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Discover the foundation of Simplicity
I absolutely love Jeff Foster.
I found a friend, a brother, who spoke directly to my heart (myself suffering great pain and misery). If I had an opportunity to give Jeff a kiss (on the cheek) I would. Thank you Jeff, thank you, you explain life in its absolute simplicity. I know you are not an enlightened master, just a guy who knows what is true, and I love you for it, eternally. I thank you from my heart of hearts for not being a master, but in so many ways, paradoxically, you are the master beyond masters. I love you.
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Jeff Foster: “This has nothing to do with effort.
This has nothing to do with understanding.“
Comment: These words are not only written in a book or in the internet. They have been spoken live. Without the presence of a master, these words are almost useless, except in some very rare cases. The master will guide you, not by showing you a path or a goal, he will guide you by showing you, what IT is NOT. Only the illusory could be understood, not the real.
Jeff in his recent newsletter quotes Jean Klein: “Q: Does the state of pure being continue after death? A: A state is an experience. What you are is not an experience. Freedom is causeless, not a condition. It doesn't belong to existence. Existence is in space and time.“
What happens through Jeff is the explanation of what the Real (“this“) is NOT: Neti neti, not this not this. The Real could never be seen or experienced. The total understanding of neti neti reveals the illusion as an illusion. It happens spontaneously, uncontollably and unpredictably, sometimes without reading books before, sometimes after reading books.
The process of neti neti is not an act or a practice done by the mind, it is an illusory happening like anything else in this illusory world of thoughts. If thoughts are seen as “just a thought", it is not an intellectual understanding but a causeless, pathless realization. If the process of neti neti is misunderstood by the ego to be a practice done by the mind, it just leads to intellectual understanding which is a beginning but not the end.
Just to think that everything is just a thought is also just another thought. It has to be clear beyond doubt as a timeless understanding. So, if it happens, you should meet a living master and not just read his books! It is not in your hands to make it happen, but be aware of the resistance while reading these words, if you happen to have resistance in your mind. It is possible that this resistance tells you a lot about an authority-issure going on in your mind of which you might not be aware.
So don‘t hesitate to meet a living master:
www.lifewithoutacentre.com
www.theopensecret.com
www.acadun.com
Choose whatever you feel attracted to, but don‘t expect a feel-good-factor for the ego in the meeting. Even a master which appears as a true friend is not interested in strengthening the apparent ego in you.
(Whether this message is for Peter, I don't know. It might resonate in somebody or not. I am not concerned about the one to whom Jeff's words are crystal-clear, for s/he is happy anyway. I just want to encourage the one with doubts which appear real to become clear about life as it is.)
Peter said: Re. Lucy's comment about the ego and Absolutism, I think that Jeff would be inclined to say that the only thing that a thought (i.e. ego) would be able to hide in/behind... is just another thought (i.e. Absolutism).
Lucy: True, but until it has been seen that the ego is just a thought as with any other thought, thoughts have enormous power to apparently influence the pereception of reality. Jeff talks about how he hung out in emptiness for years thinking that he was enlightened, until it was realized that: The world is an illusion, Brahman alone is real, Brahman is the world. Many, myself included get hung up in "Brahman alone is real" for many years.
I am also a huge fan of Jeff's. I love the way he communicates this teaching, very fresh and authentic. I especially like the way he explains how Absolutism can be the favourite place for the ego to hide and how it can be used to push away life.
DavidB: "I thank you from my heart of hearts for not being a master, but in so many ways, paradoxically, you are the master beyond masters. I love you."
Response: Beautiful! I hope you'll get the opportunity to kiss him.
I am glad that someone started a thread on Jeff. His observations are worthy of special attention.
Re. Lucy's comment about the ego and Absolutism, I think that Jeff would be inclined to say that the only thing that a thought (i.e. ego) would be able to hide in/behind... is just another thought (i.e. Absolutism).
He speaks to that below.
But then again, this would be a great follow-up query to place on his plate the next time that he appears on NNH.
*****
JUST A THOUGHT, by Jeff Foster
This has nothing to do with effort.
This has nothing to do with understanding.
Nothing to do with process,
nothing to do with praxis.
Nothing to do with lack of process or praxis.
This is not about seeing anything new,
or getting rid of anything old.
This is not something the mind could ever grasp.
Nor does the mind need to give up its grasping.
This is nothing personal,
nor does it have anything to do with the "impersonal".
This is not about choiceless awareness,
or seeing through the ego, or self-enquiry.
This cannot be expressed using concepts.
Nor will it ever be expressed in the absence of concepts.
This is not about words.
Not even these words.
This is not about getting anywhere.
This has nothing to do with any kind of future achievement.
This is not about following a path:
there is no path, although there may be the idea of "a path".
This is not about reaching a higher state:
there are no higher states,
although there may be concepts about "higher states".
This is not about becoming anything,
although beliefs about that may arise too.
This is certainly not about "putting an end to the I".
Only an "I" would want that.
This is most definitely not about "becoming more present" -
the present was never lost in the first place.
This is not about waiting for an event called liberation -
that would require time,
and a "me" who would eventually become liberated.
This has nothing to do with going "beyond" anything -
there is nothing to go beyond,
and nobody who could go beyond
even if they wanted to.
This is not about enlightenment.
There is no such thing as enlightenment.
This is not about awakening.
There is no such thing as awakening.
This is not about enlightened individuals passing on their understanding. That's a good story, and a compelling one,
but it's just a story, and has no deeper reality.
This is not something that could be of any use to anyone.
This is not something that anyone would ever want.
But no matter -
the "me" who would want this
is just a thought anyway.
Just a thought.