The Way of Nothing

Nothing in the Way

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

Contents

All about Nothing

I truly attained nothing from complete, unexcelledEnlightenment.

—Buddha

It seems strange that there can be any information about nothing.After all, the very word means the absence of anything at all.What can you say or write about the absence of anything?Discussing it would seem to destroy nothing by making itsomething again. Yet instead of saying nothing or having nowriting on these pages, we are going to use one concept todestroy all the other concepts.

If it helps, visualise all these pages as blank as you readthem; this will remind you that there is a greater teachingbehind these words appearing. This is what is meant by noteaching, no student, no teacher. We are not ignoring them butpointing to nothingness, which dissolves the teacher, student,and teaching.

Reportedly, Ramana Maharishi sat in silence for many yearswhile people came to visit him on Arunachala Mountain. Lateron he said that his teaching was the silence. If that did not do thetrick for a student, he would say, "All there is, is consciousness."If the student was still puzzled, he would start gabbing awayabout this and that. Many books have been written aboutRamana Maharishi, who taught silence or nothingness as theultimate teaching. He himself never wrote a book.

Anything we can think of automatically negates what theword "nothing" represents. In other words, the pointer is not thepoint, the object is not the subject, and the thing is not the nothing.What we are attempting to describe here is the point,which remains obvious even while it seems elusive because ofour own habit of thinking too much. Make no mistake—nothingis a funny subject that probably is best understood throughlaughter.

Regardless of how this silence is explored in this material or inothers, there is a resonance beyond the concepts presented. Therole that oneness plays is to chip away at the subtleties of conceptualisationto the heart of it all. Liberation happens throughresonance or a readiness that no one can force. I liken it to a kindof maturity or ripeness in the seeker. By seeker, I am referring tosomeone seeking God, enlightenment, freedom, peace, joy, orharmony.

Even after liberation, this receptivity to oneness remains, butnot as something to understand or figure out. The nothingnessitself is seen in everything because it is the subject of everything.

It is impossible to describe what nothing is, yet words andideas such as those presented here come out of this nothingnessas if it is attempting to describe itself. What the word representsis all that is. At the same time, what the word points to is obviousand does not need explanation. So what is the point in repeatingconcepts about nothing at all?

The point is to point to the place of no point and no journey tonowhere or what is called nothing. It is a hopeless quest for theseparate individual (you), yet beyond the words and labels iswhat is. My hope is to demonstrate that this hopeless quest foryou is the cover story for what is actually aliveness and wonderbeyond imagination.

This authority of nothingness stands on its own and revealswhat is without reason or purpose but simply for the love of whatit is. This is a paradox for the mind of an individual who seeks toknow and understand that which is always just out of reach. Infact, it is hopeless because the you that you think you are neveractually gets there. You may discover this good news sooner thanyou think. In truth, it is always there before you think about itanyway.

When we refer to the self and our true nature as eternal,infinite, magnificent, and divine (fill in your own big words), wecreate a sense that the hugeness of what we are is beyond ourability to achieve. You may ask, "How can little ol' me with allmy problems find that bigness within?" While we may be thisinfinite bigness, our seeking of it as an object can put us in animpossible position. When you seek the divine, something isalways missing. We can undertake a tiresome and often painfulspiritual quest leading to extreme highs and lows. Welcome toduality!

This bipolar quality is very common in the quest. Seekers willsometimes take extreme measures to get the peace they want.This thirst for peace is understandable because it is well worth it.Anyone who has tasted the sublime peace of silence knows thatit is undeniably delicious. It becomes an addiction, however,when we misunderstand the origin of peace. Peace is assumed tobe an object just like the divine. It is the drug of choice for thespiritual addict. Give me some of that bliss to stop the sufferingand craving!

What makes the quest worse is that the glimpses of the divinecoming though meditation, contemplation, or just dumb lucktorture us after we've experienced them. "How can I stay in thatpeace and stillness?" we might ask. "Perhaps I will try harder tolet go!"

This craziness can end in freedom, especially under theguidance of a teacher, but there are no guarantees. But you donot need to become a "bipolar bear." For some, an understandingof what is true is enough for liberation to occur, but it is not myplace to predict what may or may not happen. I only aim to keepcoming back to nothing at all so that we can see what happens.

You would think that the more effort we put towardachieving our highest desire (such as enlightenment), thehappier we would be. But often the reverse is true. We never getthere because what we are seeking is an object or notion in ourheads. Some of us treasure these notions more than anything,which can make the path to freedom seem insurmountable.Getting fed up with our notions can also lead to freedom, butagain there is no way to be sure if this will work.

