by Jean Klein
The world exists only when we think about it; creation stories are for children. In reality the world is created at every moment. It is only memory that gives the false impression of continuity. The individual has no independent existence. It is a fabrication of memory and habit. Always agitated, it hopes and claims, striving to accumulate, searching for confirmation and security. Basically it is frightened and does not dare question itself profoundly.
All perceptions, all experiences are connected with time, are transitory, but our real nature transcends time. It is a lack of clear-sightedness that causes us to identify with temporality. When timeless moments solicit you, accept the invitation. Go deep within it, until you find yourself in your absence.
Once you said: There is only truth. Is not the ego then also truth?
The only truth is being, which is causeless, autonomous. When you see false things for what they are then that is illumination. Renunciation takes place without there being someone who renounces. In this, the direct path, free from choice, there is a freeing of energy and a spontaneous establishment in true being.
The world exists because you exist, but you are not the world. Objects of consciousness, names and forms, are the world. But reality, ever still, is beyond them. It is purely by reflex that you insist upon the name and form, and thus reality escapes you.
There is nothing outside consciousness. The universe, your personal I—all appear within it. The imagination has separated us from this awareness, this consciousness, and we have surrounded ourselves, closed ourselves in with fears, concepts and images. The waking state and dream state are both imposed upon this still awareness which we all have in common.
What you do is of no importance whatsoever; what matters is the way in which you do it, your inner attitude. The role you play on the world’s stage has no meaning other than the clear-sightedness with which you play it. Don’t lose yourself in your performance—this only blurs the vision of your inner being.
Disinterested action does not bind you but, on the contrary, leaves you entirely free. Live in the moment, simply be. Making a choice depends upon memory and easily becomes slavery. Live as being and you will awaken to bliss.
We are not the body. But before saying this it seems to me that we must know exactly what the body is that we are not.
The body consists of the five senses. Without these senses we could not talk of a body. We mainly experience it as feeling; we sense it. The sensations that appear to us can be very varied: I feel heavy or light, warm or cold, tense or relaxed. These sensations are memories and habits to which we are accustomed. They are but a means by which the “I am the body” idea reassures itself that it exists. That is to say they are superimpositions on the primal, natural state of the body. So when we say “I must first know what I am not,” it means we must be totally aware of these superimpositions.
You talk of feeling the primal state of the body. How can we get to know this primal feeling?
As I said, sensations such as we know them are conditioned feelings which belong to the “I am the body” idea. It is in this superimposition that the person, the I, finds a hold, for the person needs to locate itself either in sensations or in ideas. The only way to become free from conditioning is to look without memory, without the accomplice to the conditioning. Let whatever feelings appear within you come up without visualizing or concentrating on them. In letting the feeling appear before the witness “I,” before attention without periphery or center, the body goes through several degrees of elimination, for all superimposition dissolves before this witness. You will observe a letting go of the conditioning. The emphasis that was wrongly put on the conditioning so as to reassure the person, now switches to the observation, to the witnessing, and you will soon find yourself to be the light beyond the witnessed. This is your natural state of total expansion which is energy, vacant and light.
At first the new body sensation will be fragile and you may be solicited by the old patterns. But the body has an organic memory, a memory of its natural state of ease, which, once reawakened and sustained, will sooner or later become permanent. The old sensations will become foreign to you. You may even find it difficult to recall them. Then you will realize that the body appears in you, in awareness, and that you are not lost in the body.
You speak of this new body-sensation as energy. Is this feeling more or less stagnant or does it vibrate?
This new body sensation does not belong to the neuro-muscular system, it is of a much finer nature. It suffuses and radiates in the space around you. This energy is of such a nature that it knows no hindrance, it permeates all that is an obstacle to the physical body, it is beneficial, it is love.
It seems to me that the radiation you are talking about belongs to tactile sensation. What is the experience of the natural state of our other senses, hearing, sight, smell and taste?
When the sense organs are freed from past conditioning they cease grasping, de-contract and are receptive to the newness of every moment. When hearing something take note that you fix the sound. Let it go. There must be no concentration. In this non-directed hearing, this multidimensional hearing, many sounds will be heard in succession. Without your choosing or showing a preference for any particular noise, you may observe that they are eliminated until only one sound remains. If you do not focus on this sound it also dies away and you find yourself in pure listening. In the same way, when all taste is eliminated from the mouth, you arrive at the taste of the mouth itself. But to return to hearing, in the end, it reabsorbs itself completely into pure awareness.
You say these energies are completely free, not bound to the physical structure of the body. Does this mean that with the energy body we can undertake all sorts of movements, movements impossible for the physical body?
