I find this an interesting instruction:
“Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. 25I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father.…”
- “ask and you will receive” points me to inquiry; the inquiry into the nature of reality and mind.
- Father as a different word for Consciousness.
- “In My name” is I am… the simple effortless unadulterated sense of “being myself”. The absence of the separate-self, the presence of the ‘LORD’.
“I don’t know” for the separate-self seems to be more like death, defeat, loss, shame, guilt.
“I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly…” (Bible, John 16:25)
The best teachings of nonduality are those that are clear to the intellect and the heart. Religion and dogma, which support ego through an attempt to be perfect in the relative world, enjoy using stories, similes, or parables that need interpretation to be understood properly.
Poetry and art are, in addition, ways of “speaking figuratively”, not ways of speaking plainly and clearly, in my opinion. They can be capable of communicating subtle aspects of thought, such as emotions, but not of effective pointing to our true nature as unbounded wholeness, again in my opinion.
Any time interpretation is needed, we can be led astray: “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” (Shakespeare, Antonio in Merchant of Venice, Act 1 Scene 3, based on Bible, Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-12)
Yes David, clear to the intellect and the heart:
“Awareness does not need to be made free, unlimited, ever-present, peaceful and fulfilled through any effort, discipline or practice. Its nature is already such. All that is required is to recognise this and to lead a life that is consistent with this understanding.”
Rupert Spira
Any more questions?