Scott Kiloby talks to Greg Goode about the Direct Path. A four part series with Greg Goode, where Scott Kiloby becomes Greg’s student (along with being the interviewer) so that Greg can explain the direct path. This is a rich path that leaves no stone unturned!
Traveler: When friends ask me what I study, and I try to explain, I find it hard to put into words, what is Sufism? Help me understand so I can give a clearer answer?
Master: One of the great teachers offered, ‘long before there was a name (Sufism) there was a reality. Now there is a name without a reality.’ What is meant by this is that there has always been a way to connect with and experience ultimate Truth; this spiritual path of learning existed long before travelers, in the late 1800′s, gave this way of learning its present name- Sufism. At the time, local ascetics wore a distinctive woolen (Soof) robe and became known for this. Now this name, or spiritual form, for many followers exists without a corresponding inner reality. Often today, what you see in the world represented as Sufism is an empty shell of its former self.
Fools gold exists because there is real gold.
Rumi 1
This ancient Path of spiritual development is based upon connection with and experience of the Divine. It involves study with a teacher and the awakening, through direct contact with Truth of latent spiritual capacity; this is done so the traveler can help others. This Truth or universal essence, the spiritual traveler seeks and experiences, is the underlying energy or fabric of created forms.
If I had known of any science greater than Sufism
I would have gone to it, even on my hands and knees.
Junaid 2
The Sufi’s task is to recognize the end at the Beginning.
He has gone beyond. He has rolled up the cosmos
In its turn and obliterated it.
He has reduced and then eliminated the marks Of selfhood to allow a clear view of Cosmic Reality.
Junaid 3
This Path, existed long before there were religions; this way of learning is at the heart of the great religions; it is the underlying spiritual energy that gives everything in the universe its form and substance. Inside each of us is an aspect of this wondrous element. Through preparation, practice developing our inner spiritual awareness, and Grace we unite with and serve Ultimate Reality every day.
For so long did the Beloved
Face my open heart
That except for His Attributes and Nature
Nothing remained of that heart.
Maghribi 4
My teacher called this Path – the Superhighway to God. For those who wish to connect with Truth and use their inner spiritual capacity to help others; this form of learning is available in every town and city.
Worshiping God is not done with
Rosary beads, prayer carpet, or robe.
Worshiping God is serving others.
Saadi 5
Sufism is not something talked about or described in written words; it is a universal essence that is experienced and known through inner spiritual contact. Much like love; no matter how many words you use- the description is not the same as the actual experience. And like love which ebbs and flows, Sufism changes to fit the learner, time and place.
Sufism is a school of spiritual state, not discourse, and a Sufi is something to become, not something to merely read about. Since spiritual states cannot be expressed in words, Sufi sheikhs have declared, “Whatever can be expressed in words isn’t Sufism.” As Rumi has stated, “When I came to love, I was ashamed of all I have ever said about love.”
Whatever great Sufis have said in explanation of Sufism was the result of and appropriate to their particular situation and states. Such explanation, therefore do not constitute general definitions of Sufism. Rather they refer to some of its characteristics.
Javad Nurbakhsh 6
Traveler: This helps a little. Sufism is difficult to put into words because it is a spiritual experience and changes with each person. Yet, I have been in love and know there are different forms of love with many peaks and valleys that are impossible to describe; and no matter how pretty a poem or love song, I know it is not the experience of love itself.
Master: Remember, everyone is a spiritual traveler and in their long journey through this universe, experiences many wondrous things. Countless experiences go beyond words and cannot be written down- changing with each moment and person. This dimension is one of the elements that make life multi-level and beautiful. If this is too difficult for those who ask about us to grasp, ask them to define love or even life itself. As they ponder all the possibilities, then, they will begin to understand.
Although Sufis live outwardly among people, inwardly they are constantly occupied with God. Their bodies and mind exist with others, whereas their hearts are far from them. Externally, they are congenial with everyone. Inwardly, however, they themselves are strangers to all. They are at peace with all people, yet within them selves tranquility is to be found only in Divine Love. Though they live among people they are truly alone.