The subtle body we are speaking about is completely free from the physical structure of the body. Its energy is completely unconditioned, it belongs to the real body, the energetic body. This energy is capable of burning up all the conditioning buried deep in our nerves and muscles. It purifies the physical body of the conditions and sensations imposed by the “I am the body” idea, by the person who needs to feel himself localized and secured. This person acts through likes and dislikes, through fear, actions which in turn react on the neuro-muscular system creating the vicious circle of conditioning.
When this energy comes to life it is not bound by the physical shape of the body. It is completely free, that means it can take any shape imaginable. It is only through this subtle body that the conditioned movements of the physical body can be freed. Let us consider some asanas, or physical postures. First of all, we carry out the movement exclusively with the subtle body. We must be aware, alert, so that the physical body remains completely vacant, for in the beginning whenever we move the body structure, memory, habit intervenes causing a reaction on the neuro-muscular plane. So when we do a movement with this fine energetic body, the movement must be completely empty of all habitual reflexes. Only when we feel this vacancy can we introduce our physical body to the movement. But now the physical body moves within the expanded body and the movements appear in a new way. It is important not to let the conditioned sensations take over again, but to knowingly sustain the feeling of emptiness. This is the only way we can creatively proceed with the body, otherwise we reinforce the conditioning.
Usually this energy does not arise with the same intensity in all parts of the body. Certain parts are particularly gifted in the actualization of this subtle sensation, for example, the palms of the hands or the inside of the mouth. These may well be the first parts of the body to which this subtle energy will appear most intensely. If we give attention to the palm of the hand without representing it or making any sort of effort, if we give the tactile sensation the possibility of springing to life of its own accord, then it will spread throughout our whole body. So first find the starting point and then let the energy flow out from there.
How exactly can this physical appro
ach, and certain diets help us find the impersonal self??
If we take a close look at our body we soon realize that it is overburdened by residues left over from inadequate feeding earlier in life. It creates an impression of density, and dulls our senses, preventing us from feeling our transparency. It is very interesting to observe that, if we give it the right conditions, the body eliminates these residues. With a well adjusted diet of healthy food our whole body begins to react differently and this unquestionably entails changes on the mental and psychological planes. In the same way some forms of body movement can help us become conscious of and locate the parts of the body that are overburdened, solid, dense and congested. They help to free us from fixed ideas of what the body is and enable us to nourish our body with breath. All this is of great value, provided it is carried out with knowledge and great sensitivity. By this I mean that the movements are enacted in awareness, point to that non-objective perspective which is the subject of this talk. All mechanical exercise reinforces the conditioning.
If I let my body and mind follow their natural course without some discipline will they not run away like wild horses?
Letting the movements of your body and mind follow their natural course does not mean passively indulging and identifying with them. This only leads to servitude and misery. You must distinguish between passive letting go and active letting go. In active letting go you remain totally present, clear-sighted, uninvolved and actively alert. Gradually the ego loses its grip until it is reabsorbed into pure awareness. Seeing things no longer from a center is the first step towards permanent freedom, which can only take place if we are free from any form of projection or expectation. If we anticipate, it only disrupts the natural process which must be allowed to come to completion of its own accord. The awareness that shines forth like a flash of lightning in clear-sighted vision cannot possibly take root in a mind which is encumbered.
When you encounter your guru, you must have quite a different approach from the one you usually maintain when you meet people in everyday life where aggressions and defenses are used in pursuit of some goal. At this encounter, you must totally accept yourself, surrender, be ready to receive. Then your listening will be deeply attentive, completely free from any preconceived ideas. The presence and words of the teacher are the mirror reminding you of, and reflecting, your own open listening, your own presence. Thus the way is shown, the door is opened to grace and you find yourself on the threshold, ready to be taken by your true self.
There are basically two known approaches to truth, the gradual and the direct. In the direct approach the premise is that you are the truth, there is nothing to achieve. Every step to achieve something is going away from it. The “path,” which strictly speaking is not a path from somewhere to somewhere, is only to welcome, to be open to the truth, the I am. When you have once glimpsed your real nature it solicits you. There is therefore nothing to do, only be attuned to it as often as invited. There is not a single element of volition in this attuning. It is not the mind which attunes to the I am but the I am which absorbs the mind.
In the gradual approach you are bound to the mind. The mind is under the illusion that if it changes, alters states, stops, etc., it will be absorbed in what is beyond it. This misconception leads to the most tragic state in which a truth-seeker can find himself: he has bound himself in his own web, a web of the most subtle duality.
If I am perfect and there is nothing to do, why am I here, why this existence on the planet?
It is only to be knowingly in this perfection. Your use of perfection and imperfection are concepts, interdependent counterparts. The truth that is your nearest fundamental nature is beyond complementarities. In the absence of imperfection and perfection you live in your presence, your wholeness. Be it.
