Never Now Existed

and surrender is simply the recognition that the

moment of our letting go -

has never now

existed 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Only This

look,

and in the absence of a single, solid

self found - 

there is only this belonging...

~

Peace,

Eric 

Just

just aware - and no

one there to

notice

~

To even say " I am aware" is a false claim of ownership - there is only awareness and what arises as and within itself. To be witness to this is to still be part of the story. What's observed is not the end game and the observer the final letting go. Yet everything belongs for the sake and length of its appearance - no effort needed for their surrender. 

It happens entirely on its own. 

*(not to imply that practice is/isn't helpful) 

Peace,

Eric 

Simply Is

and even the origin of everything, the one 

true, and only source -

is dreamed into existence.

it all simply is, 

mystery in creation to

itself.

~

Peace,

Eric 

Appearing Briefly

what a beautiful expression - what we truly, always are, life

itself, give from the absolute,

and appearing briefly as 

this form.

~

Peace,

Eric 

There Is Seeing

in flight - and one thing shown as

bird, air, and my own

participation.

there is seeing - and nothing separate observed.

~

Peace,

Eric 

And This Includes

a bird doesn't surrender to sky - nor does 

air support its flight.

one thing in full appreciation of

itself.

and this includes our observation. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

True Face

and our true face - without feature save but

what is offered by the 

view

we are fulfilled by all that's given

~

Peace,

Eric 

Knowing Fully Well

even now - these words seemingly composed with planning, a theme playing through mind to fingers typing. Yet still it's a mystery in what comes to me, each word a spontaneous appearance, inspiration gifted to an empty page. 

I have no idea where these words, thoughts, ideas, come from - in daily conversations, to moments dedicated to writing, everything happens on its own. 

 only after their appearance do I claim myself as 

author - knowing fully well that it 

isn't really so. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Vaster Than The Sky

and as the wind too - I find

myself as only 

motion,

belonging fully to something 

vaster than the sky.

~

Peace,

Eric 

My Best Advice

my best advice - let the day find you, and

then vanish in its

light,

everything happens from this space

entirely in its

own.

~

Of course this isn't true and it isn't really advice - we are both vanished and appearing, allowing space and what's happening, all the time, no effort in this at all. 

Peace,

Eric 

Returning To

returning to - it's not about finding the source of anything, no ultimate conclusion to reach for, and certainly no final answer to our beginning. Just a gentle wonder traced to the emptiness of not knowing. 

Peace,

Eric 

Just Another Story

and still it becomes a story told - our keenest insight, a sudden knowing revealed through silence, this alone should be enough. Yet our tendency is to add a narrative involving a personal involvement that simply doesn't belong. Nothing is given, nor revealed to us - for a brief moment we are absent from the scene and all that's found is an understanding of the world. This isn't knowledge, it's what we are without story, empty of concepts, a nothingness that provides itself for everything to be. Even as I write these words I only complicate the matter more. Our best effort only adds a sense of distance. What we are - is right now, always, and it can't be told in words. What we are precedes it all - yet even this, now written, is just another story. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Featureless

featureless -yet full of grace and

distinctions,

it's the view turned back towards itself, seeking source and coming to the void of its conclusion. Nothing is found and it's here the world is held, emptiness cradling itself in the guise of form, our own page seen blank for our story to be told. 

this is a gentle inquiry, simply seeing - first to trace the view directly to its source, exploring if indeed there is a self to find at all. 

and then - rest in the openness that's found. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Even This

even this, each word appearing and any meaning given - it's negating every concept before it gains traction in becoming a belief. I'm not attempting to prove anything wrong, just simply remain faithless in all but what the present moment offers. It's so easy to attach and assign opinions in a subtle sense of understanding the world. Yet ultimately there's no understanding, things appear nameless, without meaning, simple for the sake of mystery itself - perhaps it's all there is to know. But even this must be negated. 

~
Peace

Eric 

In The Ordinary Things

sometimes it's just ordinary things, life in general mode, seemingly mundane with a world we take for granted - yet it's all appearing in the same spacious wonder that allows the extraordinary things to be. In this light there is nothing sacred nor profane, just life in constant happening, and an awareness that comes to play through what appears. It all comes from a nothingness beyond a graspable meaning - even mystery fails to offer clues. It's always here - in the ordinary things that it allows. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

In This Fashion

always fulfilled - in our point as capacity, empty, yet

holding all the world.

seamless in this fashion. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

And Yet

we are searching for further experiences, extraordinary states, and even the present moment has become remote in the mystery that it offers - 

and yet,

here we are, full of 

ordinary wonder

exactly as we are right now. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

In The Guise of Seasonal Wonder

it can't really be told - yet we recognize it through every season, an allowing grace of what's to be without need of lines to make distinctions. The world is seamless as it is, open, and full of nothing but change in what's occurring. One season is not the opposite of another, but simply the continuous unfolding of what always is, in the guise of seasonal wonder. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Completely as The Whole

seamless - and even the 

sense of being

other, 

belongs completely as the whole

~

it's one of my favorite word - seamless. There is nowhere that we find a complete break between things. Every object is held entirely within the space which surrounds it, each sound is caressed by silence, and thoughts pass through the stillness of the mind - at no point are any of these things apart from the seamless whole. 

