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TAT Forum

August 2018

Homing Ground Update ... A spot on earth where people can do retreats and hold meetings; where the emphasis is on friendship and the search. Bob H. and Larry I. recently checked out the property, and beat the bushes for contractors. They reaffirmed the beauty of the site and the silence—no car passed by the entire time they were there! They took measurements for the electrical hook-up and marked locations for the well and propane tank. The search for prospective contractors yielded much better results than they dared hope for! At least a half dozen leads led to several face-to-face contacts, and they are optimistic that at least three bids will be forthcoming. However, it may be that any bids will substantially exceed the funds TAT has on hand. Bob H. has some ideas of how to proceed if that is the case, so stay tuned. Driveway entrance from Thomas Green Road. In the meantime, Use the PayPal button above to donate now. TAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization and qualifies to receive tax-deductible contributions. Alternatively, you can mail a check made out to the TAT Foundation (for instructions on mailing a check, please the TAT treasurer). For additional background, see the Homing Ground page. In friendship, Shawn Nevins on behalf of the TAT Trustees

Convictions & Concerns

TAT members share their personal convictions and/or concerns

Marks of Enlightenment?

What follows is an informal discussion about the marks or earmarks of enlightenment:

As soon as a teacher describes how realization should manifest in a person, they place relative limits on something that cannot have limits or conditions.  And worse, they fuel the beliefs of seekers concerning the "state" of realization. ~ Paul Constant

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The marks of enlightenment, whatever they may be, are written in shifting sand, engraved in dust, burned into the air.  They only have meaning to the self, and not to the Self. ~ Shawn Nevins

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When I first visited the TAT retreat in 2005, I knew I had met the quality I had named as integrity since I was young, but I wouldn't then or now be able to say much about it. It was as if there was planted in me a mirror or magnet that responded to that quality, it was a recognition of something that I had no words for, but it was a very definite feeling, not an emotion but a feeling as one might describe the feeling aroused by beauty.... ~ Tess Hughes

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See the complete discussion.

Please email your comments to the .

 

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 Central Ohio Nonduality group:
We continue to meet on Monday evenings at Panera across from The Ohio State University. ~ For further information, contact or . We're also on Facebook.

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 Alachua County library on alternate Sundays. We're planning an intensive retreat at Grand Vue Park in Moundsville, WV for the Sunday-Friday, November 11-16, preceding the November TAT weekend. ~ Email or for more information.

Update from Galway, Ireland:
Anyone who's interested in self-inquiry activity in Ireland is welcome to contact .

Update from the Greensburg, PA self-inquiry group:
We last met the weekend before Christmas where the topic was "Are you awake or merely sleepwalking?" My strategy right now is not to have the meetings for a while then start them up again when the regulars indicate an interest. I think the other problem is that we need new people, and I'm still cautious about using internet social media like Meetup and Facebook. ~ Contact .

Update from the Lynchburg, VA self-inquiry group:
We meet on Thursday evenings and welcome inquiries. Email or for information on the meetings.

Update from the New York City area:
We've recently started a group in NYC and are looking for consistent, serious but lighthearted ;) members. So far, we have started each group meeting with a short meditation followed by a self-inquiry session with questions and responses. We plan to vary the format and also go on local retreats and spiritually-minded events, as time allows. We are meeting in downtown Manhattan (the financial district) in a really great public space that we are fortunate to have. Please contact me with any interest or questions. Tell a friend :) ~ Email .

Update from the Pittsburgh, PA self-inquiry group:
We hold public meetings on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month, 7-9 PM, at the Pittsburgh Friends Meeting House in Oakland (4836 Ellsworth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213) and invitation-only meetings on alternate Wednesdays. Last month's topics were:
July 4: Questions and quotes by three famous teachers used to confound seekers, presented as koans.
July 11: How do you get in-touch with your Inner Self? Questions based on talk by Gary Weber at the June TAT gathering [recordings available in the members-only website area].
July 18: Gloria presented: Is there such thing as language/words ways of speaking/chanting that are more resonant with deep spiritual/mystical experiences? What is/how is language used?
July 25: Faults in our mental processes such as observation, memory and decision making. Questions based on the work by psychologist Daniel Kanheman.
~ For further information, contact .

Update from the Portland, OR self-inquiry group:
We meet most Sundays and have been meeting at different local libraries around town due to limited room availability at any one library, but this has made it easier for people in those neighborhoods to attend the meetings. ~ Email or for more information.

Update from the Raleigh, NC Triangle Inquiry Group:
The Triangle Inquiry Group (TIG) meets on Wednesday evenings near NCSU. ~ Email or for information on local meetings.

Update from the San Francisco Bay area self-inquiry group:
See the Shawn Nevins interview by Iain McNay of Conscious.tv, kicking off the publication of Shawn's book Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment. ~ Email for information about upcoming meetings and events.

A new self-inquiry group is forming in Sarasota, FL:
Meetings are on alternate Wednesdays. ~ Email for more information.

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.

