TO READ EXTRACTS FROM RICHARD SYLVESTER'S NEW BOOK
'THE BOOK OF NO ONE'
TO BE PUBLISHED BY NON-DUALITY PRESS IN 2008 CLICK HERE
The most common misconception about liberation is that it is something an individual can gain. But liberation is a loss - the loss of the sense that there ever was a separate individual who could choose to do something to bring about liberation.
When it is seen that there is no separation, the sense of vulnerability and fear that attaches to the individual falls away and what is left is the wonder of life just happening. Instead of meaning there is a squirrel motionless on a grey tree trunk, legs splayed, head up, looking straight at you. Instead of purpose there is the astonishing texture of cat's fur or the incredible way an ant crawls over a twig.
When the sensation that I am in control of my life and must make it happen ends, then life is simply lived and relaxation takes place. There is a sense of ease with whatever is the case and an end to grasping for what might be.
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Many so-called teachers of non-duality suggest that there is someone who can do something to heal their sense of separation; in other words that there is a person who is able to discover that they are not a person. The absurdity of this idea is often camouflaged by highly complex and subtle thinking. Teachings about non-duality frequently present the seductive idea that liberation can be realised through an evolutionary spiritual path. This has no actual connection with non-duality but it can offer us a convincing, although completely meaningless, story about it.
From this story arise the many paths, doctrines, techniques, gurus, teachers, mantra-salesmen, workshops and groups which make up the spiritual bazaar.
Any way of searching may lead to a person being more comfortable. But that is all you get. You get a person who is more comfortable in their prison. If you are in prison, it’s far better to be comfortable but that doesn’t get the person out of the prison they perceive themselves to be in.
Nothing will get the person out of their prison because the person is the prison. When the person drops away, it is seen that there never was a prison in the first place.
Then it is seen that ‘I’ am the light in which everything arises. And so are ‘you’.
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In liberation it is seen that all phenomena simply arise in awareness with no person mediating them. Purpose, morality, religion and paths of spiritual development all lose their meaning when it is seen that there is no one who exercises choice or who has responsibility.
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Richard's book ‘I Hope You Die Soon - Words on Non-Duality and Liberation’ published by Non-Duality Press is available now. To order a copy please go to the end of this page.
“Richard's description of what has been seen in liberation is both eloquent and down to earth. His direct, uncluttered and concise expression can be readily identified with and speaks directly to that knowing which is beyond seeking.”
Tony Parsons - author of ‘The Open Secret’
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Richard lives in England on the border of
West Kent and East Sussex.
You can contact Richard by
e-mailing
richardsylvester@hotmail.co.uk
Or by phoning
01892 549312
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To order a copy of Richard’s book ‘I Hope You Die Soon - Words on Non-Duality and Liberation’ published by Non-Duality Press, please send a cheque for £9.35 (£8 + £1.35 p. and p.) made out to Richard Sylvester to:-
Richard Sylvester
The Old Stables
Sandrock Road
Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN2 3PR
'I Hope You Die Soon' is also available in German as
'Erleuchtet - und was jetzt?'
For more information go to
www.randomhouse.de/ansataintegrallotos/
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