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Renaee's avatar

This was a really wonderful post Joan and just what I needed to hear. It really helped me that you shared this "I’ve found after many years of wrestling with this that when the nonsubstantiality of everything that appears is fully realized on the level of direct experiencing rather than being heard as ideology and belief, there is absolutely no contradiction whatsoever. So if these questions trouble you as they have troubled me at times, what I’ve found is that the resolution can only be found by tuning into direct experience here and now." - Well they have troubled me a lot!, and so I see that tuning in more is the way and to keep doing this, and it is not 'looking away' but enables me to embrace it all. I especially loved the quotes you included from the Death book, esp from the time you spent with AnamT - just beautiful! But best of all from DB the quote - is that from one of his books too? A while back (I may have told you this already) I emailed DB and asked him about the unravelling of our civilisation and how the 'mixed bag' of things is starting to look decidedly more negative for many people on the planet, I got a warm hearted and practical response from him that is dear to me. The overall feeling of this post landed spot on reading it now, and I hold this very dearly too - thankyou.

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mack paul's avatar

I steeped myself in non-duality in the years leading up to my mother’s death, thinking I was missing the key that would insulate me from grief and fear. Her death hit me with an unexpected force that informed me that i couldn’t protect myself from anything, but taught me at the same time that i could bear it. One of Joko Beck’s talks is titled The Gift Nobody Wants and I wonder if that wasn’t what she was talking about.

Nobody wants to be afraid and from cold blooded James Bond to warm hearted Jesus, all our heroes are people we believe have conquered it. These last few years have taught me to be tender with my own and others’ fear and trauma because it so quickly leads to violence.

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