Wake Up Now (25 page)

Next, relax the fixation of energy in the brain and imagine all the ideas and concepts dissolving into emptiness, like ice dissolving into water. Don’t hold on to anything. Let it all go. Whatever you need, you already have, so set down your baggage and allow the river of life to take you.

Rest in the limitless spaciousness and emptiness of innocent looking, don’t-know mind. Remember that reality begins and ends right here, in this timeless moment. Nothing else is needed, and nothing is left out. You already are what you seek. Just be it!

Adams, Robert.
Silence of the Heart.
Atlanta, Ga.: Acropolis Books, 1999.

Adyashanti.
Emptiness Dancing.
Boulder, Colo.: Sounds True, 2005.

Carse, David.
Perfect Brilliant Stillness: Beyond the Individual Self.
Shelburne, Vt.: Paragate Publishing, 2006.

Harding, Douglas.
On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious.
Carlsbad, Calif.: Inner Directions, 2002.

Katie, Byron.
A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are.
New York City: Harmony Books, 2007.

Khenpo, Nyoshul.
Natural Great Perfection.
Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion, 1995.

Klein, Jean.
Who Am I?
Salisbury, UK: Non-Duality Press, 2006.

Maharaj, Nisargadatta.
Ultimate Medicine: Dialogues with a Realized Master.
Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 2006.

Maharshi, Ramana.
Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
New York City: Penguin, 1989.

Parsons, Tony.
As It Is: The Open Secret to Living an Awakened Life.
Carlsbad, Calif.: Inner Directions, 2000.

Prendergast, John, Peter Fenner, and Sheila Krystal, eds.
The Sacred Mirror: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy.
St. Paul, Minn.: Paragon House, 2003.

Segal, Suzanne.
Collision with the Infinite.
Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 2002.

Tolle, Eckhart.
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment.
Novato, Calif.: New World Library, 1997.

Absolute truth,
29
–30

Adams, Robert,
120
–21,
127
,
137

Advaita Vedanta,
2
–3,
28
,
49
,
186
,
191

Adyashanti,
93
,
151
,
153
,
181
,
190
,
201
,
213

Affectionate awareness,
193

Alexander technique,
86

Attraction, law of,
71

Authentic awakening,
122
,
136
–37,
148
,
185

Awakened life,
207
–14

Awakening,
156
.
See also
Enlightenment; Spiritual awakening

authentic,
122
,
136
–37,
148
,
185

being and,
12
–13

claims about,
138
–39

defined,
8
–11

different paths to,
5
–6

direct approach to,
5
–8,
48
–50

dispelling seven myths about,
130
–36

ego’s ploys about,
147
–50

energetic experience of,
129
–30

full flowering of,
126
–28

initial phase of,
124
–25

nature of,
122
–23

occurrence of,
159
–61

paradox and,
34
–35

progressive approach to,
41
–48

self-authentication and,
136
–37

stages of,
13
–16

suffering and,
35

turbulent nature of,
52
–53

Awareness, affectionate,
193

Being

alternative terms for,
12

awakening and,
12
–13

Beliefs, spiritual

ego and,
69
–70

feelings and,
75
–76

filling the void with,
67
–70

Blake, William,
59
,
93
–94

Bodhidharma,
49
,
108
–9,
114

Breathe and Reflect exercises,
17
,
22
,
31
,
48
,
53
,
60
,
69
,
83
,
90
,
103
,
122
,
153
,
162
,
171
,
184
,
199
,
211

Bugental, James,
143

Chakras and embodiment,
173
–75

Chao-chou,
107

Chino, Kobun,
108

Chogyam Trungpa.
See
Trungpa, Chogyam

Chopra, Deepak,
71

“Closing the gap,”
200
–201

Core paradox,
34
–35

Darshan
,
114

Dharma.
See
Truth(s)

Diamond Sutra,
92

Direct approach to awakening,
5
–8

Dissociation,
197
–200

Dizang, Zen Master,
58
–59

Dogen, Zen Master,
88
,
108
,
191
,
196

Dogma, spiritual,
65
–66

Dzogchen (great perfection),
49

Eckhart, Meister,
64
–65,
113

Ego,
155

embodiment and,
165
–68

grip of,
144
–46

spiritual beliefs and,
69
–70

truth and,
146
–53

Ego inflation,
149

Ego-state psychology,
201

Embodiment,
203

of awakening,
15
–16

commitment to deeper,
188
–90

defined,
188

ego and,
165
–68

progressive approach and,
176
–77

psychotherapy and,
204
–5

supporting process of,
169
–71

through the chakras,
173
–75

ways to support,
169
–71

EMDR.
See
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo,
19
–20

Emotional body, freeing of,
190
–95

Emotional hijacking,
175

Empedocles,
113

Emptiness

fearing,
151
–52

form and,
30
–31,
126
–27

Enlightenment,
5
–6.
See also
Awakening

myths about,
132
–36

radical,
160

in Zen,
53

Eternal Now,
124

Exercises.
See
Breathe and Reflect exercises

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR),
201

Feelings, beliefs and,
75
–76

“Fire of truth,”
154
.
See also
Truth(s)

