Neo-Advaita = Suffering
Self-enquiry = Freedom
Charlie Hayes

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Some proponents of what has come to be known as "Neo-Advaita" - as distinct from "Traditional Advaita", the ancient Teachings of non-duality from such Sages as Sri Dattatreya Avadhut and Adi Shankara - are stating that Self-enquiry is a sort of process in that the goal is for the individual to choose to take action or make the effort to reach a place called awareness which, its teachers promise, will bring personal peace of mind, happiness and the end of all suffering.

This does seem to be the case with some “teachers” of Traditional Advaita. But certainly NOT all of them! This is simply false!

There is NO promise of “personal peace of mind” or a temporary “state” of happiness ever offered in these (authentic) expressions coming through such expressions as “Sailor” Bob Adamson, and a growing number of others who have been freed fully by his teachings and generosity. Furthermore, there is NO suggestion of “reaching” Awareness. Nor is there any belief or claim that any “individual” even actually exists.

What is pointed out is that Awareness IS. That is unreachable, and undeniable. IT already Is That in which all that is appears. (And which is not in fact separate from that.)

Of course, Awareness cannot be attained. The eye cannot see or attain itself. The same goes for the actuality of Awareness-Being-Presencing.

But my suffering continued until I began to follow “Sailor” Bob’ Adamson’s and the others in that lineage simple pointing - to the necessity of BOTH seeing that what we ARE is Presence-Awareness which is absolutely undeniable as our already knowing-being AND the seeking of the source of suffering - the belief in a “separate ‘me” and its subsequent eradication.

Any strident disclaiming of what has been known and shared for eons through authentic “channels” so to say, such as Nisargadatta Maharaj, Ramana Maharshi, and others who are quite rightly respected, simply shows the shallow one-sidedness of this “Neo” message.

Neo means New. What can possibly be “new” in all that is - One-Without-A-Second!? There seems to be a sort of “positioning” of certain teachings as “new” or different, perhaps as a marketing ploy to attract growing numbers to meetings and what not. In other words, marketing.

The Peace “Sailor” Bob Adamson points to is unattainable, NON-conceptual and Self-Shining. YET, Paradoxically, there are “former persons” who have allowed themselves to be “finished off” by taking up the “Traditional” pointers offered by Bob and his “graduates” (so to speak, words will always fall short.) Thos fortunate ones have come to realize that what is being pointing to is NOT A STATE to be ATTAINED! THAT - Non-Conceptual Being-Awareness -IS WHAT WE ARE. And the expression is coming through and taking more people beyond the suffering every day.

What’s wrong with that!?

Often the idea is put forth that any practice of inquiry or investigation is based on the principle of the practitioner “getting oneness” for himself or herself. No one OWNS Presence-Awareness. All ARE That!

This proposition that any practice is somehow wrong or perpetuates ignorance is NOT the ultimate message of the Navnath Lineage! The simple pointing is: You are That. And, if you think you are NOT that, investigate who thinks or believes that (Who believes this? Who is the believer?) and discard all “answers” (Not That, Not That) till Nothing is left. Then it is all as clear and obvious as air is to the bird or water to the fish.

So, this idea of powerlessness as a belief (only) is NOT the message of the ancients, that was so powerfully shared with me, which DID in fact end decades of suffering once I took it up with commitment and earnestness. What appears to be missing in “Neo-Advaita” is a simple distinction: Paradox!

A Paradox is said to be, " A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true: the paradox that standing is more tiring than walking."

Or, an assertion that is essentially self-contradictory, though based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises. Or, a statement contrary to received opinion.

Usually there is a premise that dissolves (not resolves) the paradox: The Premise I propose is one of simply this: All is One Essence manifesting AS ALL things. This is quite obviously all-inclusive … what can be excluded from One? (Or not-two if you like.) Even the staunchest Neo-Advaitin will be unable to refute this … in fact they EXPRESS this concept as a sort of ultimate Truth.

