Looking within, always within
We discover infinite potentiality,
we discover everything
everything that we need,
within, within we discover
that bright light
beyond all possibilities,
beyond thought, beyond belief,
beyond subject and object, reality
well beyond what all these demons tell us we are not;
We discover infinite potentiality;
We discover by thinking for ourselves,
by questioning all that appears,
by looking at mind,
by remaining steadfast, genuine and true;
We discover what we have always been,
this eternal wisdom that cannot be forgotten . . .
and yet we forget by sleeping through it all;
Don’t let anyone ever prevent you
from discovering who you really are!
Step forward into the light,
your light,
your own sacred right to be
infinite potentiality!
A poem by Robert Aho © 2025
When we learn about meditation, we seek teachings everywhere. As a seeker, however, we’re not always certain about what we hear or learn. Maybe we blunder into some sort of manipulative religion that is going the wrong way through ignorance and fear. Maybe they’re political or want you to give them lots of money. Maybe we get bedazzled by people who look very refined and plasticky, people with a tremendous marketing campaign and a huge cult following. At first, it is easy to find ourselves in many traps, in that delicate time before we have aspired to awaken.
If we want something useful, something that will help us to awaken, we should try to discern what is genuine, rather than taking the easy way, rather than letting ourselves become manipulated and persuaded to stop our own investigation into what is, as it is. One of the first things we should hear from a Spiritual Leader, if they are considered to be at least a little bit genuine and helpful, is that we should investigate mind by looking inwardly, that we should discover for ourselves. If someone tells you what to believe, to blindly accept and not to question what they say, then you should have absolutely no use for them whatsoever. Simply walk away.
When someone tells you what you should believe and that you should not question what they tell you, you can know for certain that they are up to no good. It doesn’t matter who they are or what their status might be. They’re manipulating you in such a way that they are preventing you from discovering your own infinite potentiality. They’re trying to become a demon by obstructing your Path. You can be certain that this only happens when someone has nefarious motivations, often revolving around their own ego or worldly concerns.
We must investigate mind for ourselves, or there is no point to meditation or Spiritual Practice in general. It must be our own discovery, our own Spiritual Practice. Anything else is not helpful. When we seek help, when we are on the Spiritual Path, we must seek help from those who encourage us to discover for ourselves, not simply take their word for anything.
Now, understand that questioning the world around you will get you in trouble. We are born into a lifetime of expectations and an imposed identity. We didn’t choose any of this. We simply blundered into it through our own careless actions, which have been going on for an eternity.
Questioning what people tell you is difficult. If you outwardly question any of that, then you cause trouble for yourself. People who don’t know what is real, tell you what is real, and then they enforce these beliefs that they also blindly accepted from someone who did not know. If you try to discover for yourself or think for yourself, it creates disturbances with all the people who think they have a right to tell you what to think. Keep your Spiritual Practice private, at least up until the time when you have achieved an adequate level of realization where you can protect your own mind in all circumstances.
In reality, no one has a right to tell anyone what to believe or think. People who do this to us are actually asserting a sort of violence against us. They’re invading our sacred space when they do that. They have no right.
I guess all of that nonsense we find ourselves swimming in would be okay, except that it prevents us from awakening. This world keeps itself together by perpetuating nonsense, by inflicting extreme trauma, by making sure that people don’t walk away from what is really the problem. Our participation in overwhelming dysfunction has been requested, demanded and determined by those we can easily walk away from. We do this by discovering our own infinite potentiality. We do this by awakening.
No one has a right to prevent you from awakening; and, if they persist, if they insist upon preventing you from discovering your own infinite potentiality, you should understand that they are doing the worst thing to you that they can possibly do. Don’t look outside yourself. Simply let them go, have nothing to do with them, look at your own infinite potentiality where all things will become liberated. You have the right to awaken, which is to discover who you really are. In order to do this, you must question everything. You must go beyond.
Blessings in Light,
Robert Aho