In a movie, a bar of gold and a lump of manure have the same value, because they are just pictures. Likewise in this projection we call "life." There is *nothing*, absolutely *nothing* that exists or takes place outside of the projection. The idea of escaping or transcending the projection takes place within the projection, as do the concepts of realization, enlightenment, awakening, ad infinitum.
Touch, taste, smell, hearing and eyesight are all within the projection. So is every thought, every concept, every emotion, the body, the mind, and everything that takes place in the body and the mind. Anything you can think of is within the projection, including the idea of the projection itself. Lack of thought or "empty mind" is also within the projection.
There is nothing to do but to see the projection as projection. This seeing, of course, also takes place within the projection.
This message is not nihilistic, because the concept of nihilism is also part of the projection. Nor is it a statement of "extreme nondualism," because the concept of extreme nondualism is within the projection. Both dualism and nondualism, all opposites, are merely concepts within this unreal projection. Birth, death, life, all take place within the projection. Past, present and future are all part of the projection. Time, space and causation are within the projection.
These words disappear as they are written, taking with them their author, his "personal history," the world, the universe, and anything that can be conceived of as beyond the universe.
***
I do not mean to suggest that one should not take pleasure in this projection we call "life." Just take *equal* pleasure in all aspects of it - do not prefer one part to another.
That means taking equal pleasure or enjoyment in love, hate, fear, pain, sex, death, birth, boredom, depression, good, bad, pretty, ugly, sleep, waking. Do not go to one apparent opposite, as most people do. This is a projection, and all pictures are equally pictures. The "picture-ness" of a certain aspect is no different than any other.
Take equal pleasure in diamonds, manure, gold, stones, soil, urine, feces. They are all the same thing in the projection. Preferences ("I like this and dislike that") are the ground of ignorance. Take no preference for riches or poverty. They are the same.
Let come what comes, let go what goes. Do you not do this when watching a movie? Do you stop the reel and replay a scene over and over and over? (perhaps some do, but that's not the point). Let the projection unfold, do not pretend to pause or rewind it by abusing memory. In a theater, there is no "past" in a movie... it unfolds from beginning to end without pause. Likewise, there is no future... you do not know what will happen. Stay with the projection, flow with it.
Let the movie flow from beginning to end, and when it is over, let it fade with equanimity, realizing it for the temporary projection it is. Actually, do this on a constant basis. Let go... let go... let go... let go... let go... The "coming" is automatic, the releasing is up to you. Watch and/or participate in the projection, knowing full well it is a projection, temporary, and that it will end. To say that it will end is not speculation, but rooted in a universal principle: All temporary things end.
Live life precisely as if you were an actor in a film, knowing the filmstrip is always unreeling and never ceases. At first, "the witness" may watch dispassionately, although the witness is actually in the picture as well. The witness state is impermanent - it comes and goes.
Watch, participate and enjoy. But do not prefer some aspects of the projection over another. In a movie, is a gold bar worth more than a lump of excrement? Both are images, pictures. Live life this way, and nothing will ever disturb again. There will be absolutely no more problems when you stop preferring, choosing.
Let come what comes, let go what goes.
If birth, life and death are all the same to you, what problem could possibly arise? What fear of death could there be, knowing the projection as projection? Do you fear the end of a movie while watching?
***
There is that which is beyond "knowing as being." When there is nobody left to be, and the projection is seen as projection, there is the void. "Being-knowing" is a teaching for those who think they exist.
We are constantly negating, negating. Negating is a natural function, because there is only the void. Even when we do not know we are negating, negation continues. There is only futility.
This futility may be called "Void." "Void" contains all "levels" and states. Nothing is ever lost in negation, because nothing was there to begin with. It is simply natural to negate that which is illusion.
Illusion continues, and it does not continue. "Void" (futility) is not illusion but contains illusion. The word "illusion" carries negative connotations for those who wish to *be*. There is no beingness in "Void," but nothing is lost.
Ramana Maharshi said "It is not a void." He was negating. Negation and Futility are of the same ilk; Maharshi was negating the Void, which is itself Negation. Thus, the spring flows eternally back upon Itself. A moment, a photograph of that spring was caught when Maharshi uttered the words "It is not a void."
There are not three states: waking, dreaming and deep sleep. These three states are nonexistent; there is only one continuous state that is not a state. Waking, dreaming and deep sleep seem to take place within them, but they do not take place, but are all within the projection. Negation continues; Futility continues. Everything is continuous when the three states are one.
There is not this; there is not that. It is natural to continue in this vein, because the Void is not anything. The Void is like an ocean of negation, a fountain forever tumbling back upon Itself. It is the mountain spring of futility. Yet, nothing is lost. Because of this there is no danger, nothing to fear.
"I am not this, I am not that" are for entities who believe they exist, as is the "I AM." The Void never says "I." It knows no "I," or anything like it, and the thought or word "I" is foreign to it, as are all words and thoughts. It knows only Futility, which in action is negation, at rest is realization. These things are eternal. They are not beyond time and space, which never existed in the first place.
Negating time and space appears to be natural, because they do not exist, yet to negate the nonexistent is foolish. When time and space no longer have anybody to appear to, they are no longer a concern, but only more concepts within the projection.
The Void, the Eternal Spring of Futility, has been called "The Absolute." The Void does not "mind" its own negation. Therefore, it may be said there is no Void either. Negating the Void leaves only Void; Taking away from emptiness leaves emptiness. Negating the Void is futile, and futility is the Void in action. When this spring of futility is discovered, it is seen that nothing was left behind, all remains unchanged. Vistas beyond imagination are opened, that is all.
Negation does not end the projection. The projection continues, and there is no saying if or when it will end; it can only be said that Void is beyond it. There is nobody for the projection to appear to, so Void is uncovered as the reality "behind" the projection.
The "nature" of Void remains void; therefore, nothing can be said about it. Nothing is being said here; this message only points to further futility.
***
Since the projection (everything perceivable and conceivable) is itself something that can be both perceived and conceived, it appears as something similar to an endless hall of mirrors.
The projection is perceived within the projection, which is perceived within the projection, which is perceived within the projection... seemingly endlessly, but with no beginning, no cause. The projection itself appears within the projection!
Thus, in the end, there is a return to reality for those who see the projection clearly and deeply, see through it. In clear seeing, there is a transcendence, and thus no more projection. The seeing, however, must be complete. There must be a real knowing of the projection as only projection. Then, and only then, this knowing spontaneously goes, to be replaced with nothing. "Realization," if it consists of anything, consists of only LOSS - loss of concepts (whether dearly held onto or despised), loss of endless, uncontrollable mind-monkey thought, loss of everything. Nothing (and Everything) is the "replacement."
Within the projection, it's as if we're seeing reality in a set of carnival mirrors. One gives the appearance of being short, another of being tall, another of a giant torso but tiny head and legs, another of stretched head but a miniaturized torso and legs.... None of these reflections are true.
Knowing the projection as projection, "remembering" it regularly in daily life, is bound to result in the dissolution of the projection. Any clear seeing of an *object* results in the dissolution of that object. The Projection is an object - everything perceivable and conceivable taken together as a single object. Remove that object, see through its apparent reality, and there is only Eternal Subject.
The Buddhists have a saying: First, there are mountains and rivers. Then there are no mountains and rivers. Later, there are mountains and rivers again.
Thus ends this series of "teachings." There is nobody here 'qualified' to be a teacher, but there is always the chance these posts may have stirred the reality "within you," the "Inner Guru" or "Satguru."