Illusion Of Self: Why Remove It? Power & Gift Zen Tao

“… You do not have to go anywhere or look anywhere to find it. It is so close that you keep missing it. There is no distance between you and the Tao whatsoever …” ~ Trevor Rufli

“… There is no greater mystery than this: being Reality ourselves, we seek to gain Reality …” ~ Ramana Maharshi

“… What you want to be, you are it already … The very seeking prevents you from finding … Nothing can set you free, because you are free. …” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

Indeed … seeking is one of the greatest paradoxes in spirituality … and one of the most famous story about this is of Rumi … who was bereft with unconsolable sorrow after Shams disappeared so he went searching for him and in the process realized that he was already what he was seeking … and that what he was seeking was already here – everywhere and in every moment … and thus began his “mad drunk with Divine” outpourings the last 30 years of his life … where he expresses this essence in the most mundane to the extraordinary … and reminds us again and again that it is “… closer than breath …” …

Of course, our primary purpose at Stillness Speaks is to offer reminders that help dissolve this paradox … through different fresh voices … that distill the age old wisdom in a manner that is relatable in our daily lives … and is practical …

We’d started exploring one such voice – Trevor Rufli – via a multi-part series previewing his recent book Zen to reveal the extraordinary Tao … in the form of substantive chapter excerpts:

… in Part 1 we addressed the practical matter of separateness or more accurately the illusion of separateness and why we can’t see through it … …

So, today, in this post – part 2, we take a mini dive on the perplexing – yet inevitable – matter of seeking … that seemingly creates this illusion of self … which prevents us from realizing what we already have …

{All italicized text in this post (except Ramana and Nisargadatta quotes – which are from their respective Wikiquote pages) is from Trevor’s book and is published here with the publisher New Sarum Press’ generous permission. Scroll to the bottom for a free downloadable Table of Contents.}

Why Remove The Illusion Of Self? Seeking what we already have

We have arrived at what, in our search for enlightenment, is perhaps the greatest paradox of all. We already are enlightened! Our goal has been reached. We already have what we are searching for.

The paradox that we already are enlightened

That we already have what we are searching for brings us back to point zero in a striking way. Again, in our seeking, we are like the beggar who didn’t know the diamond was in his pocket all along. The riches were already within, whilst his seeking and his desire kept him away from this realisation.

It’s so clear that it takes long to see
You must know that the fire which you are seeking
Is the fire in your lantern
And that your rice has been cooked from the very beginning.

Hajime Nakamura

When the illusion of self is removed from our awareness it is seen that we are already there, we have already arrived, and that we were never anywhere else in the first place.

Not knowing how near the Truth is
People seek it far away—what a pity.
They are like him, who in the midst of water,
Cries in thirst so imploringly.

Alan Watts, The Spirit of Zen

[…]

The rightful protest

At this stage many of us may raise a (reasonable) protest along these lines:

This is all very well but it makes no difference to me whether I already am enlightened or not,

what matters to me is that I am not feeling it.

I am not feeling the inner peace that I seek.

And I know, at least in theory, that my identity of self is illusory, but again I’m not feeling it.

What I am reading here is not useful!

If this is where you are, that is perfectly reasonable. This is the nature of paradox, it is only useful if it produces a spark or a glimpse of knowing.

But consider this—and it is a strikingly subtle point: whether or not you get this is irrelevant, you are redundant. Your true nature is already enlightened and the fact that your identity is caught up with the tension of self is of no relevance. The tension of self with which you identify is an illusion. It is redundant and of no importance whatsoever. The illusion of self has no business wondering about how to become enlightened, for the identity of self is not real and has no basis.

The Tao is so close

If the tension of you releases for just a moment and you see it, you will also see just how close it has been all the time. There is just a split hair’s difference between seeing it and not seeing it. The Tao is so close that in a sense it is no different to what we are seeing right now. That we are already there means we are already seeing it. And here, again you raise a (reasonable) protest:

But I still don’t see it!

But your not seeing it is it.

What you are looking for is no different to what you are seeing right now!

I went there and came back; it was nothing special;
Mount Ro wreathed in mist; Sekko at high tide.

R.H. Blyth, Haiku

There is nothing special or unexpected about the enlightened state for you discover that it is no different to the awareness that you have right now. But because there is no tension of you restricting your awareness of it, it is also wondrous, vast and uncontained—and yet just the same, the ‘empty and marvellous Tao.’

Giving up seeking what you already have

The self—you and I—can feel disappointed that there is nothing we can do to achieve enlightenment. There is no path to follow, no path to work on. We have, in one sense, to give up on it, but the result of such giving up is that we are paradoxically brought more into life in an unexpected and subtle way. If you have been seeking enlightenment for some time you may find that your desire for enlightenment has been your greatest ‘being elsewhere’ and freedom can come from realising that you can rest in the state of mind you have right now, rather than wishing it was something different.

… for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfilment.

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,

But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.

And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?

In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle your eyes.

Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet,

Stay tuned for more … Trevor’s insights from Zen to reveal the extraordinary Tao …

All italicized text above (except otherwise noted) is from Zen to Reveal the Extraordinary Tao and is published here with the publisher New Sarum Press ‘ generous permission.

And click here for a FREE downloadable copy of the Table of Contents, graciously and generously made available by the publisher New Sarum Press.