Wide Open Windows Wide Open Windows
I have come to know Robert as a gentle, animal-loving author who speaks candidly about what it is like for him to be an awake and fully present 'Mensch'. Robert is a gifted photographer, ex-psychotherapist and author of two amazing breakthrough books: 'The Ten Thousand Things' and 'Depending on no-thing'. Robert insists that his vision be seen as a form of self-expression and not as an interpretation of 'The Truth'. He does not want to be seen as a teacher, but nevertheless I have recognised a great deal of insight in his crystal-clear discourse.
By the way, a Dutch translation of 'The Ten Thousand Things' is planned for the spring of 2023!
“We all like to imagine that we are open-minded, but our thinking is not open; it is deeply conditioned, and most people remain largely unaware, and some even completely unaware, of that conditioning. Just as a fish is born in water and never notices the water, so we, swimming in a sea of beliefs about who and what we are, do not even notice, let alone examine, those beliefs.”
“This constant juggling with concepts of supreme beings, souls, reincarnation, transcendence, self-realisation and enlightenment only serves as a delaying tactic. All we really know is now. When you lose interest in spiritual dreams, your desire for a pain-free life will diminish.”
“Nobody knows what life is or is not, what 'mind' is or is not, or what consciousness is or is not. Certainly nobody has the slightest idea about the 'purpose' of life, or what it all means (if it means anything at all).”
Joan is one of the most honest and grounded authors in the field of nondual spirituality. She does not belong to any tradition, but she resonates with, and has a background in, both Zen and Advaita as well as other forms of non-duality. I particularly admire her frankness about herself as a spirited, one-armed, lesbian, former drunk and still occasional finger-biter. Her vision is both simple and inclusive and also seeks to appreciate different expressions and approaches to that which is here and now.
“Because experience is inconceivable and indeterminate, I find that the only basis on which I can really land is groundlessness, a free fall, landing nowhere - being open, not knowing, not holding on to fixed views, not dwelling anywhere, looking through illusion without trying to grasp Truth, because Truth, by its very nature, can never be grasped. It just IS.”
Shiv is the author of the Facebookpage ‘Advaitaholics Anonymous’. On his own website the following is been said about him:
“With his avant-garde, no-nonsense approach to the existential questions of life, Shiv’s work has captured the minds of readers across the globe. With a balance of caustic wit and profound insight, his writing throws down the gauntlet for each person to confront reality by themselves, without the assurances of authority figures, the dictates of dogma and the comfort of cultural belief systems.”
“All paths lead away from truth.”
“'I don't know' is both the beginning and the end of the circular journey of wisdom. It is its only natural beginning and its only natural end. And when that journey is complete, there is nothing left but to simply live life whatever it may be.”
"In the end, spirituality is really about getting sober. Developing the courage to see life for what it is, without blowing it up with escapist love and airy fairy rhetoric, nor resorting to a nihilistic resignation by declaring that everything is just illusion and therefore meaningless."
I remember Benjamin from online adventures as a guy who travelled the world, carying a sign that said "You're Perfect". He always comes over as sincere (but not serious!) and having a unique style in his writings, using funny pseudonyms such as 'Roshi Endless Bummer', 'Jack Saturday', 'Swami Not-So-Fast' and a lot of others.
"I thought I knew something. It turns out I didn’t. My heart explodes into pieces and they rain down everywhere I look. It doesn’t feel as new agey as it sounds, and that ends up being such an incredible delight. Nothing spiritual I have ever encountered has anything to do with the simple Wow I am talking about. It is this plain old life. Wow!"
Darryl was recommended to me by Joan Tollifson. He comes over as someone who is a quiet, rational poet. No Eastern lingo, no guru trickery. Into observation, being fascinated by the ever-changing nuances of perception. Reality knows no real 'things' and is more like how clouds are - looking like 'something' for a moment, but already changed the next. Oneself as a person is like that too, moving and changing with the flow of life. Darryl is not connected to any tradition or lineage.
"Relax. You will be whatever this moment presents, and you will do whatever you are compelled to do.
We are this unexplainable happening, moving to its unexplainable urges. There’s no way of saying what this is. There’s no way of saying why it’s happening the way it’s happening."
Miranda has been a dancer and choreographer and her look upon life reflects that. The way she talks about being awakened has nothing to do with philosophy or teaching. She just talks about what happens. For me that was and is refreshing and something I can feel into and feel with her.
"There is simply life. And what is life? A beautiful dream that I call love even though I have always known love’s got nothing at all to do with it.
All of us are simply being written by life, appearing in the movie, and it’s the most perfect beautiful amazing and exciting and still and moving silent movie imaginable; it is all and everything and nothing.
Life is not about finding anything or changing anything or being anything or knowing anything or gaining anything. What promised future liberation is there, when there is only always ever this?"
