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Dej's avatar

Could you developpel the 'as it is' all spiritual teacher say the same but still i don't get it :) : as it appears to me? As i sense it with my sensory perception? It as the same nature than mine? Thx!

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Robert Aho's avatar

Certainly! That's a very good question. Our real nature is the same as a fully enlightened being. When we say 'as it is' we are referring to our real condition, without any sort of fabrication or elaboration. It is the ultimate way that we get real. Our senses are limited. Our mind invents all sorts of fantasies. We're not trying to formulate a belief or create a doctrine, or even explain things in a way that match our senses. 'As it is' means that we are no longer creating obstacles for our own understanding. We're not trying to make everything fit our beliefs or concepts. We simply relax into what is, as it is.

This would be a good topic for next week's podcast. Thx

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Dej's avatar

Thank you for the reply, to complete my question. Let me mut it another way : do one need to be awakened to see things as they are?

Relax with what is, i could be relax but my conditioner unconscious mind still automaticaly apply catégories and référence on reality. Its automatic i have no big way around unless knowing that it is already cathegorized / mentalized/ solidifier by my mind. But even knowing this does not change it because i don't know what a chair is if it is not a chair ( same for the Wood, the atoms, the particles, the energy, the vibration that it is made of) 😅 so if i cannot objectify things or objectify their substanse my mind (mental) is lost and tries to objectify it even more. This is an automatic process i can Witness. Anyway yeah would be a great new podcast subject 🙏

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Robert Aho's avatar

We need to learn to see things without the conceptual elaboration. In this way, we open our heart and mind more and more. When we realize the Nature of Mind, then we are able to see with clarity, not requiring concept to see or understand. We are understanding the essence of all phenomena. Think of awakening as more of a nonlinear realization. We catch glimpses all the time. Awakening happens when we recognize this clarity, which is beyond all limitations, beyond any obstructions.

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Christof's avatar

And i would add that it requires dedicated practice,but with open eyes ,non deluded,,serious or playful,but wholeheartedly to tame this mind....thinking is a wild ape as linji did put it in his boiled down zen teachings and then letting this concept vanish in mid air too...

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Robert Aho's avatar

My newsletter coming out this Thursday is all over this topic. Thanks for the comment!

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