TAT's Fall Workshop 2017 was titled The Prism of Truth: where science, love, and reality merge and included three guest speakers who each led separate workshops. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

• "Upgrading Your Personal Operating System and Buggy Programs" with Gary Weber
• "Cultivating the Seed of Awakening" with Jenny Clarke
• "The True Nature of Being" with Norio Kushi

TAT's November 2017 Gathering was titled The Treasure Within our Lives Unconnected to Experience. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area (there's also a text file describing the speakers and their sessions, not all of which were successfully recorded due to equipment malfunctioning):

• "Obstacles" by Anima Pundeer
• "Navigating Our Spiritual Waters" by Paul Constant
• "By His Logic, Man Can Do Nothing" by Shawn Nevins
• "TAT Weekend Key Take-Home Highlights" with Tess Hughes

TAT's April 2018 Gathering was titled Steps on the Path. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

• "Rose's Jacob's Ladder: Steps on the Path" by Bob Fergeson,
• "The Threefold Path" by Paul Constant,
• "What Keeps Us from Being Awake?" by Paul Rezendes,
• "Allowing Exploration" by Shawn Nevins, and
• "What's Trying to Get Your Attention?" by Mark Seabright.

TAT's June 2018 Gathering was titled In Search of Happiness. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

• "Four Views of Happiness: Three steps beyond the search" by Avery Solomon,
• "How You Can Be 'Free of Happiness'" by Gary Weber,
• "A Personal Perspective on Friendship: Ode to 'Mrs. C.'" by Larry Inderbitzin,
• "Seeker Stories and Q&A" by Michael W., Penny W., and Michael R.

Please us if you have questions. (Look here for info on 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 from 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

The question we asked readers for this month's Reader Commentary: Is there some guiding principle that determines your search? A reader who wished to remain anonymous submitted the question. Responses follow.

From Ralf I:
I'm not sure; maybe not consciously though, but I feel I won't stop until I'm 100% sure that I've arrived at an experiential conclusion that enables me to look at all the things I'd usually want to turn away from. I just cannot settle for convenient spirituality; I seem to have an aversion towards woo-woo-feel-good kind of stuff.

From Brett S:
My guiding principle is that I have to be honest with myself about what my heart is saying, about what I REALLY want, no matter WHAT it is.  I have a belief that the most direct way I can "get through to myself" about who and what I am and what I am looking for is by listening to my heart. My definition of heart (as opposed to my mind) is love, which feels like acceptance and yearning. I may experiment with implementing the directions I feel I'm getting from my heart so as to test my ability to understand what my heart is saying.

From Anonymous:
Is there some guiding principle? No not really. I am just trying to do what feels right. There seems to be a tug at my heart on occasion that sort of gives me a sense that this is a dream. But when I read Bernadette [Roberts] it feels like my head is spinning. If only I could get it to stop on dead center.

From PS:
The guiding principles, specific to looking and seeing, which make sense for me now are:

• No inner coaching of any kind. The moment I start nudging anything into the view, I've lost my way. I don't know what it takes to become free, and the Process surely doesn't need my interference or "helpful" input. The best scenario is when the mind is stilled sufficiently, simply to be at full attention, a relaxed attention, and wait. Just wait for what may come.
• This ties in to an approach of "inside-out," meaning as little reliance as possible summoning any external teachings or wisdom I've been exposed to. I know this is a tall order because just about everything in my consciousness originated from the outside. But the closer I can keep my surveillance to what is first hand rather than second hand, the better the odds that any discovery will be genuine.
• Lastly, not delegating looking to a set time. The whole of each day is begging to be exploited for debunking the bunk and surprises of insight. So foster spontaneity and a willingness to use whatever it takes to get out from under the spell.

From Benjy H:
I suppose the underlying principle for me is that there is a fundamental Truth and that it is possible to find & know it. My stated process of looking away/backing away from untruths wouldn't make sense otherwise.

From Michael R:
Retreat from untruth remains the most honest principle I've found to follow. Being honest, lived as a sort of natural koan, is another. Beyond this my guiding principle is more of a felt discomfort with existence that seems to drive me inward, away from the lies of self-propagation. For most of my search I've had no idea what intuition was, but recently it seems to be coming into view in recognizable forms. It's a lie detector, a bullshit meter, an often subtle but sometimes gross recognition of untruth. I often imagined intuition would be a guiding light for decisions in this world, a way to answer the question "what should I do," a guiding voice for "me." But it's not like this, it doesn't care about what "I" want or even what "I" should do – it just senses the discord in dishonesty and, if I listen, leads me away from it. This may indirectly lead to decisions in life, but the life-effect is secondary, the honesty is primary.

From Nicholas G:
Let go of experiences. Go within. Persist.

From Joel S:
I would have to say I have two guiding principles. One is to try my best to be my own authority while still keeping myself open to good input from trusted sources. I can't just accept what other people, even realized people, say about what reality is. Accept what they say, but verify it with my own understanding. The second principle is to "keep your head on it" as Rose said.

