Realising the As-it-isness

“True Dharma is the Dharma of as-it-isness, where not even a thought of consciousness is working. It is ‘it’, or the truth that transcends space and time” – Zenkai Shibayama

The other day I came across a powerful 4 step process created by Buddhist Teacher, Tara Brach, which I see as a simple yet valuable form of self inquiry into any state or blockage we may be journeying through, to come to clearly see what is true. Brach calls this process - RAIN: An acronym for - Recognise, Allow, Investigate, Nurture. 

Brach invited her students to first challenge the underlying belief that's creating the tension ... and come to see that the belief or pattern is "real" as it certainly does exist, but is it true? Funny but in one of Joe Biden’s gaffes I noticed recently, he said “I don't follow the truth, I follow the facts”. I laughed at it, but I remember thinking, wait a minute - there's something in that ... facts are not necessarily truth. For example, the fact that I sometimes feel limited, diminished or less than, doesn’
t mean it’s the truth of who I am.

So, it all comes back to not believing our thoughts to be truth ... they are certainly real enough as thoughts or ideas ... but are they truth? Not necessarily!

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Every moment offers its very own unique truth or reality. There is nothing more thrilling, worthy or noble than seeing the moment for what it is, as it is. As it vibrates into Presence, this moment has an offering … our purpose is to recognise it. If I were to apply the RAIN Process to this, let’s see what happens:

Right now … I RECOGNISE … OK … I feel an appreciation being presented, an appreciation for the gift … this gift right now … how blessed I am, alive, looking, listening, opening up … and immediately I am in the next phase:

ALLOW … I feel this radiant beauty, see it with all my senses, no wanting anything else, just This, just as it is. As I “allow” I gently slot into the vastness of it all … no efforting involved, simply “seeing” this, as it is, for what it is.

A heartfelt sense of openness and connectedness begins to happen … not “me” trying to be open and connected, simply openness and connection  taking place, no separation, “me” as This … allowing is not an action, I do not “do” the allowing, I simply relax into what is … the traffic noise in the distance, the clothes dryer whirring, the rainbow lorikeets in the back garden screeching, the crow in the distance cawing … all is, as it is … how sweet, how perfect … allowing this allowing to happen all on its own.

Immense freedom in this “just being”, no impulse to become … just this.

Now there’s a natural curiosity which leads to the next phase: INVESTIGATE, which seamlessly happens as I stay in the moment, this natural curiosity gently explores what is so evident, so available. It’s innate within awareness, when our preoccupation with time and self diminishes, the world and all its radiance flowers and opens up to all our senses. With it comes a sense of awe and a sense of joy.

Right now, the clarified insight is: It’s all a profound gift, and by simply being here, we become available to it, the world is seen truly as our oyster. A clear unobstructed view of what is deepens and broadens our perception in all directions … north, south, east, west, up down, out and in … the final frontier.

Now we come to see that all and everything “sits” within me … there is no “outside” as such … all this is here within me and a sweetness keeps tugging at my heart leading to the very natural next phase: NURTURE.

Sitting here in this deep appreciation for all life I simply breathe and love, ever more deeply. This leads to soft landing into our heart where the One who sees resides…From this vast and infinite Heart space only love remains. This precious nectar of the gods, right here, right now, in this moment just as it is.

Nurturing this is a gentle letting go, a sweet continuous allowing for it to be, just as it is, moment to moment.

As we sit in our hearts, the nurturing happens of its own accord and unfolds into deeper, wider and richer levels of awakenedness … and it’s all here … in this moment, as this moment!

 

The End of Seeking - Give It Your Love

There's an emptiness here. 

Once I used to fear it, run from it, desperately try to fill it ... with something, anything. Now, the emptiness is somehow full and complete and resolved, and I am at peace with it.  I now see it as a spaciousness, and in this spaciousness: Presence, God's Presence.

So much of our days are futilely filled with the struggle to fill the emptiness .. the gap, yet ... This gap is exactly what's required to finally come to the end of seeking. If we still seek, we are still waiting for that "missing" something or someone to be found to help fill the gap. Coming out of the struggle requires a new way of seeing, a willingness to rest in this placeless place, to be willing to not move from it and give our whole lives over to it ... when this is done, what once was feared will now be seen as nothing less than the Love of God.

Then life will simply be lived, one breath at a time, in deep devotion that which never dies ... from this, we are to do only one thing: Give It Your Love.