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TAT Forum

November 2021

Convictions & Concerns

TAT members share their personal convictions and/or concerns

The Light of Home

They are calling, gently calling,
Sweetly calling me to come,
And I’m looking through the shadows
For the blessèd lights of home.

When I was a child, I built. Our living room was a field of Legos and Lincoln Logs, wooden blocks and shoeboxes arranged into castles, forts, and villages, the missing parts of which were completed in my imagination. My play was in cycles: warring invaders and valiant last stands one week, jungle explorers and adventurers another, then a few days of building small towns. The tabula rasa of an empty floor became platted with streets, each block anchored with a small Lego building: a bank, post office, grocery, or gas station. Tiny toy cars cruised up and down the lanes, with an occasional drag race to liven things up. The fussiness of scale didn’t worry me—so what if my toy dump truck was no larger than the windows of the bank? Reality bent to the story as needed.

After the excitement of building, testing doors and windows and walls, demolition and reconstruction, there inevitably came a late evening when all was done. I remember winter evenings most prominently, perhaps because the early sunset kept me confined to the house. My dad had given me a penlight, which was not just a small flashlight, but literally a pen with a tiny incandescent light surrounding the ballpoint. It was one of the coolest gadgets I’d seen in my young life. With the living room lights turned off, I sprawled on the floor, my chin resting on the back of one hand, and placed the penlight in each building in turn. Then I quietly laid there and gazed from street level at the ensuing magic.

Surrounded by the dark, a warm, yellow light glimmered from the tiny windows and doors. The words for the feeling that enveloped me only come now, decades later. But there, here, then, now, what do such designations of distance and time mean in the face of the numinous? I am here and then caught in the glow of the light of home. The light in the darkness, welcoming, calling me into its arms.

I’ve seen this light at other times in my life: arriving at a backpacking camp late at night, glimpsing the glow of a campfire arising behind a picket of trees. Deep in the troubled days of an isolation retreat, seeing a fellow retreatant’s kerosene lamp shining from their window on a hilltop. Standing by a mountain spring deep within a valley, below me a farmhouse framed in the bend of a creek, every window lit with fullness in the falling evening. My own home, on no particular night, catching my eye for a moment as it glimmered in timelessness. I mention these occasions only in hopes of sparking a memory in you of a similar sight seen both with your eyes and heart.

Within me the feeling is the same across the days of my life: my heart both reaching out and being pulled, as if I could fly forward and leap into the light. There’s no void, no fear, but a fullness and a longing. It’s the Everything that is part and parcel of the Nothing.

It’s time to end this story, but not harshly. As children, we wordlessly intuit beauty even as we are drawn into the game of building and creating. As adults in the prime of our selfing, perhaps we pause from exhaustion or momentary defeat, and grace grants us a glimpse of eternity. And as the arc of life begins its downward trajectory, we look to the past and see hints of the future—children playing with penlights in the next room, building vessels in which God manifests again… again… and again. Youthful eyes aglow in the dazzling dark. Thus, we remember the longing for that which is right in front of us… and behind, above, and below. So what to do? Slow your reading of these words. Pause. Let the room around you fill with silence. Gently move the attention from inner to outer/within to without. In that seamless passage, look for any distinction between self and other. Do you see/feel the light of Home?

~ Essay by Shawn Nevins. Opening verse from "The Lights of Home" hymn by Fanny J. Crosby. Image from Sixties Photography on Unsplash.

 

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 for the Amsterdam, NL Self-Inquiry Group:
The group is not holding meetings currently, but email for information.

Update from the Central New Jersey Group:
In a change from our regular meeting format, our group invited a guest to work with us on the topic of “poems which inspire us.” Our guest, Abhay D, had each member read their poem, and helped the member inquire more deeply into themselves, through follow-up questions. A productive meeting!
      Some of the poems shared: “Friendship” by Richard Rose; “If,” Rudyard Kipling; “Nirvana Shatakam,” Shankara; “O me! O Life!” by Walt Whitman; “A Psalm of Life,” Longfellow.
      Abhay shared poems “How I became a Warrior” by Jeff Foster and also some amazing poems written by his own hand. Thank you Abhay!
      We hold regular Zoom meetings on Friday evenings. ~ Contact: www.facebook.com/groups/429437321740752.

