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TAT Forum

November 2016

 

Convictions & Concerns

TAT members share their personal convictions and/or concerns

Shifting Our Attention: From the Unreal to the Real and Everything In Between

On October 1-2, 2016, the Triangle Inquiry Group and the Center for Mindfulness and Non-Duality in Raleigh, North Carolina, sponsored a Fall Retreat with the theme The Nature of Identity/Beyond Self. Paul Constant was one of seven speakers at the retreat and provided the following observations and tips at the end of his presentation. In the coming months, video recordings of all presentations will be released on the Web.

First and foremost, these aren't hard-core practices or techniques. The best I can do is inspire you to use your spiritual compass to find your inner teacher and allow your own authenticity to blossom. So, in no particular order, the following observations and tips might help a spiritual seeker:

• Remember your love of Truth

It's amazingly easy to forget this. Our mind craves distraction by the superficial. Traits that seem more deeply compatible with the search for Truth include: self-honesty, gratitude, sincerity, selflessness, compassion, openness.

• Watch yourself in the present moment
• You can watch thoughts, feelings, and sensations arise in you without engaging or tinkering. Recognize the captivating qualities of the mind's noise: self-referential thoughts, beliefs, emotions, internal dialogue (blah-blah-blah), etc. Notice that I didn't say escape from or push away from the noise.
• You can forcibly attempt to turn away from thought, but that leads to pushing thoughts away, to resistance. So rather than trying to stop thoughts and feelings, you can simply watch passively, which often immediately reduces the momentum of thought. This is quite different from resisting it or disassociating from it.
• Thoughts quiet down and you become more in tune with your being-ness, your intrinsic aliveness....
• But this isn't resignation. It involves perseverance. Much like a sculptor, artist, photographer—or whatever passion or specialty in your life.
• Discover friendship and rapport
• Friendship is consciousness seeking cohesiveness, one. Friends can be our greatest teachers—they're great mirrors.
• The definition of rapport is "harmonious relation." Allow yourself to open up through rapport with others, your self, and with what is.

The complete set of observations and tips

 

TAT Foundation News

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

Downloadable/rental versions of the Mister Rose video and of April TAT talks Remembering Your True Desire (details).

Local Group News

Update from the weekly email self-inquiry groups:
Both the women's and the men's email groups are active, and we welcome serious participants. Contact or .

Update from the Gainesville, FL self-inquiry group:
We continue to meet at the main Alachua County library on alternate Mondays and Sundays. Attendance has been rather sparse lately, maybe due to summer doldrums – but we welcome the depressed, dispirited, disconsolate, downhearted, dejected, despondent, and despairing: a good starting point for self-inquiry and the conquest of illusion. (Thanks to Paul C. for the impeccable alliteration :-) ~ Email or for more information.

Update from the Galway, Ireland self-inquiry group:
Tess along with guest teacher Bob Fergeson held a self-inquiry retreat in Co. Sligo on October 28th through 31st. Check Tess's website "Events" tab for more information.

Update from the Lynchburg, VA self-inquiry group:
We're organizing a Sunday, Nov. 13 - Friday, Nov. 18 retreat, at the Eagle Eyrie Conference Center here, leading up to the TAT meeting on Nov. 18-20. There are currently 27 participants committed to coming, including leaders Anima Pundeer, Art Ticknor, and Paul Constant. E-mail or for information on meetings.

Update from the Pittsburgh, PA self-inquiry group:
We're now holding public meetings on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month at the Pittsburgh Friends Meeting House in Oakland. For further information, contact or .

Update from the Raleigh, NC Triangle Inquiry Group:
On October 1-2, 2016, TIG and the Center for Mindfulness and Non-Duality in Raleigh, North Carolina, sponsored a Fall Retreat with 34 people attending. The Triangle Inquiry Group (TIG) meets on Wednesday evenings near NCSU. Email or for information on local meetings.

Update from the Tallahassee, FL self-inquiry group:
We continue to meet every other Tuesday at the downtown public library. If you are interested contact , or find the group on Meetup.com.

Members-Only Area

A password-protected section of the website is available for TAT members. The area contains information on product discounts for members as well as a substantial amount of helpful and historical information, including audio recordings, Newsletter archives, Retrospect archives, policies, conference proceedings, business meeting notes, photographs, and suggestions for ways to help.