The reason this quest for enlightenment is hopeless is that youcannot be an accurate gauge or guide to your own freedom! This isprobably the most important concept in the book. In other words,you cannot do it yourself. If it does happen, it will happenwithout you! If you think you are going to get any special secretsfrom me, sorry, I don't have any. All I can do is entice you to seethat you are already free. Is this a paradox? Yes and no.

Listen; what you think of as you is not capable of attaininganything. This you is not the subject but an imposter pretendingto be the subject. What you think you are is really an object. Youare a lovely, sexy object, I agree, but still an object. In the puresubjectivity of the infinite, an object can only come and go or notcome at all. Liberation comes from seeing this you as an object.Seeing this is understanding that you never have left what is orwhat you truly are. This is the non-duality of the real you.

The spiritual quest can be painful because of a simple misunderstanding.Conceptualising our true nature and seeking outthis concept as a goal is painful. Obviously, our nature itself isunmoved and untouched by this dilemma, which can be solvedby simple clarity. Clarity happens naturally during the explorationof the divine. As we approach the space of no-mindwithout concepts and without you, we begin to discern the realfrom the false. This discernment can take decades, years, or aninstant, but the sole purpose of talking about nothingness, ifthere is one, is to provide a soil in which easiness and simplicityflourish so we can see the infinite as it is. You and I have nocontrol over how long the process takes because there is noseparate you or I. There is only the mystery of nothingness, somelaughter, and hopefully a lot of "I don't know." The more youdon't know, the better.

Ask yourself: "What am I?" If you say, "I am infinite or free orGod," is that not just a concept? Of course if you think you arenothing, that is also a concept. No matter what you come upwith, anything you can know about yourself is only another idea.The only real and honest answer the mind can come up with is,"I don't know." Even if I am talking to an enlightened sage, youstill do not know what you are because it is beyond ideas andconcepts. It is unknown, unborn, and alive. It is the knowingnesswithout someone there to know. You can speak with authorityand say, "I am this," or "it is this" but that is coming out ofnothingness, without you there to claim anything specific asbelonging to you.

The concept of nothing is the closest I can come to describingthe nature of self. I chose it on purpose because it is not afoundation for more concepts. It is designed to dissolve, leavingonly what is alive underneath the labels. This nothingness isconcept-free and ultimately it is everything you seek, no matterwhat the form is. It is the highest joy, the highest attainment youseek through spiritual or material means. It is the secret treasurethat is all that is here in this reality. Only the fascination withanything else seems to obscure it.

The beautiful thing is that if you are willing to give this still,silent nothingness a chance, you will get everything your heartdesires and more. This process will not look like you want it to,but it will be greater than you can imagine. The aliveness of whatis, is self-sufficient and needs nothing added to it. The hard truthis that life works much better without you. All you can do is getin the way, and indeed this is all that ever seems to happen. Thisis the cosmic joke, which is not very funny, at least until youdisappear into nothingness and laugh for no reason at all—thatis the divine comedy.

Liberation is not an attainment but the simple abiding in theunborn and eternal nature of your essence. In this essence youare infinitely bigger than you can imagine yet also much smaller,so small, in fact, that you might dissolve. Without you there,there is the discovery of what is left. This step is natural andeffortless, as you will see, and no amount of thought will bringyou there. I'm not saying don't think about it, even though thatwould be wasting time. We can meditate and use our favouritetools and techniques, but what happens is in the hands of God,Buddha, or Baby Jesus (in other words, nobody's hands).

The magic is that often when things don't go the way we wantthem to and we are completely frustrated, our grip on identitywill loosen. However you look at it, the result is inevitablebecause everything happening now is happening in and asnothingness.

Good luck with the discovery!

Nothing but Freedom

When talking about freedom, we immediately must refer to itsopposite: limitation and bondage. Freedom is something wedon't feel we have; maybe other people have it, but we don't. Ofcourse the alternative idea that we are free already does notchange much about how we experience our lives day to dayexcept that we might have a nice thought floating by once in awhile.

I am embarrassed to say that I was one of those peoplewalking around thinking that I was enlightened and superior toalmost everyone. Then I would flip back into the insecurity andanxiety of the bipolar bear. Living in this duality is not a fun wayto approach what is, and thankfully it is not true anyway. Thelabel of nothing is great because this nothingness is even closerthan our breath. Where there is nothing at all, there is freedom.This is how close to freedom everyone is. Often you will hearteachers say that you are already free. This is a nice idea, isn't it?

The idea of you being free comes with a bit of confusion.Firstly, freedom could imply that there is a you that is alreadyfree or a you that will one day be free. Both of these concepts arenot true. (It is useful to remember that all concepts, includingthis one, are not true.)