The false statement made by a so-called Neo-Advaitin that “Since in fact there is nothing and no one, (therefore) there is nothing you do and any doing of any practice will no doubt (?) reinforce the false sense of separation, stops the seeker dead in his tracks in hopelessness. She dare not take up Self Inquiry! He or she would be stupid to do so, is the implication.

The Paradox in Traditional Advaita simple and real: You are already That. Being. You are not anything else. And until this is totally Real (not as a concept, but REAL) the inquiry IS needed. Inclusivity, not exclusivity.

Simply put: There is no separate individual who can do or not do a single thing. AND so long as the (unexamined) BELIEF is still in play that there IS such an individual, as the ancients taught and passed down through authentic lineages such as the Navnath Sampradaya of Dattatreya, through to Sri Siddharemeshwar, Sri Nisargadatta, “Sailor” Bob, John Wheeler et al, that actually false “INDIVIDUAL” MUST be INVESTIGATED. The Time Honored Method is Self Inquiry: Nisargadatta is quoted in “I Am That” as saying, “Give up all thought except one: Who Am I?”.

Being, Awareness is not "known by a knower." That is the NON-Conceptual knowing- ness of the pure I AM ("Purno ‘ham Vimarsha.") That is ever-present, PRIOR to thought! (So to say. Time is just another belief nurtured by the fake "me.")

On “Traditional” Advaita-style investigation, it all gets uncovered: For the seeker, If there is a seeming “entity” that believes anything, including its own non-existence (as these one-sided teachings tend to propagate), then that “entity” MUST be sought out and seen to be false… and that can happen surprisingly easily with Self Inquiry.

Suffering is totally unnecessary and ultimately NOT real.

So those seekers who believe in this “no-one to inquire therefore I am doomed to suffering” stuff are doomed - to a life of misery. It is a shame, and so unnecessary! I assert that any teaching that claims that “suffering is just part of the Totality”, while it may be an accurate pointer to the Real, fails the teacher’s “flock” by leaving them stuck there! (I speak here from experience, not lofty theory!)

This, the total and complete seeing through the transparency of the ego-me, simply and quickly resulted in the end of “my” suffering! But that did not unfold till I stopped believing the Neo-Advaita message, and knowing I could trust Bob and the ancient traditions, took up the inquiry. Now, there is the Peace I sought and the clear and obvious seeing (not by a see-ER) is that this was never missing! Just obscured by the lack of investigation!

There are real “benefits for the “dreamed character too:” The organism called Charlie is off anti-depressants for “bi-polar” illness, and even high blood pressure pills, for quite a while now. (With the doctor’s complete blessing and approval, I hasten to add!)

When Presence Awareness has been seen to be the Real, the Seeing-Experiencing, devoid of the false “seer or knower,” and any “seen or known,” There THIS is, clear as a bell in the Silence: THIS is the first and foremost “insight.” THAT THOU ART.

Then as the “me” is seen to be false though Self-inquiry, all ideas of there being “something wrong or missing” simply evaporate. The ancient pointer of Neti, Neti. Not That, Not That works.

Then, naturally and effortlessly, the body-mind organism heals itself. (OR it doesn’t. But no one worries about it!)

“I” did not “try” to get off medications. It simply happened as a natural unfolding of True-Nature expressing as this organism, and everything else. NOW it’s all over. The illusion is seen AS illusion and life is naturally joyful, as uncaused vibrant aliveness bubbles up and livingness is… unbreakable. (Even when things don’t go well.)

Prior to this unfolding, the stress of seeking, and on top of that, being told by “Neos” that the ancient true-seeing via Self inquiry is impossible, gave rise to my damn near committing suicide! Where is the real compassion and/or empathy in that!? (I don’t mean pity! I mean that ruthless compassion that destroys ignorance…. “Shiva!”)

