Here are the rules of the road as you journey along. This list is really meant for people who feel they are in the ‘Second Mountain’ stage of things. These are not meant as cryptic, cute little sayings. They’re literal guides. However, the danger of this guidebook is that it turns non-dualism into a destination. That’s okay, even though non-dualism is not, in any sense, a destination. But for now, it won’t hurt us to think of it that way.
Mostly, this is a guide to pitfalls along the way. Our ego and our dualistic mind will play a thousand games to convince us that we’ve ‘got it’.
This list is not meant to make you feel like you’re hopeless or messing things up – it’s to prevent you from getting bogged down in common traps. As you move toward non-dualistic thought, read these over from time to time and see if any of them apply. If they do, see if you can discover why they’re worded the way they are.
If you can think of any changes that would make your life better, you’re not there.
If you can think of an opposite to whatever you’ve latched on to, it’s not non-dualism.
If you can describe non-dualism, it’s not non-dualism.
If you think you’ve got it, you don’t.
If you’re absolutely positive you’re enlightened, you’re not.
If you’re trying, you’re barking up the wrong tree.
If it seems difficult, you’re making it that way – it isn’t.
If you’re convinced that it’s going to take you some time to reach this state, you’re wrong.
You’re granted three wishes. If you are eager to use them, you’re not there.
You’re granted three wishes. If you would toss them away or maybe use them to wish for a million dollars, but you’re a little indecisive which you’d choose, you’re probably pretty close.
If you know you don’t have it with complete conviction, and know you never will, then you know you’ve got it!
I may add more as they occur to me, so check back if you decide to use this as a tool.
Great list. That last one’s a zinger!
Hi Ariel!
Oh good — it’s nice when things have that zingy flavor! =)
Kenton
Hi Kenton,
Great list or not.
I’m not sure if I’m confused or if I’ve had some of it all along, because the idea of ‘never will’ has almost always been a constant, except for those times when I forced it back to its hiding place and I thought I might.
And maybe it’s more simple. I’m just not as good at lists as I thought.
I’ll check my horoscope again, see if list making is one of my fortes, unless the moon is full of course, which probably changes the entire procedure.
How did I ever miss this post, I wonder, with all the pointing to lack of clarity, it should have been calling my name.
Must have been that magical link word, quicksand, that I finally arrived here or there, sinking and surviving.
Lots of fun to be had, thanks Kenton! And if I was suppose to take it all seriously, I take it back.
Hello Barbara!
I think it all unfolded most perfectly. Never serious.
Good to hear from you, by the way!
Sweetwater,
Kenton