Update from the Central Ohio Non-Duality Group:
The Columbus, Ohio self-inquiry group, now known as the Central Ohio Non-Duality Group, has continued to meet virtually on Tuesday evenings at 6:30PM during the Coronavirus pandemic. Please email one of the people's names below if you wish to get a link to the meeting. Meeting format involves discussion of topics of interest to seekers and often bridges from the concerns, questions and interests of the core members in attendance into the topic which we intend to discuss. We look forward to the easing of restrictions to the point where we feel comfortable meeting again in person. ~ For further information, contact , , or . We're also on Facebook.

Update from the Dublin, Ireland self-inquiry group:
We meet every second Wednesday on Zoom. We are working using two different approaches. The first is the standard confrontation approach of people giving an update on what was coming for them in the previous period, in terms of their path. The second is the distribution of a piece in advance for reflection. We will continue in this vein for the time being, using either a general update or a piece for reflection shared in advance. ~ Contact for more information.

Update from the email self-inquiry groups:
The Women's Online Confrontation (WOC) group consists of weekly reports where participants can include:
     > What is on your mind?
     > Any projects that you want to be held accountable for?
     > Responses to a selected excerpt (in the previous report).
     > Comments/responses/questions for other participants.
     A philosophical/spiritual excerpt with two or three questions is included in each report. Based on what we share, participants ask questions to help get clarity about our thinking. The intention is to help each other see our underlying beliefs about who we are.
     One rule we try to adhere to is not to give advice or solve problems. The number of participants, to make it work efficiently, is between 4 and 7 including the leader.
We had two new folks join in February, resulting in two men's groups with 8 participants in each. They (the weekly exchanges, not the participants :-) function like slow-motion self-inquiry confrontation meetings, which has its pros and cons. We alternate by asking each other questions one week then answering them the following week. We're currently trying to keep it to each of us asking just one question to each participant--switching from a shotgun to a rifle approach. Participants provide brief updates of highlights from the previous week and optional updates on progress toward objectives that they use the reports for accountability on.
Both the women's and the men's email groups welcome serious participants. ~ Contact or for more information.

   TAT Press publishes Anima's and Art's book: Always Right Behind You: Parables & Poems of Love & Completion.

Update from the Gainesville, FL self-inquiry group:
The Alachua County library reopened its meeting rooms on July 5th, and we were the first group to meet after the reopening. We decided to change our meeting day from Sunday to Saturday, at the same time as previously (2 to 4 PM). Our first meeting was on July 10th, and subsequent meetings are scheduled for alternate Saturdays with an occasional extra week between meetings due to holidays or the TAT meeting schedule and our group's associated retreats. ~ Email or for more information.

   TAT Press publishes three of Art's books: Solid Ground of Being: A Personal Story of the Impersonal, Beyond Relativity: Transcending the Split Between Knower & Known and Sense of Self: The Source of All Existential Suffering?

The Gainesville self-inquiry group is planning a five-day intensive retreat at the new TAT center in Hurdle Mills, NC on Sunday-Friday, Oct. 31–Nov. 5, followed by an informal TAT gathering on Saturday Nov. 6. The theme will be "What Do You Really, Really Want from Life?:       "When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream." ~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist ~ E-mail for more information.

Update from Galway, Ireland:
Tess Hughes is starting a women's group on Wednesday evenings, 7pm Dublin time, using Zoom. It will begin mid September. Sessions last 90-120 minutes usually. Anyone who's interested in joining can contact .

   TAT Press publishes Tess's easy to read, profound This Above All, the story of her journey of Self-Discovery.