kindling,
153

revealing,
161
–63

Forgetting,
142
–44

Form and emptiness,
30
–31,
126
–27

Formal self-inquiry,
103
–10

Fundamentalism, lure of,
65
–67

Gateless gate,
23
–27

Genuine awakening.
See
Authentic awakening

Globality,
121

Goleman, Daniel,
175

“Great Death,”
53

“Great perfection” (Dzogchen),
49

Guerrilla Zen,
181

Gurus,
203
–4

Hakuin, Zen Master,
19

Healing vortex,
201

Hsuan-sha, Zen Master,
121

Hui-k’o,
108
–9

Hui-neng,
87
–88

Inner-child work,
201

Inquiry, presence and,
114
.
See also
Self-inquiry

Integrity, living with true,
163
–65

Islands of insanity,
199

Jai Uttal,
33

Jesus of Nazareth,
65
,
99

John of the Cross, Saint,
64
–65,
156

“Just sitting,”
91–93

“Just this,”
127

Kabir (Indian poet),
32

Kalu Rinpoche,
212

Kant, Immanuel,
20

Katagiri, Dainin,
92

Katie, Byron,
133
,
137
,
172
,
195

Kensho
,
1

Klein, Jean,
17
,
28
,
45
,
63
,
74
,
77
,
85
–86,
89
,
93
,
110
,
111
,
112
,
113
,
114
,
141
,
170
,
200
,
213

Koans,
24
,
106
–8,
186
–87

Kobun Chino,
79
–81

Law of attraction,
71

Letting go,
156
–57

Lewis, John Wren,
133

Li Po,
99

Life stories, living without,
171
–73

Listening, practice of,
97
–98

Ma-tsu,
81

Mahamudra,
109
–10

Meditation

being “invited” to,
96
–97

energetics of,
93
–95

mind and,
95
–96

sitting and,
91
–92

words of instruction for,
92
–93

Milarepa,
196
–97

Mind, meditation and,
95
–96

Mindfulness

limitations of,
81
–84,
86

practice of presence and,
95

Mu
,
25
,
107

Myths of awakening, dispelling,
130
–36

Nan-chuan,
81

New Age,
71
–74

Nisargadatta Maharaj,
47
,
51
,
52
,
57
,
60
,
64
,
69
–70,
90
,
93
,
113
,
127
,
174
,
193
,
207
,
213

Not knowing,
58
–61,
75

Now, eternal,
124

Oneness,
207

Open secret,
28
–29

Paradox, core,
34
–35

Parsons, Tony,
119
–20,
158

Pascal, Blaise,
113

Paul, Saint,
59

Podvoll, Edward,
199

Presence

inquiry and,
114

mindfulness practice and,
95

practice of,
84
–86

Prison, escaping from the,
27
–28

Progress and the spiritual path,
55

Progressive approach to awakening

embodiment stage and,
176
–77

pros and cons of,
41
–48

Psychotherapy,
204
–5

Putting another head on top of your own,
47

Radical spirituality,
64
–65,
69
–70

Ramana Maharshi,
28
,
37
,
43
,
64
,
68
,
70
,
74
,
84
,
85
,
89
,
91
,
95
,
100
,
103
,
105
,
114
,
117
,
119
,
146
,
158
,
213

Relative truth,
30

Repression barrier,
197
–200

Rinzai Zen tradition,
25

Robbins, Tim,
27

Root patterns,
195
–97

Roshi, Suzuki,
82

Roshis,
203
–4

Rumi (Persian poet and mystic),
25
–26,
194

Samadhi,
183
,
191
,
192

Samskaras
,
195
–97

Schopenhauer, Arthur,
20

Seeking,
54

without seeking,
50
–52

Segal, Suzanne,
120
,
123
,
124
,
127
,
153

“Self-and-world construct system,”
143
,
145

Self-improvement,
41
–50

Self-inquiry,
101
–2

formal,
103
–6

koan practice and,
106
–8

spontaneous,
102
–3

turning words,
110
–13

“unfindability” approach to,
108
–10

Separate self, investigating,
100
–113

Shakyamuni Buddha,
24

Silence,
113
–14

Sitting,
91
–92

Somatic experiencing,
201

Spiritual awakening,
5
,
138
,
159
–61.
See also
Awakening

defined,
12

vertical and horizontal dimensions of,
123
–24

Spiritual beliefs.
See
Beliefs, spiritual

Spiritual bypassing,
151

effects of,
183
–88

Spiritual dogma,
65
–66

Spiritual drunkenness,
149

Spiritual paths, progress and,
55

Spiritual qualities, cultivation of,
47