The nature of nothingness is that there is nothing at all. Thisis already all that is. It is because of this that you can say that youare already free. However, in the experience (for a lack of a betterword) of nothingness, a separate you is not there to be free ornot. Being free or separate is another notion floating innothingness. The separate self does not like this idea of not beingthere because it is not included as the one that is free.

The only thing the separate you can do is continue to thinkit's going to achieve something. This is the separate seeker. Donot worry about it; simply allow it to do what it is designed todo—seek.

Fear can arise when the thought of nothing comes up. Let mereassure the separate you (if you still think you have one), forwhatever it's worth, that the thought of nothing is notnothingness itself. Nothingness itself does not have a thought ofnothing in the purest sense. You do not know what nothingnessis or feels like because it is beyond the ability of the intellect toknow or understand.

Whatever you think you can know about nothingness resultsfrom a memory of experiences, including any feelings such aspeace or joy. Often people who believe they are spiritual will say,"Oh, I know what that is." If you say "I know" a lot, chances areyou don't know what you're talking about but you have a goodgrasp of your experiences. Grasping onto experiences is what theseparate individual does. To grasp at knowledge is actuallygrasping at dead knowledge, not wisdom. True wisdom does notknow anything.

Maybe this nothingness is actually quite lovely and delicious.Maybe it is the absolute bliss of God. Maybe it is the light ofHeaven. After all, it is your true nature. Whatever you may thinkabout your true nature, it is always greater than you can conceiveyet simpler than you can imagine. I don't make up the rules! Sowhenever you think you are grasping the infinite, remember it isgreater than you think, and let it reveal itself without the "littlegrasper." What is left when there is no grasper? You now have noreason to think about it anymore. The grasping and the grasperare both happening in nothingness. There is no need to changethe purpose of grasping—it is what it is.

It would be too simple to say that your identity as separate isjust a thought since there are many so-called signs of limitationor of being separate. However, you could say that all the signs ofseparation are just thoughts or objects appearing in and out ofnothing and nowhere.

Some of these signs of separation are having an energeticfeeling in the body (such as in the heart), thinking you are thethinker of your thoughts, and believing that you are in control ofwhat happens. All of these signs of separation are apparent, buttrying to convince someone of this is extremely challenging, notto mention a waste of time. What is magical, however, is that areadiness or receptivity can occur in which the person seesthrough the notion of separateness. This is a miracle of grace.Suddenly, without you there, the truth appears. Pointers in lifesuch as the one you are reading can somehow cross space andtime, and bam—there it is.

It makes sense that individuals believe in their individualitybecause that is how we are designed and programmed. We arenot going to get into why we are programmed as such becausethat is also a waste of time, and more importantly, I have no ideawhy. I have some theories (no reason at all, or nothingness isbored), but I still don't know why, and I don't care.

It is more useful to look at how we are programmed toidentify ourselves as separate individuals so that we may take astep backwards so to speak. Starting over with a blank slate isalways a useful approach to becoming free. This is the Zen ofemptying the cup or pushing the reset button to clear theprogramming. The nature of nothingness is to be empty. To startby emptying our heads of concepts is a great way to begin. Apartfrom not taking things seriously, it is the only rule. Emptying isthe way to joy, contentment, and wisdom.

Right now you can perhaps sense that you are here. This canbe called a sense of self or a sense that you exist. When you arenot thinking or identifying with any object in particular, therecan be this awareness or consciousness without anything else.This awareness happens whenever you are not thinking. Whenyou wake up from deep sleep, this consciousness comes withoutany identifying. It is like a brand new empty car before someoneopens the door, jumps in, turns the key, drives to God knowswhere, and then crashes (sorry, I am getting off track—too muchcoffee today).

This awareness is just empty consciousness or the fancy,enlightened-sounding "pure consciousness." But then thisconsciousness seems to spontaneously identify with the body,energy, and thoughts, and then the personal identity is formedaround the object of the body. Consciousness identifies itself as ayou by accident or coincidence. The only other option it has is toidentify with nothingness, but that has not been presented as avaluable option. This is the divine joke, since it is already theabsolute impersonal consciousness.

With the innocence of a child, consciousness makes thissimple mistake of identifying. This is why the most commonresponse to waking up is "oops!" or "duh!" It is almost embarrassingthat this misidentifying happened. But because it is like achild, we don't punish this consciousness but laugh at theinnocent mistake it made. Laughter and bliss are the appropriateresponses to enlightenment because it is all a joke, as silly as thesimple childlike belief that monsters are in the closet.