Advaita Vision

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Advaita for the 21st Century

Who Sets the Intention to be Free of Seeking?
Stephen Wingate

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Stephen Wingate

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The following is an extract from the above book, The Outrageous Myths of Enlightenment, which is available from Atma Publishing.

Visit Stephen's website - Self Knowledge, for audio talks, blog etc.

See Stephen's entry on the Teacher pages.

Q: I find your writings very helpful, especially the essay entitled Reflections in which you say, ‘Home is awareness. Home is peace. Home is heaven. All paths to heaven lead to hell’. It was helpful when you made the suggestion to stop and look. Can you give me some pointers to look within to see who feels disturbed? Should I look at what doesn’t stop, when you say, ‘stop’? When I ask myself, ‘What is real?’ my body/mind quiets down, and feels less agitated. Should I try to look at what is real? Does that cover it?

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A question that comes up for me regarding your statement that we have no control, I wonder then who is setting an intention to be free of the seeking?

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A: The suggestion is to investigate and see in your own direct experience who or what is in control of thoughts, feelings, sensations and actions. Are you in control? How do they arise? Did you create them? What are you in essence? Are you the ego, the guide or controller of your life? Or are you simply that which is aware of all that is? What is at the root of psychological suffering? If that root cause is seen to be false, will the suffering come to an end? These are questions that get to the root of what you are and what you are not. For me to say that you are not in control, and that what you are in essence is simply awareness, doesn’t really help you.

     But when you ask the questions of yourself, and look to your own direct experience for the answers, it’s possible that the cause of suffering will be uprooted by simply seeing for yourself that there is no separate, controlling entity there in you, no ego, no me who has any power, and what you are in essence is simply awareness.

     About your question, ‘Who is setting the intention?’ It’s the same ‘who’ that’s beating your heart. That ‘who’ is not the personal you; but the impersonal ‘who’ that is looking out through your eyes, and listening through your ears. Are you doing any of that, or is it just happening? Everything is happening; you are being lived.

Copyright 2005 Stephen Wingate

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Page last updated: 02-Oct-2017