The audio recordings of presentations at the April 2016 TAT Gathering by Bob Cergol, Paul Constant, Bart Marshall, Shawn Nevins, and Saima Yousuf are now available in the members-only web area, and Bob Harwood's presentation from the June 2016 TAT Gathering was added recently.

us if you have questions. (Look into TAT membership.)

Amazon and eBay

Your Contributions to TAT News

TAT founder Richard Rose believed that working with others accelerates our retreat from untruth. He also felt that such efforts were most effective when applied with discernment, meaning working with others on the rungs of the ladder closest to our own. The TAT News section is for TAT members to communicate about work they've been doing with or for other members and friends. Please your "ladder work" news.

 

Humor

"One thing you must be able to do in the midst
of any experience is laugh. And experience
should show you that it isn't real, that it's a
movie. Life doesn't take you seriously, so why
take it seriously." ~ Richard Rose, Carillon

We're hoping to present more humor created by TAT members and friends here. Please your written or graphic creations. Exact sources are necessary for other submissions, since we need to make sure they're either in the public domain or that we have permission to use them.

 

Inspiration & Irritation

Irritation moves us; inspiration provides a direction

Please your thoughts on the above items.

 

Reader Commentary

Encouraging interactive readership among TAT members and friends

Last month the Forum staff asked the question: "What question do you have right now, and how will you know when you have answered it?" submitted by Dean N. in his reply to the July 2016 TAT Forum inquiry. Responses follow:

From Paul S:
The real question that jumps out is: What's holding me back from getting genuinely serious and consistent in looking for a permanent solution? What will it take? I will know when it's answered by becoming serious and consistent and moving beyond where I keep leaving off.

From Frank V:
How can I as the rational self connect with the emotional self (inner child)? My sense or hope is that forming this connection will relieve the tension around the heart, and relieve some of the strong emotions (anger, depression).

From Joyce S:
Is it better to go all out – pull out all stops – be super disciplined and rigorous – to position oneself for that gift of "waking up" or to just lay back, be cool (possibly beaming with that mysterious knowing smile), and see what happens?

I've tried both, neither seems to work but the latter is more fun ;-).

Seems like I will never know when this question has been answered but would love to be proven wrong!

From Sheri R:
In June I started a formal spiritual practise encompassing readings and prayers to Christ/God and a longer seated meditation. About 3 months into the practise I started to find myself in this deep reverie/communion with Christ during the seated meditation component. It was lovely. One day at work I had this intense longing to go home and meditate. I wanted to be in that love with Christ! Just like a child needing her blankey! I stopped the meditation because it seemed I'd found another way to soothe myself. I had to sit with this dissonance and asked for reconciliation to this 'problem', trying not to over think it (which I am very good at!). One day the answer simply came. The answer itself was 'impressed', or perhaps imprinted, into me and came in such a way that was unfamiliar; not through the senses or thought. Because it had not arrived out of thinking there wasn't any doubt attached to it. Of course the mind kicked in right away and began doubting the answer. This lead me to 'test run' the answer so mind could give it the gold stamp. I suspect if an answer does ever come to my big question(s), it will come in a way similar to this: in a format unfamiliar to me and anterior to mind.

As for the question, right now I am working on a few different ones, but the two that get most of my attention are: Is there anything other than relative consciousness? And, how can I get into position (i.e., get my head out of the game enough) so that what is operating can 'impress' directly upon me (meaning in such a way to be uninterrupted/misinterpreted by little me).

From Paola B:
For several years I observed and studied my self trying to be honest, but not sure if I was using my intuition correctly. Am I a defective machine? (It seems likely). How to go out of the fog?

[How will you know when you have answered it?] I suppose when I am ready to feel profoundly to have made a step toward clarity, where the fog is less dense.

From Michael R:
In its simplest form my most burning question remains "why are we ignorant?" I remember my brother once telling me "if you wake up one day and find yourself in a lion's den, you don't ponder why you're in a lion's den – you just get out." Though I've always appreciated the point, it's never really sunk in with conviction. I continue to ponder the lion's den. Though my mind seeks an answer in its own terms, I'm aware an Absolute answer is unlikely to come in the form of relative knowledge. I imagine I'll know the answer to my question when the question falls away.

