Disclaimer: Welcome to the laboratory, explore with an open heart ❤️
2 Fishes Seeking Water?
Posted by Holger:
Remember the story of the 2 fishes
swimming in the ocean.
Two young fishes swimming in the ocean
and another older fish comes swimming
in the opposite direction;
and as he goes past them, he says:
morning boys, are you enjoying the water?
And the two fish swim on for a while…
and then one of them turns to the other
and says, “water? … what’s that!”
For your thoughts that are wandering
all over the place,
they’re already swimming in that,
for which you are in search.
But but you’re still looking for it
as some kind of …
some kind of experience
that you’re going to have
in the future…
you’ll look forever.
If you think it’s an experience,
a subtle experience,
a peaceful experience,
you’ll look forever.
And the frustration would just grow.
People talk about the nondual understanding.
There is no nondual understanding.
Don’t you add.
It’s not about understanding.
You don’t have to understand anything to be.
Did this newborn infant understand anything?
Does the person on their death bed
just before they breathe their last breath…
do they understand anything?
No!
Do they have any special experience?
Are they enlightened?
I get the impression you’re still
looking for some marvelous,
or be it refined experience:
“Something’s going to happen.”
Nothing’s going to happen.
It’s already happening.
Don’t make a quiet mind a prerequisite.
A quiet mind is a consequence of resting in being,
but is not a prerequisite for it.
In which gospel does it say:
Be still, and know that I am God?
If I’d written it,
I would have written it the other way around:
Know that I am God, and be still.
Don’t worry about stilling your mind.
Wherever the fishes go,
they’re swimming in the water.
But they don’t know it.
Not because it’s so far.
Not because it’s so unknown.
Not because it’s so unfamiliar,
but because it’s so close,
so intimate, so familiar.
Stop practicing.
Stop meditating.
Stop being interested in nonduality.
Stop making an effort.
Stop disciplining your mind.
Anything we do,
must be founded on the assumption
that what we are aiming for
is not present now.
Why would we sit down and meditate?
Because we want something to happen
at the end of the meditation.
Whatever we want to happen
at the end of the meditation must,
by definition, not be present now.
Well, something may happen at the end
of the meditation, but it won’t be
what we speak about here,
and it won’t bring you peace.
Forget about meditation.
Forget about nonduality.
Forget about self inquiry.
Forget about teachers.
Forget about teachings.
Give give yourself a break.
And you you may find
that what you’ve been seeking
all these years will just emerge
quietly from the background of your experience.
Nothing sensational,
nothing to tell anybody about,
no marvelous experience.
One Source
Related Presenters:
Related Friends:
Category:
Tag:
Created: June 18, 2023
Last modified: June 18, 2023
This post has 1 Comment
One response to “2 Fishes Seeking Water?”
-
I first came across that fish story in a book by Chuck C. “A New Pair Of Glasses”. Always have loved that. Came across this RS video before also and love it. It is so clear. Thank you for the opportunity to listen again!
Leave a Reply