Andrew Cohen - N° 20 - LAST TEACHINGS - Dec. 24 _ Feb. 25

I'd like to ask these big questions because I want to help people think about their own evolution in a very definitive way because when people think about spiritual progress, they don't even really know what it is and it gets very vague. So it's good if we clarify what it's all about and what's possible and what's actually happening so we can be clear about it. If you see the truth and the truth is absolute not relative usually we're living in a in a context of relative consciousness relative cognition relative reality that appears to be real. So if we're living our whole life in a in a relative context, the relative reality, relative experience, relative cognition, and we and we have a moment where we flip into the absolute, we suddenly see that the that which is relative is not absolute. It's only relative. And it's such a it's such a clear distinction. And the the seeing is so deep that we never forget it. If we never forget it, then we always know what's real and what's not real after that. It's not a matter of experience. It's a matter of knowledge, self-nowledge. So if if you have that kind of self-nowledge, if you know if you see in the absolute, you know what's real versus what's unreal, you don't really need to have another particular experience because you know that you know the difference. Feelings come and go, thoughts come and go. We go up and down all the time. So we need to find a kind of inwards inner stability. There's no going up and no going down. We can experience emotional ups and downs, psychological ups and downs, intellectual ups and downs, metaphysical ups and downs. But it means deeply we're very stable. I know who I am. I know what the truth is. I will not be fooled again. He has to become very stoic about it because the devil in the form of thoughts and feelings other people's thoughts and feelings our own will try and tempt us to doubt what we've seen. So my guru told me that the difference between enlightenment and unenlightenment is doubt. He didn't say it's a particular feeling of bliss or particular awareness of any particular quality of consciousness. He said it was doubtlessness. It's very profound. It's very powerful. I I never forgot. It still makes me very moved when I think about it when I speak about it. He shocked me when he says he said the difference between enlightenment and unenlightenment is doubt. Not the nature of your experience. Not the nature of your experience. He's saying what you may be feeling or may be thinking at any given moment doesn't necessarily mean anything about your liberation. Do you are you doubtless about your liberation? I'm not asking you. I'm just just saying in general because if you're doubtless, it doesn't matter what happens. If you're doubtless and you're not deluded, this is a big thing. But if you're doubtless, doesn't matter what happens because then you're you're deeply surrendered to the truth that you you seen that you've done which is absolute it's not relative. So there therefore from that point of view it doesn't matter what happens from a certain point of view in life whether you get into a car accident whether you get married or have 10 children doesn't make any difference because you know what the truth is. It's very esoteric teaching for me. The difference between enlightenment and unenlightenment is doubt. And anybody can wrestle with these distinctions. So the point is the first thing that has to happen if we want to wake into enlightened awareness is to have an experience of enlightened awareness. You don't know what it is, then you're lost. So if we're seeking for enlightenment, we need to have an experience of enlightenment. It has to be such a powerful experience that we know that we know what it is. We're sure about it. We can describe it clearly and uh experience spiritual conviction based upon the intensity of the experience. And then the next part, the next thing is how how much is enough? Is one experience of light and awareness enough or do we need two to be to be doubtless or do we need a hundred or do we need 500? Do we need a thousand or do we need 100,000 mind moments? Because what happen is most people take make the flip from relative cognition, relative reality to absolute cognition, absolute reality, they go, "Wow." Then it fades away and they start doubting. Was it real? The minute it disappears, they start doubting it. Then it has happened again. Oh, it was real. Come came back. Then they lose touch with it again. They start to doubt it again. like they're so running after their own tail. So constantly they're constantly lost in the pursuit of experience. They never find liberation because they're always looking for the next experience, the next feeling of the infinite. So the question becomes then how much insight do we need to become doubtless? Because when you become doubtless you let go of the see the seeking stops. When seeking stops, you come back to earth and you become stabilized kind of in the awakening because you're not seeking for it anymore. Resting in your awakened state and you really let go of the seeking process. Now there's a famous American guru named Adid. Do you ever hear of him? I believe because of these kinds of distinctions, part of his teaching to his students was they have to stop seeking. You need to stop seeking. But I I agree with him. But I feel unless you find what you're looking for, you can't stop seeking. Jesus said, "Seek until until you find." And I think it's the finding alone which makes it possible to let go of the seeking. You tell somebody to stop seeking unless they found what they're looking for. They can't let go. But if we found what we were looking for and we know we found it, then we can let go of the seeking because we find it. So then it becomes very interesting. How much is enough? At which point can we say now I know what I need to know forever. I don't need any