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November 2021 / More

TAT Foundation News

It's all about "ladder work" – helping and being helped

The complete response from Richard G:
Several come to mind and are easy to access or find in books that I have.

1) “How can the self see the self, which it hasn’t yet seen or recognized? Pg. 24, Solid Ground of Being, Art Ticknor (under rubric "A Koan").

For me, this question stops discursive thinking immediately. I think it can take one to the basic ‘I-thought’ and to the limits of the mind’s experiencing. This question (and the rest of the Chapter) elicits instant samadhi (in the sense of no me). No doubt this question, based on what it does, can be defined as a Koan. I hope one day that Art’s book, Solid Ground of Being takes it place among the spiritual classics.

2)“If other thoughts arise one should, without attempting to complete them, enquire ‘To whom did they rise?’ What does it matter however many thoughts rise? At the very moment that each thought rises, if one vigilantly enquires, ‘To whom did this rise?’, it will be known ‘To me’. If one enquires ‘Who am I?’, the mind will turn back to its source [the Self] and the thought which had risen will also subside.” Pg. 59, Be As You Are, David Godman (Chapter Self-enquiry practice).

This is one of two major practices that Ramana Maharshi talked about (the other is surrender). It is simple to understand, easy to practice, but difficult to sustain attending or abidance in the I-thought. There is some suggestion that Ramana Maharshi asked the inquiry ‘Who is the seer’ prior to or at the onset of his Realization (see www.davidgodman.com article, Bhagavan’s Self-Realisation).

3) “The one is infinite, omnipresent: it has already always been all that is. And in its infinity, it is “outside” the pale of time; knowing nothing of duration or sequence—nay, only simultaneity—it is not the predecessor of any other thing. To manifest means to ‘make evident’, to express, not to manufacture. And, in this case, that which expresses is itself expressed by the expression. That which is giving birth, to put it another way, is itself always at the same moment being born; neither womb nor fruit is more fundamental or preliminary than the other.” (Awakening to Infinite Presence: The Clarity of Self-Realization, pg. 76, Chapter "Your True Identity," by Robert Wolfe). His book and others can be downloaded at no cost livingnonduality.org.

The term ‘omnipresent’ is difficult for me to comprehend. Hence, the start of this passage creates a stoppage of thinking. If what is being written is accurate, then no one or no thing is apart from That or the Absolute. Not only is no one apart from That but no one has ever been separate from the Absolute. This in turn raises the question, is the seeker that is seeking, the sought?

4) “We say, ‘Pulling out the weeds we give nourishment to the plant.’ We pull the weeds and bury them near the plant to give it nourishment. So even though you have some difficulty in your practice, even though you have some waves while you are sitting, those waves themselves will help you. So you should not be bothered by your mind. You should rather be grateful for the weeds, because eventually they will enrich your practice. If you have some experience of how the weeds in your mind change into mental nourishment, your practice will make remarkable progress.” (Pg. 36, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Shunryu Suzuki, Chapter "Mind Weeds.")

Material that deconstructs the negative qualities of mind can be helpful. Quiet your mind, monkey mind, stop thinking, they are not your thoughts, the mind is the obstacle are all opinions I have heard or read. Suzuki is suggesting the mind can be used and why not. There is something to be said for attending to thoughts and thinking which can end up burgeoning more thinking. Perhaps a different strategy to be tried is watching thoughts, ignoring thoughts, or refusing to react to thoughts.

5) “Liberation, according the system, means pratyabhijna or recognition of one’ true nature, which means akritrima-aham-vimarsha, the original, pure I-consciousness. The pure I-consciousness is immediate, non-relational awareness. To be integrated to divine I is liberation.” (Pg. 36, Vedanta and Advaita Shaivagama of Kashmir: A Comparative Study, Dr. Jaideva Singh.

This quote gets one to stop thinking (IMHO) due to the vocabulary words (Sanskrit, I believe) and the comments between the Sanskrit words. Much like our thinking or experiencing, there seems to be a gap, i.e., there is discontinuity. Is there a continuous ground from which the discontinuous thoughts arise and subside? I like to play word games as well and when the word, ‘aham’ is placed in front of a mirror, it spells ‘maha’. The seemingly singular ‘I’, reflects or becomes the greatness or Absolute.

6) “Man has no permanent and unchangeable I. Every thought, every mood, every desire, every sensation, says ‘I”. And in each case, it seems to be taken for granted that this I belongs to the Whole, to the whole man, and that a thought, a desire, or an aversion is expressed by this Whole. In actual fact there is no foundation whatever for this assumption. Man’s every thought and desire appears and lives quite separately and independently of the Whole. And the Whole never expresses itself, for the simple reason that it exists, as such, only physically as a thing, and in the abstract as a concept. Man has no individual I.” (Not sure of the page, Kindle edition, In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching, P.D. Ouspensky, Chapter Three).