Javad Nurbakhsh 7
______________________
Thanks to David Paquoit for supplying the different quotes of the great Sufi Masters. To reach David go to www.caravanofdreams.wordpress.com.
Also by Dr. Bitkoff, A Commuter’s Guide to Enlightenment (Llewellyn, 2008) and Journey of Light:Trilogy (Authorhouse, 2004); these books are available on Amazon.com or from the publisher. To contact author go to www.stewartbitkoff.com.
Footnotes
1 Rumi quote found in: Idries Shah, Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way, Penguin Compass, 1978.
2 Junaid quote appears in: Fadhalla Haeri, The Elements of Sufism, Barnes and Noble, 1999.
3 Junaid quote appears in: Shaiykh A. Al-Murabit, The Hundred Steps, Madinah Press, 2nd edition, 1998.
On July 2, 2008, I recommended the purchase of a stock, New Flyer Industries, the largest builder of buses in North America. It made sense to me that with the increase in oil prices that more people would be taking public transportation.
How has the stock done? Take a look:
You can see from the chart at the top, the stock has had its ups and downs along with the rest of the market. The share price has decreased about 8% since July 2, 2008. However the dividend is over 10% per year. Your $10,000 investment would have been reduced to $9,200 through depreciation of the share price, but you would have made 10% per year through the dividend, giving you a net gain of about 10%. That’s a good return for a most difficult time in the history of the stock market. My figures are rough and do not include tax implications.
I rarely buy stocks. When you consider that a stock should never be bought out of fear, greed, hope, disappointment, boredom, desperation, or excitement, it reduces the opportunities tremendously and actually gives you a chance of making money. Of course, neither should you sell a stock out of fear, greed, boredom, desperation, or excitement. When you buy or sell on the basis of those emotions, you’re gambling. Next time you are ready to buy a stock, ask yourself, “Am I buying (or selling) this stock out of fear, greed, hope, disappointment, boredom, desperation, or excitement?”
You won’t execute your trade with perfect equanimity, no one does, but your chances of a successful trade will be improved if you can keep your head above the tide of emotion.
I think with the advent of the internet, the overall scenario has indeed changed. If we think of it, some centuries ago, anyone interested in non-duality would have to search a living “teacher”, for most did not read or write. Till a few years ago, one had the option of reading books. But with internet, and mainly these forums, there is this opportunity to participate actively in a dynamic that was unavailable before. Where would I meet others to discuss these matters just a few years ago? Where would I be able to look more deeply into the hidden nature of the sense of ego that is revealed in these exchanges?
So…. this “new” environment certainly must make some difference. Or perhaps none, if it only leads to more entertainment to escape from the implosion.
-geo-
The Feminist (Women’s) Movement changed consciousness even though many influenced by it didn’t bother to study academic papers or to read the significant books or attend meetings. The message of the Feminist Movement about equal rights hit home on everyday fronts: voting, pregnancy, the workplace, relationships, lifestyles, politics, ecology. The Feminist Movement is a model for giving structure to the nonduality movement, as far as looking at it in waves and describing each wave and looking at the movement in terms of scope, social change, and effects on religion, science, and other disciplines.
I see the Feminist, Eco-Feminist, and Nonduality Movements as merging more fully. But it would be helpful to define the Nonduality Movement so that it can more easily fit into these other movements. Ken Wilber has somewhat of a movement going with the Integral Institute and the Integral way of looking at things.
A person could ride the Nonduality Movement on the backs of Intergral Theory, or quantum theory, or neo-advaita, or Sufism, or as a Catholic monk, or as a new ager, or as nothing. Primarily, the message of nonduality becomes known, accepted, debated, refined, altered, and then one lives life with a deep and serious valuing of that message which can be worded in different ways.
My objective is to declare that there is a Nonduality Movement and to begin to describe it. People can see it, especially those who have been on the internet for a few years.
If I were creating a panel discussion on the topic of the Nonduality Movement, who would people like to see on it?