more convincing. If you rest in this natural state, if it doesn't go anywhere, we travel other places with our mind and our attention and our beliefs. So it seems like something disappears, but it never goes anywhere. It's always there. It doesn't matter what happens. Matters that you don't lose your way. It's what I believe. But anyway, what I'm trying to offer you is the possibility to think about enlightenment in a slightly different way because everybody thinks enlightenment is an experience as a state of consciousness as a certain kind of feeling of knowing which is part of it. But if the bottom line if the bottom line has to do with the difference between doubt and doubtlessness, it's a different way to think about it, which challenges the ego mind enormously. So you find if you if you don't doubt if you don't doubt this anymore because you've been because you've seen the truth deeply enough to be able to trust it forever. And that's the issue is forever for eternity. If you never got another chance, it wouldn't matter anymore because now you know what the truth is for eternity. If you have that kind of conviction, you're safe. you're on the yonder shore, you're not coming back. So then it becomes very uh tangible because the ego mind's always looking for proof. This means I'm enlightened. That means I'm enlightened. This means I'm enlightened. This means I'm not enlightened. This means I'm not. The ego mind's always looking for proof in one direction or the other. So if you have no doubt, you're not looking for proof anymore. Just being yourself naturally, spontaneously and effortlessly. That's the key. When the enlightenment bears fruit, becomes very spontaneous, natural and effortless. And it will surprise you because it's always flowing like a river. You're not doing anything to make it happen. The biggest shortcut is letting go of the idea that there's a problem. Even if there appears to be a problem, you don't have to believe that there is a problem. How's that sound? Because because my guru said according to Buddha, he said as Nirvana has no beginning and no end, so Samsara has no beginning and no end. So samsara is the is the conscious and unconscious belief that there's a problem. But that belief that there's a problem creates a whole inner continuum the world space of infinite problems. There's no way out because it goes on forever just like nirvana is infinite liberation. So I'm sorry it's like a jail cell that has no end to it. So if you're going to have to solve that particular problem you're going to have to solve the next one also. And in the meantime, others are going to pop up. So you're going to be busy putting out all these fires for the rest of your life and for the next lifetimes. So the idea is we have to get rid of the whole thing. And the ego, the ego is very afraid of not having any problems. The problems keep the ego very busy, very very sincere, you know, very earnest dealing with my problems. So it's more challenging not to have any problems. or not to make a problem out of a problem, not to make an insurmountable problem out of a problem, then you're free. Compared to most people, you're free. Then you're still a human being. So if you're a human being, you're inherently flawed and imperfect and screwed up and a hypocrite and imperfect in so many ways. That's part of the package of being human. And nobody's perfect. So you have to accept your own imperfection as part of the deal. That's that's kind of a new information in my my opinion. You mean human imperfection is part of enlightenment too? Yes. Even the Buddha was imperfect. Can you believe it? So if we can accept our own imperfection as part of the picture of being a fully awakened human being gets it gets easier to be free because a lot of people have this misguided idea that perfection is part of enlightenment. Perfection is the state of enlightened awareness is perfect. That doesn't make you the experience of perfect. So you can experience perfection but can you can ever be perfection. You can experience perfection because you can never be perfection. You don't have to be perfect to be enlightened. And then nobody is perfect. Isn't it a big relief? I can be human but live liberated at the same time. And real liberation is always very dramatic. If it's real, it's always a confrontation with ignorance. The enlightened one confronts all ignorant people with their own ignorance to the degree that he or she is liberated. It's a confrontation. If I can be free, why can't you be free? What's the problem? You have bigger problems than me. I don't think so. Why can't you do it now? That's what the realizer presents this confrontation with the seeker. Why can't you just drop it all now? And the seeker seeker gets all frustrated because the seeker thought they wanted to be free and then they're challenged with the opportunity of being free. They then they suddenly they don't want to let go of their problems. But I thought you wanted to be free. Leave it. I give you the permission to leave it. Say no, I don't want I don't want to let go. I thought you wanted to be free. So the liberated state of consciousness is is a threat to the status quo of shared ignorance and unenlightenment. So the idea that we're good people because we're working on our problems is a kind of a ego trip. I'm a good person because I'm working on my problems. I'm very sincere. That's good. But have you dropped them? Have you dropped the idea of having a problem? Even if you have problems, have you dropped your attachment to them? We can all do that. This is an innovation in the understanding of the nature of enlightenment in my opinion. Part of the awakening, if it's real, is a supreme confidence. But it's it's the paradox between supreme confidence and profound humility. Because a lot of people can't see if you if you manifest supreme confidence, you know, they can't see the humility. You have the eyes to see, you can see both.