Update from the newly listed GMT Support Group for Seekers:
We meet every Sunday gmt 17.30, live on Google Meet. Rapport and confrontation, talk and exchange. Someone mostly brings a theme, like a text, poem or whatever to set the mood. Then 10 minutes of silent rapport after which everyone gets their turn on the "hot seat" for 10-15 minutes—the group listens to what the person has to say about the theme then asks friendly questions—depending on how many participants we are. The questioning is aimed at providing material for self-inquiry. There have been sessions in which we just chatted, but that is more the exception. ~ Contact

Update from the Greensburg, PA self-inquiry group:
I am meeting every Saturday morning with three of my former Greensburg SIG group participants who are into non-dualist paths, such as Adyashanti and Mooji. There is also another participant, a professional psychologist who is interested in eastern philosphy and who wasn't in my SIG group but makes a great addition to our proceedings. These fellows are sincere seekers. We spend our time discussing our respective paths and comparing notes. Our new venue is a place called the White Rabbit Cafe in Greensburg. I'm hoping that the lull here has ended and that we're ready to be more dynamic again.
~ Contact if interested in local self-inquiry meetings.

An update from the self-inquiry group in Houston, TX:
The backyard patio meetings are now moved to Zoom meetings, which take place at 4 pm on Saturdays. There are 3 active and inspired participants right now. Topics vary from Mr. Rose's writings to "What is on your mind?" ~ Contact for more information.

"Ignoramuses Anonymous" blog
Ignoramuses Anonymous is for seekers to explore questions together…a fellowship of seekers for whom ignorance of the absolute truth had become a major problem. It started as a blog for Pittsburgh PSI meeting members back in 2009. Welcoming discussion on the path.
To get notices of new posts, you can subscribe by RSS feed or by email.

   See the 2020/11/28 post: Four-day isolation retreat at TAT Center, with photos and YouTube clips.

Update from the Lynchburg, VA self-inquiry group:
We have been meeting on Thursday evenings from 7pm—8:30pm, online, via zoom. Norio Kushi, Paul Rezendes, and Bob Harwood are consistent guests. We've also had some other interesting characters show up from time to time. Topics come from readings or questions brought up by our members. These are sent out, along with the zoom invitation each week. Recently we posted some "considerations" for joining our group:
** Try to frame your comments as questions to Norio, Paul, or Bob. Draw these questions from you own experience rather than generalities. Maintain attention and discussion on the question rather than philosophical musings.
** Question other participants, in the spirit of group-assisted self inquiry, but without attempting to lead them to any particular conclusion or bring attention to yourself.
**Allow for and attend to the silence and the space that is always present. When you aren't speaking, see that as your role—to hold that space.
**Question, in yourself, the use of personal story-telling and quoting others—though sometimes both are helpful and appropriate.
**Consider the way in which you are listening. Does it have a quality of acquisitiveness or openness?
**Continue to question your own intention for coming to this meeting and let that guide any comments/questions/discussion.
~ Please contact or if you're interested in being on the email list.

Update from the New York City self-inquiry group:
The New York City Self-Inquiry group meets by Zoom every Monday from 6-8 PM EST. The link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3098361863?pwd=anY5OFlMT0pNMld6VXJDb0Z2SjY0UT09. For those joining by phone, the number is +1 929 205 6099 US (New York), with Meeting ID: 309 836 1863, and Passcode: 895478. More details, as well as our weekly discussion topics, are available on our MeetUp page (link above) and via email at .

Update from the recently listed Online Video Confrontation Group:
The Monday Night Online Confrontation Group is going strong with a core group of participants and room for a few more. Now meeting at 7:30 pm EST (previously at 7 pm), using the online video conference platform from Zoom. The goal of the group is to practice confrontation/group self-inquiry. ~ If you're interested, email or .

   Isaac and AJ interviewed Art Ticknor on their Plant Cunning Podcast series, where they "invite herbalists, ethnobotanists, farmers, mages, fungi experts, community organizers and all kinds of other interesting people to the microphone to share their wisdom and experiences with us": Self Realization with Art Ticknor.

Update from the Portland, OR self-inquiry group:
A small group of us meet most Sundays at a coffee shop. The format for our meetings is to give each person 20 minutes or so to talk about whatever is coming up for them in their practice and to answer questions from the others. ~ Email for more information.

Update from the Raleigh, NC Triangle Inquiry Group:
The group is starting up again after a hiatus, now with Zoom online meetings. ~ Email for details.

Update for the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area TAT Center:
Bob Fergeson spent a year as resident teacher before returning to Colorado in March. Mark Wintgens continues as our chief-seeker in residence and invaluable caretaker. He is looking forward to hosting retreats and meetings for local group members as well as all TAT seekers. And TAT is looking forward to the possibility of hosting the August 2021 TAT meeting at the Center. ~ Email for information about the TAT Center.

