Hold onto Nothing

Hold onto Nothing T he individual who is truly free has no idea who they are. If someone calls their name they will respond because they recognize that their name has been called, but they will not know who is responding. That is because this individual does not have any fixed notions of self. What would it be like to realize a condition where one had no fixed notions of self? The answer is undistracted. Undistracted by the notion of being anyone or anything in particular. Undistracted by the personality and its endless stream of memories, fears and desires. Undistracted by all notions of self that relate to a Self Absolute. All notions of self, including ideas that represent that which is sacred, are an endless distraction in the eye of the mind. The formation of any image relating to self so easily obscures the limitless depth and subtlety that is always there. It is only a rare individual who does not need to know who they are. And indeed this seems to be the greatest challenge if an individual wants to be free. We do not need to know who we are with our mind in any way to be able to be fully who we are in the most passionate way. In fact, we can only be who we are, as we are, unadorned by anything else, if we are free of all notions of self. It’s impossible­ to be perfectly spontaneous, which is the true expression of a liberated personality, as long as we are distracted by any notion of self, relative or Absolute. Only if we have no idea who we are will we be able to find out who we are in each and every moment. The spiritual journey is almost always supported in a fundamental way by concepts of self in which the seeker takes refuge. These concepts serve to create the illusion of safety in the chaotic ocean of life. It takes tremendous courage to embrace the possibility of being awake without needing to be supported by any notion of self, relative or Absolute. We do not need to add anything to what we are. We only need to endeavor to discover who and what we are, free from any fixed ideas. If we are serious about awakening, it’s imperative that sooner or later we come to terms with the fact that the ­significance of our personal history—everything that we have endured, pleasant and unpleasant, that makes us who we think we are in this moment—is utterly irrelevant in the face of the Truth. We have to find a way to directly perceive reality as it is, free from the corrupting influence of the mind. The mind will corrupt our interpretation of reality only if we allow it to do so. And we allow it to do so because we are frightened of the experience of no location, no point of reference, no idea whatsoever. If we are to find true spiritual freedom, then we have to find the way to remain completely free of any and all fixed notions of self that the mind can and will create. This is a constant endeavor. The goal in the end is simply to see things as they are, to perceive reality as it is. We will know that we are beginning to arrive when we find that the personality is spontaneously expressing itself free from fear, free from any sense of limitation. When the personality becomes animated in such a way, we experience a condition in which we are constantly discovering actuality, always and ever new, free from any fixed reference point. That’s what freedom is. It is when we hold onto nothing that it is possible to know everything. There is no middle ground.