I once asked Bob about this: "If there is no one, who does the Inquiry?" Bob said, "The Intelligence-Energy Itself does the investigation.” That puzzled me till I realized that in essence I AM that Intelligence-Energy (as is everyone and everything!) so where is a problem with taking up a practice that has worked over eons for others before me? ONLY IN THE MIND. And as I learned the hard way, the answer to all this is NOT in the mind. (what mind, I laugh now. And what answer? All questions and answer are dissolved in the dissolution of the questioner-entity.) Gate Gate Paragate Parasamagate Bodhi Svaha, to mix another metaphor in this pea soup of words!)

So my own summary of this conceptually, is this:

(1) See the undeniable fact that you ARE, that I AM before (BEFORE!) the “understanding or thought “ I am” arises in that Space-like Awareness. This is NOT “MY” Awareness; this is NON-DUAL NON-CONCEPTUAL AWARENESS.

(2) Take up the investigation with commitment - Self-inquiry - seeking the Source of the "I" thought and discovering ultimately it does not exist, and never did!

Thoughts arise and are seen, like clouds, and dispel, like clouds. The Sky, Awareness, is ever-untouched and unaffected by any thought. Thoughts simply no longer can trouble anyone, as there is no “anyone!” NO fixating "self-centered" pseudo-subject remains to take them on as "my" thoughts.

SO The bottom line is that Traditional Advaita works. That is the only thing I care a damn about! For “me” and several others with whom I have shared these simple pointers and whom I have encouraged to give up all the ideas of neo this and traditional that and just see … the undeniable FACT of their own Being, and the falsity of the ego-me through the investigation, incessantly looking into the space, asking “Who Am I?.

It works. Has for a heckuva long time! It set “me” free! The Perfect Peace, and Absolute Freedom, here and now (not MY Peace or MY freedom) IS the amazing Grace expressing and destroying ignorance, as this beautiful and elegant Teaching.

Consider this: "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance--that principle is contempt prior to investigation." - Herbert Spencer.

As an ancient One said, take it on or not. If not, you are welcome to keep your suffering.

This method of investigation has endured the test of "time" and is shared over and over by those compassionate Ones who have seen and severed the root cause of suffering, and now simply and lovingly share what works!

As Ramana Maharshi noted, "The thought 'who am I?' will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization."

I am proof that it WORKS. So hello, “Neo-Teachers,” please, a little less hubris and a little more empathy … Okay?

Nirvana, or Self-Knowing Presence-Awareness is both the seeing (not by a seer) of True Self, unbounded and Eternally Free, AND the Extinction of the false, egoic entity… whereupon the always-present True is ever-shining and invincible… as indeed it never ever was not. Could this even be read or written unless that NON-conceptual (!) Awareness existed?

Some mistake Presence-Awareness as a “state of detachment." Nothing could be further from the actuality of the pure knowing of This! Only a so-called individual can be detached. The individual is gone in this actual Seeing… and this is quite the opposite of detachment. THIS, One-Essence, is all-inclusive. Everything is One-Self; the knowingness (not a process of knowing an object by a subject, but the actual NON-conceptual knowing-ness.

Then some say this: Awareness of life happening is not 'Being life'. Another Perversion! Awareness, Oneness is NOT suggested to be an “object” at all! Awareness is not a thing attained by a “me.”

Awareness IS. All that follows is the dream. Here again this statement has totally missed the point that “Sailor” Bob Adamson, John Wheeler and others share, and which as we noted earlier has its foundation in the ancient and time-honored lineage of Navnath Sampradaya sages.

All this is a confusion to the mind that longs to be free. The Grand Paradox is, the mind cannot be free; that mind is a fur-ball of concepts and memories and imaginations that are appended to a core thought, which is actually false... the “separate solid “I.” And what we actually ARE is Freedom itself!

Seeing the false as false is half the battle. Seeing the true as True is the other half. Leave one or the other out and you end up with a long-suffering seeker. And suffering is absolutely unnecessary!

I am living proof.

(This essay will appear soon in new book, “Loving To Be," a companion to Charlie Hayes ' first full length books, "From I Am to I AM, with Love," and "Life after Death".)

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