Just as we would have expected the sun to rise, we thought this baby would be born. But one of the four agreements says, “Don’t make assumptions.” Well, I’m sorry, but I think you can assume that two weeks prior to one’s due date, positive check-ups along the way, and nothing wrong being done, I’m sure it’s okay to assume the baby would have been born.
In my best friend’s case it didn’t happen. Two weeks before the due date, a placental abruption cut off nutrients and oxygen from the life within. The child could not be saved. He looked perfectly normal. A whole baby. With no heartbeat, he was baptized. He lay with his mother. His face was touched.
You only get two visitors at a time like this, heartbreak and love. At the funeral yesterday they walked in like two giants. The religious service was beautiful and scripted. However, those two giants took the form of the father who delivered a eulogy broken and holy at once as the small casket lay beside him with a small wreath upon it and a lit candle at the front. Here is the eulogy:
The Life of Baby Cohen
We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of our beautiful baby boy, Cohen Anthony Weaver. Baby Cohen was an unexpected pleasure to us when we first knew of his presence. We had our lives turned upside down while we accepted the new addition to our busy lives. As we waited for his arrival we were surprised by an early change to his schedule.
Baby Cohen arrived two weeks early but to our dismay he had already passed away before we could see his birth. After deliver of our baby boy, we knew then that although he would not see the light of day or feel the warmth of his surroundings, we have to have faith and believe that he saw the light of God and the warmth of His love.
As we held our baby boy, knowing he had passed on, we grieved in our own way. I held his little body, so silent, so still. I told our son I loved him and kissed him on his cheek. I sobbed as my wife also did and I said good-bye to our son. My wife held his little hand and kissed his cheek and felt the exact same love as when our little girl was born. She too said her goodbye.
I wanted so much to gaze upon his own eyes, as they are the mirror to his soul. That was not to be. He was destined for greater and better things beyond our comprehension. We accept his passing although we grieve for him in a way that words can’t express.
My wife and I would like to express our desire for all of us to follow our dreams and enjoy life to the fullest, for our little boy can do neither.
Baby Cohen, may you fly high to the Angels above, where in heaven your spirit will be free and forever with God and His love.
In closing, your mother and I want you to know that you will be forever loved, always missed, and never forgotten. You will remain in our hearts eternally. May you rest in eternal peace with the warmth of God’s love surrounding you always. Good-Bye my son, baby Cohen. We love you.
~ ~ ~
The requested song was “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen:
Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Now maybe there’s a god above
As for me all I ever learned from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
And it’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not some pilgrim who’s claimed to see the light
It’s a cold and it’s a very broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
But listen love is not some kind of victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
There was a time you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
Now remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove she was moving too
And every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You say I took the name in vain
I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I learned to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to [name of city where he is performing] fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand right here before the Lord of Song
With nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
When my friend woke up the morning after the funeral, the radio alarm went off, the local station at once broadcast the song by Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah.
The following are excerpts from responses to the question, What is nonduality? They are found on Volume 2 of the DVD set:
What Is Nonduality?
Francis Lucille, nonduality teacher
The definition for nonduailty would be that there is one single reality. We all have the knowledge that we are conscious and that consciousness is real. That which hears the words is consciousness. That is beyond a shadow of a doubt. …The world is only a concept which is inferred from perceptions. Perceptions are mind stuff. … Consciousness is the reality of our experience. If there is only one reality … the reality of all minds must be the same. That is the fundamental understanding of nonduality.
Robert Dittler, Abbot/Bishop, White Robed Monks of St. Benedict
[Silence. The video shows him smiling, shrugging, nodding, being.]
Jeremy Hayward, teacher of meditation, science, and Buddhism with Shambhala Buddhism
Literally what we’re talking about is the non-distinction of nonduality of I and other primarily … distinctions come from the conceptual mind that divides the world into this and that and the primary one is the distinction between me and you, me and that, me, me. That’s duality. It becomes a problem when we forget there is no me. … There’s just a flow of energy and awareness and then something pops up and says, “ME” and that’s starts duality. But duality and nonduality are two sides of the same coin. You can’t separate one from the other, you have to see the whole thing, which is duality and nonduality together.
