear it.

I don’t really see it as much of a purpose, as in “My Purpose is to blank.” It is just something that happens from time to time, as strange as that may sound.

The writing of beliefs for the purposes of investigation can be powerful for many people. That is something that Byron Katie always recommends, because the mind can be tricky in how it softens thoughts in order to make them seem less poisonous.

On paper, it may be easier to see the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Yes, if you and I keep agreeing, people will think we are in cahoots.

I completely agree with you, AGAIN! There is no way you can know what causes anything. I would only say that one should do what one feels “drawn” to do. That is probably moving in the right direction. I feel drawn to sit mostly, just sit, and be aware of what is aware. And I write down beliefs and allow them to evaporate. That’s what draws me. Or at times, what I push myself to do. It can be a 2 edged sword, to be sure.

I suppose in the end, there is really no way of knowing what will occur. The seeker may end during the course of meditation, but did it end because of the meditation, or did it just happen to occur that way? There is no way of knowing.

That is the difficult thing to try and explain: if you ask someone that is awakened, “When did it happen?” that is most likely easy to answer. But if you ask, “What caused it to happen?” that becomes a bit more difficult.

You are right that the curiosity is in itself a kind of inquiry. The main difference, it seems, is that it isn’t fixated on an end result. It is more of a moment by moment exploration of whatever.

In true curiosity, there is no pre-conceived idea or conclusion. If one investigates through a conclusion, there is no curiosity. Hell, for that matter, there is no investigation, either.

If one is fixated on the idea of meditation being the way to go, they should probably go ahead and do it. They can always sort out the investigation through that movement. Whether or not they will, remains to be seen, but that can be said of anything.

How is the weather @ the retreat?

We all begin where we are, and that is exactly the same for all of us. But the particular “where we are,” is always different.

But I have found that the difference is not as important as the where we are.

Thanks for the comment!