The question about ignorance has been a long standing one. A more recent question is "what difference does Realization make in death?" I imagine a Realized person lives a different quality of life, and likely the dying process is less sufferable, but once death occurs … does the ignorant man dissolve into the same Void as the enlightened man? Does it make any difference at all? Rose spoke of the urgency in finding an answer because you could die at any moment, but this assumes that Realization makes a difference in death (either for the individual, or for the Absolute). What reason do we have to think this is so? As for how I'll know when I find an answer … it would seem I'll have to die as a Realized person, and somehow have a way to compare this to the death experience of a "non-realized" person … no problem :)

From Mike G:
The question I have is how to get closer to what IS watching, while the sense of I-ness continues to impose itself on the mind. It maintains the separation of attachment to the sense of individuality-self, despite putting attention on what is watching.

From Mark C:
The only question that comes to my mind and seems to be the most important is, "When am I going to get serious on my spiritual path?" The past 2 months I have been unusually busy and not only has my spiritual practice suffered, but so has my self-care (lack of sleep, etc.). I rationalize my behavior pattern because I am the only provider for my family, but I am not getting any younger, and retirement is still about 10 years away. I do not believe that I can afford to wait for the next 10 years. Something has got to give. To my credit, I have maintained my focus, even in the midst of my distractions, but BS (bullshit) is still BS. I feel my question will be answered when I am devoting at least an hour a day to my spiritual practice.

From Siobhan:
My question: What's on the flip side of the terror of death/non-being? Lately I've been feeling the terror, and have noticed that there isn't a corresponding opposite feeling in favor of life. If I so vehemently don't want to die, why then don't I want to live as passionately as I don't want to die? I experience my day to day life as pretty good but not all that great – nothing worth clinging to with a passion rivaling the intensity of the fear of losing it. How will I know when I've answered the question? I suspect I'll know when it no longer occurs to me to wonder.

From Colm H:
I guess the question is 'I know I want freedom, but what does it look like and what questions should I be asking to find it?'

How I'll know the question is answered: 'The various layers of perceived limitation would be removed, or revealed for what they really are'.

From Pgh member:
How do I know if my spiritual endeavor is any different from my desires and efforts toward career, family, financial security, hobbies or other various diversions? How do I know that this search isn't just an escape that my ego gets preoccupied with, but this time a much loftier diversion, one exclusive to only the most capable of people? Answer: I don't know. But maybe it's the question that always needs to be present always in front of me.

Other Reader Feedback

From Bonnie:
I greatly enjoyed [Tess Hughes's] book [This Above All: A Journey of Self-Discovery] as her path was similar to mine, beginning with the extreme consciousness of death and the terror ensuing from that at a very young age, six years old in my case.

Thank you for sharing [the] video [of her Awakening Together interview, in the Inspiration & Irritation section of the October 2016 TAT Forum].

From Pgh member:
Question about Improv [in the Convictions & Concerns section of the October 2016 Forum]: I can see where improv can allow a lot of hidden material to come to the surface for examination. One of my favorite TV shows years ago was titled something like "Whose Line is It?" The spontaneity of some of the comedians bordered on genius. However, it seemed the spring of genius always seemed to go dry with time as the actors resorted to sexually-oriented jokes, that weren't really funny, but would elicit audience laughter not because of the genius of the comment but because of audacity of the comment, or a programmed response to what might be "embarrassingly" funny. I often walked out at that point because of a strange phenomenon: the actors would seem to feed on the audience's response to this cheap humor, and the whole thing would spiral into a sexually-implicit preoccupation. So, is there some procedure used in the improv sessions to block the unsavory depths that might reside in some of the participants from being exposed?

Comments on "Last Week" [in the Inspiration & Irritation section of the October 2016 Forum]: I identify fully with "Last Week" for it suggests the slippery slopes surrounding the peak of productivity and focus that I seem too often to be sliding down. My hope lies in developing habits consistent with my endeavor at least mechanically to keep me occupied with the right direction. But even habits and best intentions like the "conviction to get back to what I should be doing" get so easily hijacked. This leads me to wonder: Is there a next level where it gets easier? Oh, and: When do I get to turn that corner?

Richard Rose described a spiritual path as living one's life aimed at finding the meaning of that life. Did you find anything relevant to your life or search in this month's TAT Forum?

Verena Gorge Hermitage and Church, Solothurn, Switzerland. Wikimedia Commons.
See the advertisement for a resident hermit in the Inspiration and Irritation section above.

