I am going to read you just a kind of
very brief intro to the to this
book in progress just give you a little
kind of simple context for it
all right
there’s only one thing to investigate
and that is this
this that is present
this that’s appearing
this that is being experienced
and so that is what
this book is about
this
there are of course many other words we
could use to try to convey or
characterize what’s happening here
but i particularly like the word this
because it’s one
that isn’t typically associated with any
fixed concepts
philosophies
ideologies or cosmologies
my teaching is essentially about getting
to what is most fundamental
most basic
most primal
about this
this cannot be pinned down
it is ultimately inconceivable
in seeing this inconceivability
the natural perfection that transcends
all conventional notions
of perfect or imperfect
can be discovered
this
wants for nothing
and yet
appears
as all wanting
the very existence of this
is pure miracle
everything is being done
by this
this is always disappearing
and yet
can never be lost
everything is the emanation
of this
this is always being experienced
for there is nothing else to experience
but this
this has zero duration
and yet
it never ceases to be
this is in a state of constant death
and yet
it can never be destroyed
this is all that exists
for any perception of something other
than this
would be just that
a perception
which would of course be this
this cannot be any other way
than the way that it is
until it is
the investigation of what this actually
is
reveals there is no final answer
to that question
this is forever revealing its nature
transcendental
and inconceivable
to the core
whatever is happening
is this
and yet
all versions of this
are this
this requires no effort to sustain it
for it creates
and sustains
itself
this is inclusive
of everything
this is always full on
it is not possible to have more or less
of this
there is only one thing
this
and yet
this manifests with infinite variety
all interpretations of this
are this
and yet this does not conform to any of
its interpretations
this always appears in perfect clarity
for if there were something blocking or
obscuring this
nothing would appear
this is not what you think it is
so then what exactly is it
the closer we draw to this
investigating what it is made of
the more it seems to move away from us
like a receding horizon
that we can never quite reach
no matter how many steps we might take
toward it
every instant is nothing less than the
streaming forth
of this
there really are no words for this
other than to say
it is all words
notice that this
doesn’t depend
upon the particular way
it happens to be appearing
for it always remains this
no matter the appearance
this has no duration
its very becoming
is also its ending
this remains itself
always the same
yet ever-changing
this is constantly being lost
and yet impossible to lose
this is always being experienced
for there is nothing else to experience
but this
no matter where you go
or what occurs
you can never be cast out of this
for there is only ever this
this can appear as anything
and everything
this delights
in all of its appearances
this has no bottom no top
no inside
no outside
no beginning
no end
no stopping
no starting
no depth
no surface
this is having a continuous love affair
with itself
this has no discernible borders
or boundaries
this is concretely present
at the same time
impossible to find
or grasp hold
this is specific
and indefinite
at the same time
this is always being itself despite its
endless diversity
and differentiation
there is no possibility of distraction
from this
for there is only this
this is always
at rest
within itself
despite its constant movement
and dynamism
this is indescribable
yet alive
as every description
this takes shape as every concept
yet remains forever inconceivable
this is forever finding itself
in
and as
every perception
this is pure luminosity awake and
shining forth
as everything that appears
this effortlessly arises
and dissolves
as each flash instant
this appears as all practices
that one might engage in
to realize this
this cannot be found in what we call the
past
the future
nor the instantaneously vanishing
present
and yet
here it is
this is both the apparent seeker
and whatever it is that is being sought
this is everything that is known
and yet at the same time wholly
unknowable
this is wildly and deliciously
unpredictable
this is spontaneously present
immediate
without origin
this is never opposed to nor in conflict
with any of its expressions
this is a ceaseless shape shifter
this is forever gazing at itself
in all its many forms
this is the seer
the seeing
and the seen.
//
Thank you Ethan!
There are words/concepts which refer to their referent, which refer to their source, which refer to their reality. The word ‘this’ is not one of them.
Consider the word awareness. The word awareness appears in awareness. It refers to its source. It refers directly and immediately to the experience of awareness.
Also, the word presence. The word presence appears in presence and refers directly and immediately to the experience of presence.
As well as the word love, consciousness, reality…
Consider the word/concept chair. The word chair does not appear in a chair. It’s a concept which does not appear in its referent. The word chair refers to a perception in the mind.
The word this does not appear in this. It appears in awareness. It appears in presence. It does not appear in ‘this’.
When you hear the word chair, an image appears of an object with 4 legs, made out of wood or out of metal. When you hear the word ‘this’, an image appears in the mind. I am not sure what image. Maybe a perception. Maybe a puzzling question. It depends on each person who is hearing the word this. Some may ask: What do you mean by this? Do you mean my mind? Do you mean the mountain that I am perceiving? Do you mean my feelings? etc.
There are a couple of teachers who use this ambiguous language using the term ‘this’.
I do not find it helpful.