From Ben R:
I believe the principle guiding the direction of my search right now is a sort of compass pointing toward relief. I find myself leaning in the direction I hope to find relief, and when I'm lucky enough to stumble into it for a bit, I tend to do more of what got me there. For example, sharing with friends about struggles with anxiety seems to relieve some of the anxiety, and so I lean in the direction of doing that more. As another example, meeting with supportive and open friends on a regular basis and inspiring each other brings relief in unpredictable ways, so I find myself more willing to step past resistance in order to continue doing this. There's a qualitative difference between this kind of relief that brings with it clarity, and the more unstable relief that comes from too much stimulating distraction (Youtube, podcasts, movies, news) that brings with it cloudiness and restlessness. It's taken me a while to realize this difference between clear relief and distracted relief, and I try to let the former of the two guide me.

From Anonymous2:
No, I don't have a guiding principle, but it's not like I'm just adrift or operating by whim. So I want to be quiet and honest enough to watch and question everything and, as a result, my experience is that things seem to change or fall away as needed. So there is a commitment to watch and question but no intentional principle as much as some unseen guidance that seems to determine a course of my search. There is intentional honesty which seems to automatically lead me from fallacy, which could perhaps be some principle (but not mine) at work.

Other Reader Feedback

From Sheri R:

In response to a question posed with excerpts from an article cited in the last month's TAT Forum titled Is Life Meaningless?:

"Is there an antidote to Meaninglessness?"

Well, I think there is.

I would agree with Ms. D'Agati on her point that 'suicide is a reasonable response to being confronted with life's reality'. However, I disagree suicide is selfish and/or tragic. It takes a certain amount of courage to advocate with such finality on one's own behalf, and I just don't understand how we can conclude something as tragic when another gets exactly what they want.

Though it's likely splitting hairs, I would also disagree with Ms. D'Agati that meaninglessness had the final hand in these suicides. More accurately, I believe, it was the suffering resulting from a sense of meaninglessness that tipped the momentum for these individuals. A fine point, but relevant. Not all people who commit suicide have a sense of meaninglessness, but I suspect most are suffering. Perhaps then a more precise question is; Is there an antidote to suffering? Again, I think there is. The antidotes applied to my own graduated experiences with meaninglessness, and thus suffering, have been undeniably effective.

Initially, the antidote to meaningless was to insert meaning into life. I never questioned this approach, eagerly and willingly painting all aspects of life with meaning. Family is everything, a career to serve humanity, a religion to bridge what I could not understand. All bases covered! For a time. But there was an imperceptible and disproportionate rate of energy expended to the sense of meaning. Suffering began to creep in as a sense of meaninglessness became increasingly difficult to mask.

Somehow I became aware of what I was doing: trying to construct meaning in an effort to eliminate a sense of meaninglessness. In this moment there was a subtler level of knowing. Now I could ask the more direct question, 'Why am I constructing this?' The antidote at this stage was to apply years of self-inquiry. I was constructing this sense of meaning because there was so much suffering everywhere. Where meaning had suffused and embedded itself into the minutia of my life, there was a deep well of suffering not far beneath. With enough assiduity fueled by endless reserves of anger, self-inquiry was an extremely effective tool to untangle the intellectual origin of meaninglessness, suffering and meaning. This made sense and I was in agreement. For a time. That insidious sense of suffering would re-appear, and most disturbingly, it would re-appear without a conscious trigger. Now I had to ask a more direct question, 'How is this being constructed?' Subtler, again.

The antidote at this point was, and continues to be, the refined and extremely sensitive work of meditation. With diligence, enough sensitivity developed to where I could 'see' the sense arising, see the thoughts triggered, see how those thoughts triggered more sensations, etc. The work is ongoing, becoming subtler and subtler.

Today I don't really think about life, actions, relationships, engagement as having meaning or no meaning. I do see how this could be important to some. But for now, to discuss life in such a context, seems to me, to miss the point. And that point is that all discussion, whether it be regarding meaninglessness or meaning, suffering or no suffering, innocently and impalpably continues the fabrication and solidification of the sense of self which, in turn, suffers.

Mr. Rose once said that he was beyond happiness, I think this is similar in that here is an opportunity to go beyond meaninglessness…and meaning.

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?

Henri Poincaré: French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as "The Last Universalist," since he excelled in all fields of the discipline as it existed during his lifetime. See philosophical quotes from Poincaré in the Inspiration & 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.

Talk at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh

Part 3 (conclusion) of a talk given at Duquesne University in 1974 – continued from the June 2018 TAT Forum and the July 2018 TAT Forum:

Authorities and robots

The reason I talk about psychology and psychiatry – I'm somewhat concerned about those people who are putting themselves in a position, without any knowledge of the truth, to deny an Essence for man. And this is the current psychological thought, that man has no Essence; that all he is, is what you see; and that a person who claims they have a soul is a dreamer.

I'm concerned that we're becoming a race of robots, if we're not already a race of robots. And that was the reason I asked you to stand up. Because we're being programmed to respond to authority, instead of being programmed to respectfully question authority.

Who am I to tell you to stand up? I'm nobody. I'm nobody. Who am I to say, "Please form a line over here"? Yet people rush out and start directing traffic – and no one questions them, whether they've got a right to direct traffic.

The complete Part 3 of the 1974 Duquesne University talk

 

 

 

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