Sir, the answer you have just given to this lady seemed to satisfy her but I don’t understand it. Can you come down to my understanding?
You have the capacity of awareness so be aware of those moments when you feel imperfection, a lack, boredom, discontent. When I say, be aware, I don’t mean simply name them then go away from them. Rather, give all your attention to the perception. It may take some time because in the beginning you may not be accustomed to looking at yourself. In exploring the boredom or lack you will find you are no longer lost in it, because you will be taken more by the exploration than the object. You will find space within you and the explored. You are no longer stuck in the boredom, the perception, and at a certain moment it suddenly dissolves, and you find yourself in present clarity.
I feel impatient to know the real nature of my existence. Because I still feel no real clarity I am again being taken by objects. Rather than becoming more solicited by silence I am less solicited.
Be alert for those moments when a desire has been fulfilled and an action completed. Be attuned to these moments. They will give freshness to your desire to be. Once the mind is free from anxiety, fear and dissatisfaction, you will see that your only true desire is to be. This desire is completely free from agitation and dispersion. The ardent seeker no longer rushes ahead in his quest for he clearly sees that there is nothing to be found, because nothing was ever lost. It has never ceased to be present. When we clearly see that we are misled by the “searcher,” the personality we mistook for ourselves disappears of its own accord. The desire to be comes directly from the Desired—in other words the Self is searching for itself. This insight induces us to abandon our need to accumulate, grasp, accomplish, have, and tends to diminish the mind’s activity.
A deep understanding of this brings us spontaneously back to our homeground. Grace draws us to itself. This cannot be described, it can only be lived.
How can I free myself from the continual stream of agitated thoughts?
Simply observe their coming and going. Neither refuse them nor encourage them. In no way direct them. Remain impersonally alert. You will soon feel that thoughts, feelings and sensations appear in this directionless alertness, your openness. They exist only because you are, thus their appearing points to their homeground, the real you. At first you will find that you keep interfering with your thoughts, suppressing or being taken by them. You do this because of the insecurity felt by an ego about to die, an isolated ego. But when you are free from the mental habits of activity and passivity you will find yourself in your natural quiet attention.
So this natural state of attention does not mean I must be completely free from all thoughts?
It is not dependent on the absence of thought. It is that in which thoughts appear and disappear. It is ‘behind” thought. So don’t be violent or brutal with yourself in the hope of freeing yourself from agitation but be clear-headed. In simple openness which is welcoming you will come to accept and get to know your negative feelings, desires and fears. Once welcomed in non-directed attention these feelings will burn themselves up, leaving only silence. Be alert, ready for each and every appearing and you will soon find yourself the uninvolved spectator of your thoughts. Once this is an established fact, whether thoughts come to mind or not you will not be bound to them.
So if I understand you correctly, when I am invaded by tomorrow’s work schedule or family problems or by fantasies, daydreams, I neither indulge them, go with them passively, nor force them away—but simply let the emphasis go from the thought to observing it. Then you say it will dissolve in the observing, is this correct?
Yes.
And once I have felt the non-directed attention do thoughts still come up? Or do they come and go more quickly without becoming a whole story?
They are no longer formulated.
So that there comes a time when the thoughts do not become formulated at all and there is only the impulse to think?
Even the pulsation disappears. There’s no longer any fuel for it. It is the subject which maintains the object. When there’s no longer a subject the object has no hold. When you are active or passive regarding the coming and going of feelings and thoughts, you see and
act from the ego-center but when you come to know the illusory nature of this center you are automatically out of the process. It is the sudden death of all directed energy.
In the observation of thought or subtle impulse there is still a subject/object relationship. It still refers to a center. When you are in awareness there’s no more center. Awareness is aware of its surroundings and aware of being aware. The surroundings appear in the awareness. Thus in the end there is no need to go into the meditation laboratory for there is no longer an object, no thought or pulsation.
It seems then that from the state of an agitated mind to the disappearance of the pulsation to think, project, there is a transitional phase. Is this so?
From the very beginning we emphasize the ultimate non-state, the awareness itself. There is no progression from one state or level to another. Thoughts and pulsations appear in this awareness. One cannot progress in meditation. There is no evolution of consciousness. Being observing, the ultimate witness, is an instantaneous occurrence. Experiences and experimentation occur within this natural non-state. In progress there is no progress. Progressions and transitions appear equally in the continuum that never progresses nor regresses.
If there is no progress what is memory?
Memory is a way of thinking. When there is a thought this thought appears in the now. We label it 2000 years ago or yesterday but the label is also a present thought. There’s only one function at a given time so that at the moment of functioning you are one with the functioning.