We like hearing from you! Please your comments, suggestions, inquiries, and submissions.

Sign up for notices of TAT's four annual events and free monthly Forums by email on our contact page.

 

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.

Introduction to the Albigen System

The following transcription features rare material from an early lecture of philosopher, poet and author Richard Rose. The talk, based on the speaker's own experience, describes a way of life aimed at understanding that life … a self-directed retreat from untruth … a common-sense, non-dogmatic approach to spiritual realization.

Part 3 of a 1977 talk given by Richard Rose in Cleveland, OH (continued from the September 2016 TAT Forum and the October 2016 TAT Forum):

We are able to see these mysterious signposts at the time of the overcoming of a major ego. Many Christians speak of the Salvation Experience, which to them seems to be the maximum religious experience. It is generally attained by dropping instinctive or carnal drives, combined with emotional bonds with a mate or with a spiritual being, such as Christ. The animal man has learned selflessness in the face of love. He becomes an emotional man instead of an instinctive man. He has made his first milepost.

Then there is what I call the Eureka experience, and there's another one, called Cosmic Consciousness. If you want to read about it, get Richard Bucke's Cosmic Consciousness. This is a very profound writing; he's done a tremendous lot of research, describing the experiences of different people, such as St. Paul. St. Paul was struck on the road to Damascus, and blinded for three days by the light. And St. John of the Cross's jailer was blinded by the light in the prison cell, when he had his experience.

These have distinct qualifications, or designations. The salvation experience doesn't necessarily imply that a man is struck down and blinded three days by a blinding physical light, so that his eyeballs are negated, so to speak.

Then there's another word: Enlightenment. There's no substitute for it, that I know of, except in the Hindu terminology Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi – in comparison with Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi, which is Cosmic Consciousness.

But these all imply that people down through the ages have searched and found. Read Ramana Maharshi. There are very few books available to the person who isn't looking. But if you're looking, you'll find quite a bit of evidence.

For instance, Plato. In Plato's Republic, the man in the cave – this is a perfect description of man's illusory nature in relation to a real world outside the cave. I try to keep some books in the group, we have some of them back there on the table. One of them is by J.J. van der Leeuw, Conquest of Illusion. This is a very good book.

The complete part 3 of the talk

 

A New Home for TAT

... A spot on earth where people can do retreats and hold
meetings; where the emphasis is on friendship and the search.

Current Status

Commissions earned from Amazon purchases stand at $1,158. (To keep the link handy for Amazon purchases, bookmark the Homing Ground page in your browser or add a shortcut on your desktop. Just click the Amazon link on that page and order away.)

Funds raised and pledged are now at $204,228, making us $45,772 short of the goal. Currently, a property near Raleigh, NC is being investigated. Only 50 miles north of the Raleigh-Durham airport, and with a 2-acre lot potentially for sale next to it, this property is the most appealing we've seen to date. See for yourself at: www.trulia.com/property/3236103848--Thomas-Green-Rd-Roxboro-NC-27574. For the geologically minded, here's a map of the soils on the site (#2997):

GeB is Georgeville loam, 2 to 6 percent slopes; Cw denotes Chewacla and Wehadkee loams; and GeC is Georgeville loam, 6 to 10 percent slopes.

To invest in the Homing Ground project, mail a check made out to the TAT Foundation (for instructions on mailing a check, please the TAT treasurer).

Or you can use PayPal (though we lose 2.2% of your donation to PayPal fees) by choosing the "Make a Donation" button below or the Make a Donation button on our Homing Ground page. TAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization and qualifies to receive tax-deductible contributions.

I thank each of you who have donated and pledged and look forward to the day we set foot on our new home site.

Remember
The Purpose:

• Provide a place for TAT's four yearly meetings.
• Provide a space for members to spend time in isolation retreats.
• Provide a place for TAT members to hold group retreats.
• Eventually, to create an ashram – a center where people could live for an extended period, and have a teacher and fellow seekers onsite or nearby.

The Vision:

• Either a wing on a house large enough for a meeting space for seventy participants or a separate building.
• A cabin for isolation retreats.
• Space for a live-in caretaker.
• Location within 1.5 hours of a major airport.
• A reasonable distance from Columbus, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, and the DC Metro areas.

Shawn Nevins
on behalf of the TAT Trustees

 

 

 

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