Update from the Richmond Self Inquiry Group:
There isn't a Richmond self inquiry group at the moment…it never really got off the ground. I'm considering a few different approaches for round three, but it'll be at least a few months away before that takes form. ~ Email for information about future meetings and events.

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.

   TAT Press publishes Shawn's Images of Essence: The Standing Now, which features his poems with photos by Bob Fergeson, The Celibate Seeker: An Exploration of Celibacy as a Modern Spiritual Practice, Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment, and Hydroglyphics: Reflections on the Sacred, which features his poems with photos by Phaedra Greenwood.

Update from the Washington DC Area Self-Inquiry Discussion Group:
[This group was previously listed as the Rockville, MD self-inquiry group.] We've been meeting monthly at Rockville, MD Memorial Library. While the library is closed for public health reasons, we're participating more in a weekly online book club. Forum readers are welcome to participate. ~ For more information, please email or see the website http://firstknowthyself.org/virtual/.

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 August 2019 Workshop was titled Beyond Mindfulness: Meditation and the Path Within and included three guest speakers who each led separate workshops. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

• "Mindfulness. Is it just another spiritual buzzword?" with Bob Cergol,
• "The Path of Direct Sensory Perception" with Bob Harwood, and
• "The Art of Mindfulness is the Passion for Truth" with Paul Rezendes.

TAT's June 2019 Spiritual Retreat Weekend was titled Between You and the Infinite. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

• "Coming Home (aka The End of Seeking)" by Don Oakley, and
• "What's in the Way?" by Eshwar Segobind.

TAT's April 2019 Spiritual Retreat Weekend was titled Once in a Lifetime is Now. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

• "Recognizing the Human Dilemma" by Norio Kushi,
• "Strategies for Self-Realization" by Bart Marshall,
• Untitled session by Paul Hedderman, and
• "A Session in the Now" by Paul Rezendes.

TAT's August 2018 Workshop was titled Beyond Imagination and included three guest speakers who each led separate workshops. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

• "Nurturing What We Are" with Jenny Clarke,
• "The Art of Seeing" with Norio Kushi, and
• "Seeing Through Imaginary Traps" with Shawn Pethel.

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 enjoy presenting humor here from TAT members and friends. 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 Reader Commentary question for the November TAT Forum comes, thanks to Tess Hughes, from a quote on a recent post by Shawn Nevins on a quotation he is pondering. "When you find a quote that stops your mind in its tracks, do all you can to give it space to work its magic."

Have you come across a quote that stops your mind in its tracks? If so, have you given it space to work it's magic?

Responses follow:

From Sergio:
I experienced that when I read a quote that totally contradicted a strongly held belief I had about the spiritual search. The details are not important, what was relevant was that the quote caused my belief to be dropped and left nothing in its place, for some milliseconds. My thoughts and perception stopped, or at least they tried to stop, but immediately resumed their normal functioning. I guess that I was not prepared for giving space to the resulting emptiness at that time

The lasting effect was that I dropped a certain belief. Dropping the false belief was good, but that's not the 'magic' Shawn was talking about.

Regarding the details, at that point I had been reading about Advaita theories and as a result I was strongly holding the belief that "there's nothing to be done" for awakening. And the quote that challenged that is about zen master Hui Hai:

Yuan once asked: Do you make efforts in your practice of the Way, Master? Hui Hai: Yes, I do.

The impactful quote was simply that. The "yes, I do", that contradicted my strongly held belief. I share the last part of the quote because I think it's valuable:

Yuan: How?
Hui Hai: When hungry, I eat; when tired, I sleep.
Yuan: And does everybody make the same efforts as you do, Master?
Hui Hai: Not in the same way.
Yuan: Why not?
Hui Hai: When they are eating, they think of a hundred kinds of necessities, and when they are going to sleep, they ponder over affairs of a thousand different kinds. That is how they differ from me.

So, what's that "giving it space" that Shawn mentions? I believe that it's about a surrendering to what's beyond our small 's' selves, about accepting the incapacity of our finite minds to give an answer to a longing for something Higher, Deeper, Beyond what we know, and also accepting that the longing is there.