Jeff Foster, nonduality teacher
I really don’t know what nonduality is anymore. Years ago I could have told you a lot about nonduality. The word nonduality is just a pointer. It points to life as it’s happening and the possibility that we’re not separate from life. The moment you talk about nonduality you kind of missed the point. … The moment you talk about it you’ve made it into something separate from something else … which is completely dualistic. So what is nonduality. I guess the answer is there when the question isn’t, somehow.
Nahid Angha, Co-director of the International Association of Sufism
The question of nonduality has been the concern of human beings since the beginning of civilization, because we want to see if there is any essence to all that there is. … What is nonduality when we see around ourselves duality? Is there any essence to [duality]? … In Sufism we come to the metaphor of raindrop and ocean. When it falls into the ocean it realizes that it is the ocean. So unless we find that reality within our own selves, then duality remains.
Bernard Baars, The Neurosciences Institute of San Diego
Nonduality in Sanskrit … is the theory that one can perceive the world in a completely unified fashion. … Nondualism is said to be the ultimate state that one may arrive at, after many years or perhaps very quickly.
Just as we would have expected the sun to rise, we thought this baby would be born. But one of the four agreements says, “Don’t make assumptions.” Well, I’m sorry, but I think you can assume that two weeks prior to one’s due date, positive check-ups along the way, and nothing wrong being done, I’m sure it’s okay to assume the baby would have been born.
In my best friend’s case it didn’t happen. Two weeks before the due date, a placental abruption cut off nutrients and oxygen from the life within. The child could not be saved. He looked perfectly normal. A whole baby. With no heartbeat, he was baptized. He lay with his mother. His face was touched.
You only get two visitors at a time like this, heartbreak and love. At the funeral yesterday they walked in like two giants. The religious service was beautiful and scripted. However, those two giants took the form of the father who delivered a eulogy broken and holy at once as the small casket lay beside him with a small wreath upon it and a lit candle at the front.
The requested song was “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen:
Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Now maybe there’s a god above
As for me all I ever learned from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
And it’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not some pilgrim who’s claimed to see the light
It’s a cold and it’s a very broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
But listen love is not some kind of victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
There was a time you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
Now remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove she was moving too
And every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You say I took the name in vain
I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I learned to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to [name of city where he is performing] fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand right here before the Lord of Song
With nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
When my friend woke up the morning after the funeral, the radio alarm went off, the local station at once broadcast the song by Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah.
‘By observing mental states you also become aware of the seven factors of enlightenment. These are: awareness of awareness, investigation of the Way, vigour, joy, serenity, concentration and equanimity.’ (The Buddha, Maha Sattipatthana Sutta 14-16)
The first two are paramount and the last five are outcomes of these. This is what my book Beyond the Separate Self is all about, becoming ‘aware of awareness’ through direct investigation and then continuing with further ‘investigation of the Way’ (the Tao, the nature of reality). Once one is ‘aware of awareness’ then one can undertake further investigations not needing to relying on any ‘teachings’, although these may be useful for confirming what one has discovered.
I recently received the following query, from someone who had bought my book, a week after it had been purchased:
I have been reading your book with great interest but from my Course in Miracles study I understand that the ultimate being ,YOU, is love. It tells us that “God is but love and therefore so are you”. In the introduction we are told that we cannot learn what LOVE is but we can be taught to remove the blocks to the “awareness” of Love’s Presence. ” This is the Jesus teaching . I may be making a play on words here but it is probably only a different approach to the same ultimate Oneness which we all are.
Being hungry ,and tired, at the time I dashed off:
Love is ‘no separation’ and in consciousness, at rest as pure awareness, and in motion as the manifest universe there is no separation. This consciousness in all modes is God, Allah, Brahman, The Void, The Tao … call it what you will, Love, Colin
During lunch I realised that my reply was somewhat unhelpful so after a short rest I wrote the following:
I apologise for my somewhat brief, and unhelpful reply (although true), but I was tired and hungry. Now that I am replete and refreshed I will attempt to be more helpful.
