Great Undoing Sample

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The Great

Undoin


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e Great

Undoing

Stuart Schwartz

NON-DUALITY PRESS

United Kingdom


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NON - DUALITY PRESS6 Fo estone Roa Sa is ury SP2 8JP Unite King om

www.non-dualitybooks.com

opyright Stuart Schwartz 2007Copyright Non-Duality Press 2007

First printing November 2007

For more in ormation p ease visit t e aut or s we site:www.satsangwit stuart.com

Cover design and interior layout:Stuart Schwartz, Julian Noyce and John GustardCover and interior photography: Alok Lawrence

Author photo: Sherry Burkart

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced in whole or in part, or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, includingphotocopying, recording or by any information or retrieval

system without written permission from the publisher,except for the inclusion of brief quotations within a review.

Is n 10: 0-9553999-8-XIs n 13: 978-0-9553999-8-5


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Contents

orewor viintro uction x

the illusion 2

t eattac ment 52

the me 84

the mind 128

the wakening 174


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vii

Foreword

ost of Stuarts verse offerings included in this little book ave arisen out of silence during the past few months, while

others have appeared over a longer period of time. While theords and phrases themselves could not be more modernnd colloquial, the poems have arranged themselves nicely

into classical yogic themes: Vedantas world-as-object orllusion; Attachment to the Illusion brought about by wrong

identication with body/mind; the separate, isolated Mes the centerpiece of limited, egoic becoming; Mind , which

is merely another word for thought which conditions allexistence; and, nally Awakening to and in no-thing.

Some of the aphorisms are presented from the rst per-son perspective of the individual who at times exults in new found freedom and at others awakens only to a new foundppreciation of his or her awful predicament as a body/

mind. Others bespeak teachings directly from the mouthof the Impersonal Itself. Whatever the form, these Westernsutras are uncompromising in their spirit and message.

Like the terse poesy of the Indian sage Kabir whose verses startled me into immediate contemplation many years ago, the words on the pages that follow surprise theunsuspecting mind into silence. Characteristically, when

sked, Stuart describes them simply as disarming. To methey are both a map of Advaitas pathless path and a state-ment beyond fact Enough said!

VedaBrookline, Massachusetts, July 2007


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ix

Introduction

Everything matters when I see myself as matter

ave you ever asked yourself, Why cant I get to some stateof balance, be content and stay there? Here is what hap-pened, you got lost. You diverted your attention from the

onder of being to the meaning of the storythe story of your lifeand then got lost in it. Instead of watching andenjoying the movie, you became a character with a life toive, with things to make happen, problems to solve, and

responsibilities to inhabit it.

As a person, you can only be happy some of the time,nd happiness seems to come only when circumstances areust rightjust the way you want them to be. is is becauses a separate entity joy is not inherent. It has to happen

through something or someone else.

As persons we have to deal with emotional states of epression, disappointment, futility, pain, fear, desire,raving, outrage, disgust, self hatred, rejection, haughti-

ness, and happiness that we desperately try to hold on to.

en there is the issue of our self image. How do we

really feel about ourselves? Do we see ourselves as good orad, valuable or worthless, powerful or weak, lucky or a

oser, happy or despondent, bright or dim, desired or leout? And how do we try to disguise our own self-assess-ment and present ourselves outwardly?


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x

Here is where we see each character locked into its per-ceived reality: feeling limited, begging for love; or screamingfor the other to do what pleases them to prove that the other

cares by not upsetting them; or nurturing to the extremeto manipulate the other; or pushing passionate living to theextreme to win some abstract contest because winning isthe only option.

All of it becomes our habitual way of being that resultsin behavior that we regret, and ultimately becomes our

warden. All ones beliefs, strategies for sustaining a life, allconcepts, all conditioning, all sense of possibility; in fact,everything known and held to be true are congealed to themain belief I am this person in this body: that is my identi-cation. Now life reects all that one is holding consciously and that which has been denied and stuffed away. We seeourselves everywhere we look. Now we are back in duality.It is all about me and my efforts to x, change, improve, look for the end of suffering, and, in short, search for my happy,perfect life.

any people, especially those on a spiritual path, believethat in order to be free one has to overcome these behaviorsand become pure, and, at the same time, most believe thatthis is impossible. is isnt true. It just isnt so. Let theperson be because submerged underneath all of it is yourperfect Self.

e are all already awake, it is the natural state, and itsnature is known when one is conscious of being before click-ing into identifying as the personal identity. is awakenessis the all pervading fullness of only Good with no spacele for anything else. From here all personal knowing dis-solves when seen, felt and fully faced. In this vast silence itis known that the body is a phantom taken for solid reality.Knowing this is seeing through the mystery of existence.


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You are the strength, knowledge and impervious peaceof being. Happiness stands alone in its natural state, andthere is no way that it can end.

If you let go of the I am the body idea,ll of your problems will y away

Ramana Maharshi

t is my desire that the words in this book bring you home.Stuart


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xiii

verything must be exactlythe way it is, as it occurs

One moment it is this waynother moment it is that way

all is karmic

and karma has nothing to do with you

ll is a play that must be played outan e ieve to e very very rea

with consequencessevere and sublime

triving eeps t e ream going


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the illusion


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appearances are always just appearances


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llusion is a play of characterspretending not to be Self


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Y u may appear to be feeble,sick, young, healthy, wealthy, impoverished,kind, arrogant, soulful or a sinner

No matter what you think or feel or believe,

none of this is who you are

You are playing a role, inhabiting a lifestyle,losing yourself in your own life


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W at sounds true,what feels true,

what you believe to be true,is stopping you

from being the truth


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W en you are sleepingabsorbed in a dream

no one can convince you

that it is not real


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I am as happy right now as I waslast Tuesday night when we were married

under the stars in Paris

And then I woke up


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T ll me if you know the story I amremembering fragments aboutsoldier, or what was once a soldier,

no face left, or limbs for that matter

nd

no way for him to express that allwas we , very, very we


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Y u know how we are tolddont judge by appearances

Well thats what we dowhen we believe

what we appear to beis who we are


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e only problems we haveare the problems we believe in


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W are so attached to circumstancethat we think peace is

result of resolution


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Getting bored watching the lionjust sitting in a corner of the cage

My boy Jeremy said:

Lets change the picture


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Y u are a character in a movieYou nally got the lead

Everyone you see is the supporting castEverything seen is on the screen of life

Your bedroom is backstageour closet is wardrobe

You have no choice but to awaken each dayand take on your role, even sick-days

Your words are scripted, you must speak themYou eit er witness an a owr forget its a movie and react

Then everything matters, big time

Better is better, isnt it?

Now you are a star with attitudeWhat I say goes

ho can argue with one who is asleepto w at t ey rea y are

Yes, you are the One and Only,but just the same as everyone and everything

you see

...A spontaneous playerEnjoy!


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u might want to see a better movieut this is whats playing


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All appears, feels real,lasts awhile and disappears

hy is that so hard to see?


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see the others we see ourselves


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thout the worldhow would you know yourself?


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Our world mimics realityWe honor higher awarenessWe say Knowledge will set you free

We celebrate unionTwo becoming one heart

If only we could make it last forever...

o wou ever e ieve it isall a smokescreen?


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e senses camouage realitywhile

presence sees presence everywhere


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W are here in this phenomenon,we call it the world, reality,because we believe that sustenance,

happiness and peace

lie somewhereutside of ourselves


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Catastrophe can crackthrough the construct of the concept

that I am an individual

separate from the all


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Sitting still watching the thoughtsappear and disappear can dissolve the delusion

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Great Undoing Sample