Hello, today I’m going to discuss the nature of the self.
In duality, we understand that the self is all there is. There is no other, no separation, and no second. There has only ever been the self. So when people talk about practicing being the self, finding the self, or abiding in the self, they are actually creating an artificial and illusory separation between themselves and the self. You cannot practice to become what you already are. You cannot strive to stay with what you already are. There is nothing to do to be with the self because you are the self. You have always been that.
Some people believe that in finding the self or exploring non-duality, it is something other than what we experience. But that’s not the case because if the self was not this all-manifestation, all-form, then there would have to be some kind of other, a second. However, there is no second in non-duality. There is just a fundamental ignorance, a misunderstanding. It is only a belief in a thought that we are not the self.
Therefore, seeking the self can, in a way, hinder the process because there is nothing to find. You are already here. You are the ever-present self. You are always here and now. Where else would you be? There is nothing to attain, which is why it is often said that there is nothing to attain. You cannot attain what you already are. If it’s over with you, what would you gain?
Hence, there is no gain or loss. It can be likened to the law of conservation of energy, where energy is never created or destroyed; it simply transforms into different forms and moves about. Similarly, the self in non-duality is never created or destroyed. It is merely a transformation of forms.
We are not the forms, or rather, we are all the forms. It’s an intriguing aspect because we often get fixated on the form. Sometimes the teaching states that we are not the form, but eventually, it comes back to the understanding that we are the form. It’s comparable to ice and water; they are essentially the same thing, just in different forms. When ice melts into liquid, nothing is gained or lost. It remains the same. In this way, nothing has ever been gained or lost. It’s a transformation of form, a movement of energy, but it’s always the same energy. The form is energy. As Einstein’s equation E=mc² suggests, energy and matter are not separate. They are the same thing. The self encompasses everything.
here is no other. While forms may come and go, the form is the self. What it turns into is also the self. There is no gain or loss. The self is all there ever was.
The key is to realize what you have always been.