To say that ‘all is consciousness’ or that ‘God is Love’ , both of which are true, is useless unless one has realised, and experienced, the truth of these statements. That is they mean nothing until self-realization, or God-realization has taken place.
My book is not about teachings but hopes to provide a framework in which one can investigate directly the nature of Reality, through considering one’s moment-to-moment experience. To this end it seems to me that you have not approached the content in the way in which it was intended. To accomplish this one needs to take note of the following directions, which appear in Chapter 1:
1:This is not a question of belief or imagination but of discovery by direct investigation, and for this to be effective we need to put aside all belief systems and acquired knowledge concerning who we are at the underlying level beyond thoughts and sensations. The only knowledge of this that is valid is that which is revealed to each one of us by direct experience. The easiest way for this direct experience to occur is by enquiring into the nature of experience itself, and for this enquiry to be effective we need to start from the position of believing and knowing nothing.
2:The chapters that follow are aids to this enquiry, and as such should not just be read and intellectually considered but need to be taken slowly, step by step, not moving onto the next step until one fully ‘sees’ the step that is being considered. This does not mean to say that one needs to agree with each statement, as any investigation is personal, but one needs to understand what is being said. They map the author’s own investigations, over a twelve-year period, and are given in the order in which they occurred. They each stem directly from a prolonged period of meditation and contemplation, and chart a growing understanding, through experiencing and seeing, of the nature of reality and our place within it. As such they need to be taken in the order given, as each one builds on what has been ‘seen’ in the preceding chapters. Also to get the most out of each chapter one needs to spend some time contemplating it until one ‘feels’ what it is pointing to; if a chapter is just read without due attention then its significance may well be missed.
By your comments about the ‘Course in Miracles’ it seems that you have ignored the first, and the fact that you have ‘read’ the book so quickly means that you have not followed the second.
Direct investigation can reveal that ‘all is consciousness’:
Thus there is no dichotomy or duality between the physical world and ‘awareness’ for they are both manifestations of the same essence. The physical universe is just cosmic energy (consciousness in motion) when it is manifest into physical form, and awareness (consciousness at rest) contains this same energy in latent form as potential energy. p.43-44
and that ‘God is Love’ :
The word God means consciousness having two states: at rest (pure awareness), and in motion (manifestation). In this there is truly no separation as the essence and ground of all that exists is consciousness, and true love is only present where there is no separation; true love is ‘no separation’. The Christian idea that ‘God is Love’ points to this, and love of one’s fellow man naturally follows from the realization of no separation. p.95
However for these statements to mean anything you need to have undertaken the investigation yourself and come to these realizations. In the final analysis we all have to be a ‘light unto ourselves’ as the Buddha says, and others can only provide pointers along the way, Love, Colin
We have all been ‘taught’ so much, and received so many ‘teachings’ but in this field of self-inquiry (or direct investigation into the nature of reality) they are useless. In fact they only act as blockages colouring our attempts at inquiry, or investigation, rendering these attempts impotent. We all need to follow Descartes in ‘believing nothing’ and ‘doubting everything’ that we have learned; taking this as the starting point for our inquiry, or investigation. It may well be that our investigations discover that which we had previously been taught, but then we will know it by our direct experience requiring no outside authority. In this case no faith or belief is necessary and any doubts can always be dispelled by our own direct investigation. What’s more this investigation continually leads to further discoveries, as what is being investigated is boundless; which means that one can go beyond any external teachings and truly discover the satguru within. Then such quotes as the one that started this article are enjoyed as confirmation of what has been directly discovered, rather than needing to be ‘believed’ as a teaching.
~ ~ ~
Beyond the ‘Separate Self’: The End of Anxiety and Mental Suffering
by Colin Drake
the e-book is $8 and may be purchased and downloaded at once at
He also has many videos on both youtube and on his site, as well as audio dialogues with other teachers and writers interested in non-duality. See the KiloLogues page of the kiloby.com site for those audios.