From Anonymous:
This happens regularly, and I have a routine for it. A quote that does this is incredibly valuable, and I usually stop reading, close my eyes, try to relax, and let the quote sink in. I also email the quote to myself. If upon reading it the next day it still has an effect, I add it to my "morning reading," which is a a changing collection of one to three such quotes that I read first thing every morning, followed by a couple minutes of letting them sink in. I come across such quotes with a deep effect once in a few years or months.

The very first quote that spoke to some internal part of me long ago (and always has since then) is by Rumi:

It would be as if a king sent you to a village on a specific mission. If you went and performed a hundred other tasks, but neglected to accomplish the task for which you were sent, it would be as though you had done nothing.

I read it in the morning for several years. The quote would pop up magically during the day, especially when I would be caught up in the mundane, reminding me that my heart knew that is it something deeper that matters.

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)....

See Richard's complete response.

From Colm:
'What's looking is what you are looking for'.

Think it was St. Francis of Assisi who it's attributed to.

From Mary H:
“Closer than close.” I woke up one morning and this phrase was there in my head, very solid and unmoving. It had a quality that was not from my thinking mind. So I had to pay attention, because I knew it was a gift.

This phrase has stayed with me like a whisper behind busy thoughts. An anchor. A drawing-in anchor. Because of the way it came to me, it has authority, no doubt. It can bring me right down into myself. It feels very important. But what does it mean? My mind struggles to grasp a meaning. How close is close, how close is inside me? How could something be closer than inside me? How close when you can’t see it? And what is it, this thing that is closer than close?

I think it’s a clue, a pointer. It reinforces self-inquiry, the right direction is inward. Maybe its like a magnet. I hadn’t thought in terms of letting it work its magic. Thank You.

See the painting (below) that Mary sent along with her response.

From John W:
Here's a very recent quote that momentarily had my mind-train completely frozen in its tracks:

“Is not the idea of a total world a part of your personal world? The universe does not come to tell you that you are a part of it. It is you who has invented a totality to contain you as a part. In fact, all you know is your own private world, however well you have furnished it with your imaginations and expectations.” -Nisargadatta

I believe this presented itself to prompt me to go back and reinforce things that I had not let sink in deeply enough during a significant, mini-realization from several months prior - I'd forgotten or lost sight of something that was supposed to have been cleared up. I need more "empty-head" time to let it soak, but I know that an amount of magic is already underway.

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....

See Howdie's complete response.

*

Editor's comment: TAT Foundation Press publishes Howdie's Falling For Truth: A Spiritual Death And Awakening.

From Art Ticknor:
When I was moving from Ohio to California in early 1980, nearly two years after having found the Zen group at Ohio State University and then meeting the man who inspired its founding, Richard Rose, I drove to West Virginia to say goodbye to him. He had changed my life dramatically from the first time I met him, and moving to the West Coast and starting a new job career, I didn't know when I'd get back to see him in person.

I thanked him for everything he'd done for me (and others) and said I wished there was some way I could repay him for it. His response: "That's not the way it works. Pass it on."

I don't recall it stopping my head, but I'd say it worked some magic. From that moment, it became a commitment that I acted on.

From Chitra D:
Here is my quote, from the beginning of the poem "Happiness" by Lama Gendun Rinpoche. And yes, it stops my mind in its tracks whenever I read it. I keep it open on my computer and re-read it often and sit silently with it.

Happiness cannot be found
through great effort and willpower,
but is already here, right now,
in relaxation and letting go.
Don't strain yourself, there is nothing to do.
Whatever arises in the mind
has no importance at all,
because it has no reality whatsoever.

Don't become attached to it. Don't pass judgement.
Let the game happen on its own,
emerging and falling back - without changing anything -
and all will vanish and begin anew, without end.
Only our searching for happiness prevents us from seeing it.

From Isaac H:
I recently read Lords of Light: The Path of Initiation in the Western Mysteries by W.E. Butler. He makes a lot of points that fit right in between Richard Rose's and Dion Fortune's points of view, though probably closer to Fortune's. In his opinion, the path of the occultist is to mold their personality (though this word has a slightly more specific meaning to him) into an instrument for divinity to use, that the key to wisdom is service, and that the service of making of oneself a "jewel" is a true sacrifice for the Eternal.

