TAT Forum

A reader wrote that what would make the Forum more interesting would be:

Hearing from people who are searching—and have questions instead of those providing endless advice and "answers." What challenges they are facing. What their doubts and questions are. How they perceive their path is going. What they are doing in their lives. Where they think they will end up. Etc., etc.

Can you help make the Forum more interesting?

Thanks to Don A. for the Reader Commentary question for the October TAT Forum:

What about you do you think or feel needs to be fixed?

Responses follow.

From Michael R:
It’s a feeling—a bare feeling of incompleteness or separateness. I can lay all kinds of stories on top of that feeling in an attempt to describe what it is that I’m somehow missing ... but at the end of the day they all, every single one of them, involve and depend on a certain belief about who or what I am. And the truth is, I don’t know what I am, so the only path towards finding completion seems to be first—before anything else could even be considered—defining what I am. Who is separate? What is incomplete? Who has these beliefs about himself? What feels this longing? Who’s asking?

From Topi P:
      The frame of the mirror, it shines in its golden flair. Flowers, smooth as glass, scattered on its corners, the golden lines as waves carrying the looks, through molded gold and forms, framing the price as a reflection.
      Enchanted, joyous looks, chanting and rejoice for the beauty of Form.
      But what of the mirror, that smokelike substance, hard as glass, color as grey as the morning haze and on its own, no color, no daze
      The mirror doesn't move, doesn't tell, no horrors will ever stain, never remain. What feel, whatever thoughts, deeds lost or moved on.
      In This plain light, what of the image, the form, the sin? Why even bother with unborn dreams?

*

      The hiss of the machinery, wailing of the ungreased axles, the burning pan providing the heat, the perpetual motion happening
      None there to take credit, machinery running, turning, no need for an engineer. Sometimes the parts try and change, try and part their pace, change in change to move, to soothe
      But next turn the turning wheel is back on the tracks, change forgotten, motion never less, but nevertheless worth it?

From Vince L:
My sense of things is that, ultimately, nothing needs to be fixed. As the saying goes. "It is as it is." Whether from the perspective of the Unmanifest, Manifesting, or Manifested Mind, it is as it is. The problem, as I see it, has to do with the perspective I'm operating out of. I'm still identified with the manifested mind and my individuality. If anything needs to be fixed, I believe this ongoing identification with my individuality is the thing to work on. As far as I can see, this identification is currently preventing me from recognizing that "it is as it is" beyond a mere intellectual understanding. Now I might be mistaken about all of this, and I'd appreciate feedback from anyone who can point out where I'm going on the wrong track.

From POD:
The first thought that popped up when I read this question was "Nothing". This was immediately followed by the second one, "That's a lie".

Truth be told, I'm constantly seeing a narrative running "I shouldn't do this" or "I should do that" or what seems like an infinite number of other narratives all fuelled by a desire to be other than I am. It seems this habit is deeply engrained.

So, more and more recently I'm just trying to let all these desires come and go as they please, allowing them the freedom to run.

Rather than resist them and fight them and go to war with them, only compounding them, instead I just notice it coming up again and again and I just bring attention to stillness. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.

But Stillness is where I intuitively feel more drawn. Where it feels there is nothing to fix. Nothing to change.

From Mike M:
Basically what I feel needs to be fixed is the idea that something is wrong and does need to be fixed. When I am practicing or in meditation, all is well. Nothing needs to be fixed in the present, the idea only pops up regarding the past or future.

From Shawn Nevins:
A few questions I'll ask before fixing something:
1. Is there something broken in me, or only qualities I wish were other than they are?
2. When did the wish arise?
3. Is the wish mine or was the wish imposed upon me?
4. Do I have a goal? Is this wish in service to my goal?
5. Where/who will I be once the quality is fixed? Somewhere/someone other than where I am right now?
6. Where/who will I be if the quality is not fixed? Somewhere/someone other than where I am right now?

*

Editor's comment: TAT Foundation Press publishes Shawn's Passages: An Introduction and Commentary on Richard Rose’s Albigen System co-authored by Mike Gegenheimer, Hydroglyphics: Reflections on the Sacred with photos by Phaedra Greenwood, Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment, and The Celibate Seeker. He also authors the SpiritualTeachers.org website featuring recommendations of teachers, movies and books along with The Journals of Spiritual Discovery podcasts.

From L. Schwartz:
NOTHING. "Everything is being itself ... perfectly"
Why is this not immediately obvious to us?
Answer this question and RETREAT!

From Patrick K:
My attachment to the “first person” view and the “third person” view of myself needs to be fixed by dropping that attachment. I feel if I can observe clearly and make a permanent detachment from these said views, I would become much more natural. I feel my self evolves around the mental energetic between how I like/dislike to see myself and how I would like/dislike others to see me. It seems to be a lot about image for me. But the more I get to see, the more at peace I become—so to make a permanent shift from both views to an anterior observer of these views would be valuable. I feel from there I could launch a more direct focus on what I really am, start to have the mental space and energy to seek out what the Observer is at source, where does that capacity actually hail from? Everything seems to be a problem unitl I can find the answer to that last question, because otherwise it feels like I am staring from a void toward a void, feeling like there is nothing going on, only the ongoing perpetual surviving from one day to the next in a meaningless world. Albeit a very interesting, fascinating conundrum of a world to ponder about, but I feel it is most important to ponder about what I am at essense because that is where the most juice is.

