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Once upon a time a lovely and unremarkable spider, Theo (not poisonous, not mean-spirited, just your typical fly- and gnat-eating spider), sat in his web, thinking. Theo thought about lots of things, but mostly Theo thought about spider enlightenment. He had read many books written by other wise spiders who had realized their true nature.Continue reading “Theo’s Search for the Center”

Questioner: I keep trying to rest, but my mind just keeps going. Another teacher told me that this pointer to just rest will lead me astray. I’m afraid I’m not getting it. Vince: Look, everyone who is talking about this stuff has his/her own way of trying to help people see what they have seen.Continue reading “There Isn’t Really Anyone Who Rests in Amsterdam”

What you are can never be experienced. Looking for a particular experience as confirmation of what you are – whether peace or love or anger or irritation or rain or cold wind or sand between your toes or terror or calm or equanimity or hunger or sublime spiritual visions – takes you in the wrongContinue reading “No Experience Necessary”

Even though Awareness cannot be “experienced,” this doesn’t mean that Awareness-Being is somehow separate from all of the stuff of life. On the contrary, life is Awareness/Beingness itself. Absolutely everything is known in, by, and as Awareness. Nothing is separate from this Everyday Awareness present here-now…It is never anywhere other than here. A line from the Heart Sutra says that “form is nothing other than emptiness andContinue reading “Awareness Is Stuff, Stuff Is Awareness”

Being what you really are is not difficult. Being what you are not and then arguing for or against it is what is difficult. Notice that right now, if you just rest and welcome everything (really – everything – including your rejection of anything), there is nothing else that needs to be done in orderContinue reading “Isness Is Infinitely Is-ing”

Wherever you are right now, reading this, stop. What do you notice? Sounds, sights, sensations, smells…allow them all. What notices? Thoughts probably stumble through that say “I do” or “me” or “my brain” or “my senses” or something similar. What notices those thoughts? Welcome home to the place you never left.

Awareness is present when the “me-sense” is present. Awareness is present when the”me-sense’ is not present. Awareness is present when the sense of “beingness” is present. Awareness is present when the sense of “beingness” is not present. Awareness is present when there is a sense of “knowing.” Awareness is present when there is no senseContinue reading “Awareness is Everything”

Regardless of our understanding, difficult states continue to come up, but we don’t focus on them. We just allow them to be there, allow them to arise and do whatever it is they do, but continue to practice short moments of resting as we are again and again. We begin to see that it allContinue reading “Don’t Be Fooled By Smoke”

You are already what you’re looking for. You can’t ‘become’ it, ‘find’ it, ‘create’ it, or ‘lose’ it. All that is ever happening is that our attention gets caught by shiny objects. Misdirected attention.  When it happens – and it will – see that only the attention has moved. What knows the attention has movedContinue reading “Shiny Objects”