There are a series of quotes that all hit me, the first being "And the answer is, 'Yes you can have that knowledge; you can attain that wisdom.' But first of all, why do you want it? Do you want it simply in order that you may be about three inches above the average height? Do you want it to go around performing funny little tricks to the awe and amazement of your fellow men? A lot of people do." (pg 4)

I sat for a moment and pondered this, not a thought that has been alien to my mind, but one that deserves repeated asking. I kept reading, and got to "And that is the key to all occult teaching: If you 'desire to know in order to serve,' then sooner or later you will obtain that knowledge. If you desire to know for any lesser purpose, you will not receive the fullness of that knowledge. Service—to love your neighbor as yourself and, equally, to love yourself as your neighbor—don't forget it cuts both ways.

I think it was Solomon who said, "I will not offer that to the Lord which has cost me nothing. We each of us bring ourselves to the sacrificial altar to offer ourselves." (pg 5) Well yes, that is the real reason that I do all these practices. "And that is the reason, service to ourselves, to make of ourselves true sacrifices, to give something worthwhile, to make of ourselves a jewel. And that means occult training." (pg 6)

I pondered. Yes, there is a recognition that I desire to be of service, and that to truly be of service we have to mold ourselves, like the picture of the statue on Psychology of the Observer, into a useful instrument. I kept reading. "The path is not a path for those who are wanting something, it is a path for those who are going to be something, who are going to take of themselves and forge from themselves an instrument in the hands of the Divine. We are going to offer ourselves, all of ourselves, everything in us, to the Eternal. And from the Eternal comes the gnosis, the knowledge that is above knowledge. This inner gnosis, which is far above knowledge, is taught us by the teacher-who-dwells-within." (pg 8)

I sat with that for a while, and then went to work outside, stacking wood in preparation for winter. As I did the manual labor, the ideas kept bubbling just under the conscious mind. The magic of quotes of this nature, and of esoteric philosophy in general, I think is more along the lines of a slow burn. Yes there are moments where a spark strikes in fireworks, but for the most part, as Butler says: "Well, that's the job of treading the path, not a question of becoming an adept overnight. Not a question of trying to become someone big, but a question of taking part in the greatest work in the whole universe." (pg 9)

From Patrick K:
It was put to me a couple of years back by Art, fortuitously, WH Auden's line from his poem, “The More Loving One”. It goes, “If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving one be me”. It gets me over all sorts of social hang ups. It's like a prayer or intention that feels a most wise way of thinking about others.

From Mike Gegenheimer:
There have been many times over my life when at school, at work, reading at night, or listening to a tape or lecture, that something has stopped my thinking. Simply jotting something down to return to later rarely would capture the nature of the moment when the mind is open. Whenever possible, I learned to simply sit in the awareness of the moment, with the feeling that often accompanied those instances. In more recent years, whenever possible, if in the office I would "lay down my tools"—turn away from whatever was in front of me, look out a window, ignore thoughts that might try to intrude—and sit with nothing but the awareness and accompanying feeling.

Separately, I recently wrote a short poem with the online rapport group participants in mind and read it to them:

The embrace of life and its seeming beauty,
      leads us to question its seeming reality.
Loving the self brings suffering, the desires of life
      bring suffering.
What sees the vain search for satisfaction, and
      knows its emptiness?

The mind spins for a lifetime; watch it spin,
      glory in its beauty, wonder at its paradoxes.
The seeker looks away, for what Is, is not a thought.
Longing for connection, the seeker no longer looks outward to nature
      or into the eyes of others for love and affirmation.

Thinking and longing point inside to Home—and yet are only
      reflections of Being.

When deep feeling calls to you from inside,
      it seeks nothing in return;
      impersonal, yet intimately familiar,
      it feels of Home, an echo of Union…

Home, drawing you near to Heart,
      Where there is
           nothing to know,
           nothing to feel,
           nothing to cling to
           nothing to fear…

When deep feeling calls from inside, allow it to prevail.