From Art Ticknor:
I feel that my life experience may be trying to smooth off some of my rough edges—like impatience, for example, or indulgence in food and drink. I am in favor of those fixes and am watching to see what changes may occur.

From Brian M:
At times I feel that excessive thinking and mind chatter needs to be fixed in me. I feel it may prevent insight and finding out what I truly am. Trying to find a way to reduce excessive thinking and mind chatter is not so easy. In addition to meditation, Bob Harwood's ATA-T (Attending the Actual minus Thought) or to refuse all thoughts except one: the thought "I am" as recommended by Nisargadatta are some things I am practicing currently, though need more consistency.

Then there are current issues outside me that seem to need to be fixed like the situation in the Ukraine, high inflation, energy costs and climate change. I liked something I read from a Kabbalist called Dr. Michael Laitman. His take on climate change was: "It turns out that the correction of our tormented planet begins with the correction of our broken ties with one another." He continues: "Since the only element in nature that has bad intentions and an exploitative attitude toward others is us, we must begin to change our relationships. Our attitude toward the rest of nature stems from our attitude toward each other." I have to agree with him. I have often felt that certain things in the world needed to be fixed, other people need to be fixed and I also need to be fixed. If I have a good loving relationship towards myself and others then I tend to heal quicker and problems tend to resolve effortlessly. With a contented heart then nothing needs to be fixed. If I look to nature, with time nature can easily regenerate and heal itself, like what has happened to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

From Bill K:
I am seeking because there is something major wrong: I need a real me. Because what seems like me has become a quite hollow presence, but nothing to put my finger on to say this right here is me. Yet this me is my real and central point of reference for all experience! How could it be that there are so many characteristics of me to identify with, but no me? So many attachments but nothing to attach to. There is just no me evident, nothing obvious. The problem is further complicated, in that I see no obvious me as alternative. Is self-inquiry the best I could do, subtracting everything to see what is left? Or, someone else once told me, to once and for all "just dive deep."

From Dan G:
I have no solid ground of being and I need that fixed. The mind’s attempts to fix that resemble the bargaining stage of grief, and a voice knows they’ll fail. Facing my hopelessness to fix this and doubting the conviction could maybe lead to accepting some facts.

In this conviction, I believe more or less my essence has no solidity; it’s temporary, limited, and not absolute. What has a solid ground of being in this conviction is death. All will be nothingness forever. No beauty, no purpose, just a lost chance for anything real to ever happen.

So maybe I can’t fix the lack of solidity, even though the mind tries. The root of the problem is deeper than what I can control. Accepting my deep lack of solidity might be the next step. The mind reacts to it but it doesn’t have the tools to fix it. The fact is I’m completely trapped in a mortal mind, and nothing in that mind’s experiences changes that destiny. I think it’s ok to be sad life and beauty are limited. Accepting emptiness doesn’t really change anything.

Where does this emptiness come from?

From Brett S:
I don't know what about me needs to be fixed, and that's what needs to be fixed. I feel sometimes it's my lack of honesty, at other times my lack of purpose, at other times my avoidance, at other times my emotionality. I don't feel I can go in the direction of fixing all of these problems at once, and don't know which ones need to be fixed and which ones don't. Some people tell me none of them need to be fixed. How can I know any of this for myself?

Other Reader Feedback

From Howdie Mickoski, whose Falling for Truth the TAT Foundation Press publishes:
Some of the TAT members may have wondered where I have been the last several months. Mostly I have been inside writing 10 hour days to finish up a new book.
It is titled Exit the Cave: Ending the Reincarnation Trap. I'm not here to market it, but to share a key element of the process of coming to write it.
It is a 180 degree turn from my book Falling For Truth, and actually back to much of what I had been studying 20+ years ago. My death experience in the canyon pushed me to subject areas that were "safer" you might say that became my previous book.
That changed this spring, and a veil lifted, and I was back to what I call the most important research we can do. Where we are, what this place is, and what will happen after we die. And with no "happy spiritual overlays" to feel better or safe, to look for the raw truth of it all.
So my message here is one of "keep going." No matter where you are, how elevated you think you might be, there is always more to go, more to look into, more delusion to uncover.
And to trust yourself in the process. So much of what we do is placing our focus, awareness, hopes and prayers on that which is outside of us. A part of this writing has been to get back to standing strongly in my own sovereignty, my own power, and my own inner wisdom. That is what I have been doing.

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.

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. October 2022: Thanks to our stalwart monthly donors (you know who you are!), we ended September at 31.3% of the fundraising goal for 2022. But we can't rely on them alone, and really need some more people to help us reach the year-end goal. Please consider making a one-time donation or starting a recurring monthly donation this month. Hopefully you'll take the opportunity to visit the TAT Center for the November meeting. I'll plan to see you there! And please consider joining the effort to sustain our Homing Ground for years to come. Shawn Nevins PS: 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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