I attended meetings at the Gurdjieff Foundation of Ohio a long while ago. The group work was revelatory and there was considerable focus on identification(s). Gurdjieff’s teaching are at times mind stopping and riveting. Mechanicalness of man, The Work, movements, music, and the Enneagram make for interesting reading and great conversation. 1/7 and its infinite array of repeating numbers did not win me the Lottery but it is interesting nonetheless. Dodecahedron (3 D, 12 plane shape) certainly was applicable to understanding and having fun watching the TV show Ancient Aliens.

Return to the main page of the November 2021 TAT Forum.

The complete message from Howdie Mickoski:
"This is not a school. Why would some omnipotent being create a bunch of ignorant people, and then torture them to make them better." Richard Rose

This quote (which I believe I found in Dave Gold/Bart Marshall's book After the Absolute: The Inner Teachings of Richard Rose) was a very important step for me. That is because almost all spiritual books-teachers in the marketplace have as a foundation "how this is a place we have come to learn." This concept feels good, so it sells. Of course I had questioned this idea as I went along but never really did enough digging to either fully prove or disprove it. Then I ran into Rose. As always, he makes perfect sense. Where us the actual proof that this is a school or a place of learning? How can we say what "it" is until we have fully defined Who we are and What reality actually is?

No matter how this school idea is presented, it quickly falls apart from examination into egoistic fallacy and hope. Take past lives that so many wish to present. We are this special individual unit so loved by the Creator that He (always a he) gives us life after life to learn and perfect ourselves. However as soon as one life ends, we forget all of it (thus everything learned) and go into a new life again ignorant, to potentially get stuck with the same lessons and experiences WE ALREADY WOULD HAVE LEARNED FROM in this supposed other life that we were told to forget. That is beyond ludicrous, and if true—indicates the Creator then cares nothing of its creations or in fact likes to see the creations tortured and living the same pains over and over for there can be no learning or growth in such a system.

If you subscribe to the one life theory—again this one shot experience comes with no learner's manual. We are stuck with the information given to us by our parents on starting out—and I don't know about you, but my parents were certainly not the best guides to explain to who we are, what this place is, what suffering is, what an ego is, what awakening is, etc. Even a bird or a fish gets a better start with instinct of how to properly survive in the wild. We don't even start with that. Learning how to drive a car or fix a broken chair is not “learning” about Self or Reality. And if one is going to be "judged" based on their actions in only one life, then they better be given a clear manual on day 1 so there is some guide as to what will occur.

When one fully lets this comment by Rose sink in, we see this is less a school but perhaps more of an experiment, or a type of setup where we are robots living a version of Westworld. Perhaps the only real learning that needs to take place is to see we are robots, this is an artificial reality-simulation of some type, and we should try out best to drop all we have been told. To start completely fresh, aware of our ignorance, and setting out to find Truth. Rose again was clear: Truth is not something you learn, but something you become. We choose a pathway away from false, and to embrace whatever freedoms we can … to keep walking our way.

We soon see there are very few freedoms the society we have been born into affords us—(even more expounded the last two years where just about every freedom we did have is being not just taken away, but gladly given away by people because someone on TV told them they should). The world's spiritual teacher community has mostly been shown to be frauds the last two years. They have chosen to still cling to old wishes about reality, and their self importance. If they can't see the biggest lie of human history playing out 24 hours a day in real time, can we trust any of their so-called truths such as “this is a wonderful school of learning”?

Thanks to Rose's quote here, and in fact his entire body of work, I don't see this as a school, but more of an insane asylum. If we are manifested here it might well be because we are crazy. Thus we don't need to learn anything, our job is to become SANE. RADICALLY SANE. Sane to the point that the rest of the inmates will now think of us as crazy. We must embrace the character or McMurtry from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. We embrace Truth and Freedom the same way a thirsty person embraces fresh water in a stream.

That is why this quote from Rose was so important to me 15 years ago when I came across it, and even more so now. If you let it in—really let these 23 words play their magic within your conscious and unconscious—there is the possibility of a real overturning of what we have long believed, and perhaps open the doorway to the only thing that each of us would ever really need to learn in the asylum we all have found ourselves wards in.

Return to the main page of the November 2021 TAT Forum.

Founder's Wisdom

Richard Rose (1917-2005) established the TAT Foundation
in 1973 to encourage people to work together on what
he considered to be the "grand project" of spiritual work.