From Abhay D:
"To begin with, you must give up the idea of substantiality or existence. The usual view of life is firmly rooted in the idea of existence. For most people everything exists; they think whatever they see and whatever they hear exists. Of course the bird we see and hear exists. It exists, but what I mean by that may not be exactly what you mean. The Buddhist understanding of life includes both existence and non-existence. The bird both exists and does not exist at the same time. We say that a view of life based on existence alone is heretical. If you take things too seriously, as if they existed substantially or permanently, you are called a heretic. Most people may be heretics." From Zen Mind Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

From Brett S:
Recently, one member of the NYC Self-Inquiry Group asked another member something along the lines of, “do you believe in a mistake-free life?” It stopped me in my tracks because I think a lot of my motivation for being on a so-called spiritual path is to get myself to a place where I don’t see what I’m doing, saying, feeling or thinking as some kind of mistake. I want to be lifted from those judgments, and instead feel acceptance for myself, for death, for life, for other people. I can’t really say if I gave the quote space to work its magic. It did “come-up” in my mind subsequently, and I watched how I felt when it did, and I guess I kind of noted it. Sometimes when I hear a quote that stops me in my tracks I’ll write it down, just email it to myself on my phone in the hopes that it will “come-up” later, and that I’ll remember it felt important enough to pay attention to when it does, and to watch my reaction to it. I did that recently when I heard a song playing with lyrics that caught my attention: “No letting go, no holding back.”

Other Reader Feedback

Referencing the article "I Am Grey Eyes" in the 2021 October TAT Forum, Shawn Nevins wrote this to the book's author, William Ryan:

A friend sent me this quote from your book I Am Grey Eyes. I understand the book is historical fiction based on copious research and was curious what the inspiration was for this remarkable passage:

You … love to nail dates, places and solid things in your stories, but your world is not as solid as you believe. Time doesn’t always run like you see. When a story is told, time stops for a moment, then it can move again. Just hearing a story can move you forward or take you to places you never had been. If you have the magic, and feel the story in your heart you can sometimes go there in your mind and see things either in future or past times. I cannot explain it, it just happens. Times just are, what happens then stays there forever. A time is anchored like a ship, and you can go back to it if you know how. Some of us grey eyed Indians have that power.

It dovetails nice with what a friend once told me about our lives being an "eternal fact." So I was curious if this dialogue was based on a historical recording or was an inspired writing of your own.

*

Bill Ryan replied:

I think I wrote them. But none of us exist alone. I am now 89 years and have always wondered how I exist, the night sky filled with stars, and why we are here. Certainly have no answer. I am attaching a piece of my next work, which I may or may not finish. My life was ‘strange’ full of events that seem to have no control by me. I am so pleased you and your friend read that passage as it has been the theme in my writing efforts. Please stay in touch as I would much enjoy knowing more about you.

http://www.oldkingsroad.com
https://www.amazon.com/William-Ryan/e/B003YVIPWM/

Q: What are your thoughts on this month's reader commentary? Please your feedback.

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?

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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 See the complete part 3 (5 additional principles)

Jacob's Ladder © 2001 Richard Rose. See this transcript of a talk on the topic by Rose.

Homing Ground Update … A spot on earth where people can do retreats and hold meetings; where the emphasis is on friendship and the search. November 2021: We're looking forward to another informal gathering, this time in November in advance of our regular November TAT meeting, which will be virtual this year. The informal gathering in August was a success, so we thought we'd do it again! We're almost at 5% of our fundraising goal for the year. Special thanks go to three TAT members making automatic, monthly contributions using PayPal. Almost all of our progress from September to October was due to them! Such monthly contributions are a great way to support the TAT Center if making a larger one-time donation seems too much. If you're so inspired, click the Donate button below, then check the box for "Make this a monthly donation" as in the example below:   Let's bring this to life! "The job is upon us," Richard Rose said, "and it is worthwhile." To contribute to the TAT Center, mail a check made out to the TAT Foundation to: TAT Foundation PO Box 3402 Roxboro, NC 27573 Big checks, little checks, all are welcome. Or use the PayPal link above (though we lose 2.2% of your donation to PayPal fees). * See photos and more on the Homing Ground page. * In friendship, Shawn Nevins on behalf of the TAT Trustees

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