I am sitting on my porch on a sleepy summer afternoon here in Springfield. I close my eyes and listen to the house wrens and cardinals calling to one another. Now and then my dog, Shadow, barks at a biker or another dog barking in the distance. A truck rumbles by on the street at the end of the block. I feel warmth and tingling in my feet, especially the arches. The bumpy wicker chair's arm presses against my elbow and the computer heats my lap. Jenna, my neighbor, walks out of her house... Read Full Story

The following is a letter from a reader (Tim) that addresses a fundamental misunderstanding. I hope this article helps to clarify it. Tim: I never wrote to you before - read your blog occasionally. One thing I'm surprised at though is the fact that you take anxiety meds - I would have expected realizing "the truth" would relieve emotional tension most of the time. VF: Overall, there is less tension - much less. However, the “realization of truth” is always here and now - it never begins... Read Full Story

Raj: I can feel or let me say, I know I am 'aware' only when I see things around (visible world). Without them I do not even know whether I am ‘present’ or 'aware' (like in deep sleep). So is it correct to say: my Awareness = the things around when I am in my wakeful state? VF: Raj, you write “without [objects] I do not even know whether I am present or aware. So is it correct to say my awareness equals the things around me when I am in a wakeful state?” Who possesses this awareness... Read Full Story

Right now, in this moment, aren't 'you' being? Right now, in this moment, look directly and answer this question: does it take any effort to be right now? Right. Absolutely everything else is a dead-end direction. There isn't any more to IT than This. Rest. Read Full Story

This pathless path is not one of perfection. As has been written by countless others, there is nothing that you need to do to recognize who/what you really are. Nonetheless, many of us are addicted to the idea of spiritual progress or spiritual perfection. We have been taught to look at everything we do – eating, sleeping, exercising, raising children, cleaning the porch, washing the dishes, making love, maintaining a relationship, dressing, earning money, decorating a house, driving the car... Read Full Story

If you really want to be done with the search, don't read this as an intellectual exercise. Don't read this as just another step on your way to "finally getting it." Instead, right now, look directly at this very moment. Take your time and really look. Listen to sounds. See color, shape, and movement. Sense pressure, texture, and temperature. Notice that absolutely no effort is required for any of this to happen. Sensing, seeing, hearing are all happening, right now... Read Full Story

There is nothing to do that can take you any closer to where you already are. What if everything is already alright? What if you are exactly where you need to be? What if life is living you perfectly? What if it is seen that the ‘you’ is just another thought arising in…? You are already whole, already complete. There isn’t anything you need to change or improve or understand in order to rest as this vast Natural Intelligence that you are. It is only a thought that says there is a ‘you’ who... Read Full Story

Nothing needs to be done to simply rest as the awareness that You are. No practices are needed. No special breathing. No need to sit in the lotus posture. No more books to read. No more talks to attend. No more weekend workshops and trainings are necessary. No particular geographical location is more auspicious than another. No special clothes need to be worn. No need to wear Birkenstocks. No need to become a vegetarian or a vegan. No need to join the Green Party. No need to stop smoking... Read Full Story

I frequently get email questions from people who read the blog. I really appreciate the questions; they are a great help in clarifying what is written. I also hear in many of the emails a great deal of frustration and efforting and pushing to "figure it out." What I came to see, thanks to so many who graciously gave of their time and insight, is that there is no way to "figure it out." That came as a great disappointment to me. It was tremendously frustrating and I thought that people were... Read Full Story

The point is Love. As long as we remain caught in the fiction of separation, there is fear and defending and attacking to maintain the form - and there are countless forms: people and dogs and nations and ideals and philosophies and theories and property and mine and yours and certainty and right and wrong and Christians and Jews and us and them and Democrats and Republicans and conservatives and liberals and educated and uneducated and rich and poor and beautiful and ugly and man and woman... Read Full Story