Core Albigen System Principles
(in no particular order)

Part 3 of 3 (continued from the September 2021 TAT Forum and October 2021 TAT Forum):

11. Awareness (non-mind) as an “opposite” of the Process Observer (mind).

“A third step is taken, and this is the last step, and this is when you’ve pretty much exhausted [the egos]—you automatically become—you’ve cleared out all the cobwebs and you don’t know where else to look. You don’t know yourself totally, you just know what to expect under certain conditions. A strange combination. You become aware not of a composite being, but of an observer on one side and an awareness on the other. The investigation of the life inside the human being, thinking objectively, boiling it down to just awareness.” ~ Richard Rose, from a 1983 lecture in Denver, Colorado

“Behind the Process Observer is the self that only watches the Process Observer without qualification. This is awareness—this is getting close to the Absolute.” ~ Richard Rose, from a 1979 lecture

Jacob's Ladder © 2001 Richard Rose.>

“Rose has explained that the Process Observer is of the Manifested Mind, whereas its complementary pole, which he calls Individualized Consciousness of Awareness, is of the Unmanifested Mind; the full entrance into which is ‘the Mountain Experience.’ ” ~ John Kent, Richard Rose’s Psychology of the Observer: The Path to Reality Through the Self

“The tiny man and the observer are one, and the final observer is the Absolute. There is nothing but me—this is the final answer.” ~ Richard Rose, from a 1979 lecture

12. A system of Tension.

“You need to build your capacity for the work. You need to be strong enough to withstand the forces of adversity that will rise up against you. The way to increase your capacity is to push beyond it. The measure of a man is his ability to endure tension.” ~ Richard Rose, After The Absolute: The Inner Teachings of Richard Rose by David Gold with Bart Marshall

“Tension is, beyond a doubt, the reason for seeking for the Universal constant. Tension, like God, makes us look for it, or understand it. ~ Richard Rose, Energy Transmutation Between-ness and Transmission

“The experience of Satori itself occurs as a result of the explosion or ‘going over the top’ or ‘going over the mountain’ of that climax of tension. In satori there is no tension. That is, after Satori is experienced, there is no more tension.” ~ Richard Rose, Energy Transmutation Between-ness and Transmission

“You take the mind in thought, and then take the mind in no-thought, then you have an Absolute realization. It is when the mind goes blank through tension.” ~ Richard Rose, Carillon

“If a person can’t take the tension and wants to throw in the towel on the search, I certainly won’t stand in his way. But be careful. If you’re going to surrender to illusion, at least make it an attractive illusion.” ~ Richard Rose, After The Absolute: The Inner Teachings of Richard Rose by David Gold with Bart Marshall

13. Transmission.

“When the day comes that you have something of importance to convey or transmit to another individual, which cannot be conveyed in words even though many words of wisdom are available, you may be able to transmit that state of awareness or being, by the singular process of direct-mind contact, and a skillful control of your own mind so that nothing else but nothing will pervade your mind…and his. Men have traveled thousands of miles, and sat in monasteries for decades to learn this.” ~ Richard Rose, Psychology of the Observer

Citing one of Bodhidharma’s four principles of Zen: “A special transmission outside the scriptures means there’s a way of putting this inside another person’s head. There is a way of realization by being associated with a person who has reached the goal of knowledge of Self. Unless your system of Zen has that, it is not a true system of Zen. If you have a teacher who cannot do it, you do not have a teacher who can take you.” ~ Richard Rose, from a 1977 lecture titled "Introduction to the Albigen System"

14. Doubt. Backing into reality by questioning everything.

“We must learn to doubt, not only the verbal testimony of others, but the persuasions of our own beliefs, and keep looking for symptoms of self-delusion...” ~ Richard Rose, Psychology of the Observer

“I have always maintained that you will never find anything by believing, but by doubting.” ~ Richard Rose, Carillon

“...you should believe nothing, including what I say as well. You should doubt. To doubt is sacred—to believe is foolishness. Because believing is an easy way out—it’s a cop-out.” ~ Richard Rose, Psychology of the Observer

“...you have to doubt everything but your ability. If you doubt your ability you won’t try.” ~ Richard Rose, from a 1977 lecture titled "Introduction to the Albigen System"

15. Miscellaneous Tips

“Set the house in order. This means that we must find some economic security, we must keep the physical house healthy, as it will either quit thinking or think unreliably, and we must adjust the domestic scene so that people with whom we live will be amenable to the search.” ~ Richard Rose, from "The Threefold Path: The Way, the Life & the Truth. Chart of the Detailed Steps."

“Rose had always recommended short periods of isolation for anyone serious about spiritual work. As a young man he’d bought what he later called his ‘back’ farm strictly as a meditation retreat for himself. The time he spent there—reading, meditating, fasting—he recalled as some of the happiest and most spiritually productive times of his life.

“He warned against too much solitude, however. In his opinion, one or two 30-day isolations a year was about right. He believed that maximum spiritual progress was achieved through a blend of silent introspection and worldly life.” ~ Richard Rose, After The Absolute: The Inner Teachings of Richard Rose by David Gold with Bart Marshall

*

Thanks to Paul Constant for putting this material together. The document is available in pdf form at https://www.searchwithin.org/download/core_albigen_system_principles.pdf.

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Did you enjoy the Forum? Then buy the book! Beyond Mind, Beyond Death is available at Amazon.com.

 

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