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Knowing is Being

I like your distinction between knowing and seeing. Does that apply to knowing there is no self and seeing it? I know and see there is no Santa Claus, but so far, I only seem to know intellectually that there is no self. I still function as though this self is real, whereas I don’t act as though Santa Claus is real. Does it matter at all, since it’s all conceptual and the question doesn’t arise during a holiday?

Knowing there is no self conceptually is not true knowing. Anyone who has been on the path and who has read enough books will say, “I know there is no self.” But what good is that? It’s just another concept to add on to the garbage heap of concepts.

I use the word knowing in two ways (not the way mentioned above). One way is knowing there is no Santa Claus. Once, you believed there was a Santa Claus because your culture gave you that idea. Of course, in your innocence, you did not question it. The “authorities” said it was so, and that was that, it was so. One day, you found out that, in fact, there is no Santa Claus. It is clearly true, and now, you know it. You don’t need to remind yourself, or look up the chimney anymore. You know there is no Santa Claus.

Similarly, your culture has convinced you that you are the personal self with a history of experiences and stories. In your innocence, you did not question this because again, the authorities said it was so. One day, you came to see something different—here and now, I am aware, free, knowing. You found out there is no self, and you realized that you previously thought this personal self—the amalgamation of beliefs and ideas, based on input recorded in the mind, all of it ephemeral, none of it actual—was the actual I. Now, you see this self is clearly not true, actual or existent.

What is true, actual, and existent is I, here and now, being, knowing, Sat Chit. This is the only I. This is clearly true and now, you know it. You know the truth—I have been here before, during, and after every experience of this lifetime; everything comes and goes including the changes to this body-mind, yet I always remain, even if I am not aware of it.

Who I am essentially is—Sat Chit, Being Knowing. You don’t need to remind yourself, or look up the chimney. You know it, now, and you know self is a myth. Now you know, just like you know there is no Santa Claus. NOW YOU KNOW, because you have seen.

The second way I speak about knowing is: KNOWING IS WHO YOU ARE. You are: here, now, existence-being-peace, aware-knowing—Sat Chit Ananda. Knowing is your nature. All things are known in, to, and as YOU. You are the knowing that knows it all. This aware knowing is, in real time, completely obvious, unchanging, and eternal. When I say, “Know who you are,” what is really being said is: “Be who you are.” Knowing is being, Sat Chit. All that is needed is to be who you are. This is the way of freedom—to knowingly be free, here and now. 

As far as acting as if there is a self, the so-called self is simply an ephemeral appearance. When thoughts appear and attention goes to them, it is the apparent birth of a self. But every appearance of self is different from every other appearance of self. It never appears the same way twice. There is no “one” self that is of actual substance. The idea of a continuity of self is based on a belief that this thought and the previous thought, indicate a “me” here—the “same me.” But this thought and the previous thought don’t indicate a same me here. We collate the thoughts together conceptually and believe it indicates a real self.

There are simply thoughts, recorded data, being replayed from experiences, appearing, here and now, in, as, and to, YOU: aware, knowing, open, spacious, all-inclusive, free. Yes, we believe thoughts indicate there is a me here. It is all we have known and all we have been taught by culture and the authorities, which are ignorance.

IGNORE and see that all thoughts come and go, are never the same twice, and in fact, do not indicate a self. IGNORE. However, because we have been taught that thought is so important and valuable, we don’t ignore. We think it means so much, so we value it and give it undue importance. That is why this work takes time and authenticity—the interest and intention for truth and freedom. The habit of ignorance is a lifelong habit, and it takes a new habit to break it.

That new habit is: Know thyself, Be thyself.

Continue to know thyself and continue to value what is true—here and now, I am, aware-knowing, existence-being. Don’t know it as a concept. BE IT. Knowing is being. That is the way of freedom.


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