Radiant Mind: Awakening Unconditional Awareness

There is no way of telling whether or not it will happen, since there is nothing we can do to make it happen, or stop it from happening. Doing anything to make it happen—including doing nothing—is quite immaterial to the emergence of the final phase.

unconditioned bliss.

The very notion of making progress seems elusive. What would constitute progress, and where are we going anyway?

Every experience is deeply profound yet totally meaningless. We are not sure if this is the most real thing we have every experienced or if it is a total illusion. The Lankavatara Sutra expresses this dilemma this way: “Reality is not as it seems and nor is it otherwise.”

Our competence is tied to the acquisition of relevant skills—skills in managing our moods, our relationships, our career, negotiating mutually satisfactory outcomes, etc. We can even learn to design our moods to assist our thinking and use our thoughts to modify our feelings and emotions, but still our competence and ease of living is a function of

if we don’t give appropriate attention to the areas of our life that throw us into states of denial, conflict, and confusion, reality can come knocking on the door in very abrupt and draining ways, which can unnecessarily side-track us. Of course, ultimately, there is no path and no goal,

We recognize the distortion of our personality that has been caused by accommodating the needs and concerns of other people. We also see the possibility of living in respectful and mutually empowering relationships. This signals entry into the phase called coexistence.

There is nowhere to be other than where we are. There is no one to be except the person we are. We come home to who we are and where we have always been. This

Whatever it is that we need, we get others to do it to us—be it to hate us, love us, dominate us, or ignore us.