Peace,

Eric

Now Believed

it's how one thing seems to become another, seamless, a

parting of nothing to nothing-  yet now

believed in solid

form

~

Peace,

Eric 

Our Nature is Nothing

our nature is nothing - and this alone is what allows all things to be. Everything noted brings from one source, continuous even in existence now, the primordial template of its beginning. We stay nothing. Yet from this negative point, from absence, life somehow comes into play - as each deep slumber of night allows an awakening light. In this sense, nothing is not seen as a frightening state, but beyond the state of being itself into pure potential, the spontaneous allowance of all things, and the very nature of what we are. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Giving Up

giving up - yet really it's not

our surrender,

everything comes to the limit of its appearance, a time of it's own that is not, cannot be, our concern. To grasp for more is to suffer, but even our suffering is simply another moment of letting go. It's all spontaneous, miraculous even in that any of this came to be at all. We don't give up a single thing, ever - life just continues on its own.

and our recognition of this is

just a blessing. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Too

nothing is made - creation simply 

being emptiness

fulfilled,

ourselves included

too

~

Peace,

Eric 

Spontaneous in Appearance

even our measured thoughts and deliberate actions are spontaneous in appearance - we are first empty of all planning, sheer capacity for what's to come, and only then does a solid world appear. Yet really it's all instantaneous, one thing in openness and fulfillment both. Manifestation happens not through will but allowance of the infinite to unfold of its own accord. 

Our role is always just to be.

The world appears entirely

on its own.

~

Peace,

Eric 

It's Easy To Know

it's easy to know, this natural acceptance - it's the grace of wind swept through sky without resistance, curving itself to every object it encounters, yet unseen in its caress. Our lives are as open as the sky and equal in motion to the wind. Everything is instantly accepted, our own caress given to what appears before us. 

Everything belongs. 

We too are the grace of wind and 

ready ease of open

sky. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Ego At Play

ego is not my enemy - why fight a phantom, or give further energy to gathered beliefs held in place by constant attention? My definition of awakening includes simply seeing the ego at play, presenting itself as a solid force of will to get its way. Take attention away from this thought/belief and does it still have the internal weight as before? I see my ego come out and play along with other egos, and quiet often there is a forgetfulness of play, there's a reassertion of importance, and perhaps some hurt feelings will result. And sometimes too it's all held lightly, just play, a letting go of ideas and beliefs that imagined force represents who I really am. Ego is present as an appearance within reality - but that doesn't make it real. Although over reliance on its role as chief policy maker in our lives has real effects on our relationships and happiness. And fighting it, making it the enemy of a spiritual pursuit, only serves to further its importance. Speaking only for myself (as I'm only able) relaxing, allowing the ego to make its appearance, and inquiring into who or what holds it within awareness, seems to bring a lightness to the moment, a bit of space, and definitely some humor. Why fight what's there? Especially if it isn't really there at all? 

Peace,

Eric 

And What Wants To Be Revealed

I don't know anything about being awakened, nothing about a realization of self or non-self, and certainly not a thing about the end of seeking. In truth I don't know that I've ever considered myself a seeker, I've never looked for a final truth, and every path has been more of a joyful exploration of where I've just found myself to be. It's been fun. It still is. Perhaps the absence of a fervent urgency has kept me from the secret of Secrets - it's not that I haven't (and still) suffered, and as much as anyone I've wished for mine (and other's) to end. But what's led me down the rabbit hole of trying to understand reality, as much as I can, has been curiosity. From shamanism, Buddhism, Christian contemplative practice, to non-duality - these paths have open as a mystery to and for me, a clear path to....something. So maybe in a sense I am a seeker, yet one not looking for a path to follow to a conclusive end. I'm still curious. At the same time, these past few years I've found myself aware of an openness that's unfolds in all directions, my own self gently engulfed in this unfolding, aware of simply - being aware. The funny things is, there's nothing to explore here, no path, belonging fully to the scenery - there's no need to even be a seeker. It all unfolds on its own. And what wants to be revealed - will be.

~

Peace,

Eric 

No Meaning Provided

it doesn't mean anything - nothing named, possessed, or what falls within view has a single point of meaning. But of course it might have value, it still might be cherished, and have importance. Here's another aspect of the Buddhist Heart Sutra - meaning is empty/emptiness allows for meaning. Is this important? I guess it depends of the value we assign it, for by itself it's meaningless, words sprung forth to fill an empty page. If I were to provide meaning it would surely be only for myself, perhaps inviting readers to their own experience of bringing meaning to the emptiness of these words. And there's the magic - from emptiness comes meaning.

We alone assign the value. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

What Appears

and then what appears - this is as far as my practice goes, my artistic and spiritual story, from what seems my original emptiness (but not knowing this for sure) and then words, form, the world as I know it. Everything appears on cue, without demand or need of patience. Of course judgement may rush in and urge a reconsideration, another story might be better told - and this too is simply part of the grand appearance offered now. 

What appears - is what there is to

work with. 

And it all happens entirely on its own. 

~

Peace,

Eric