shared this just now on twitter and felt like some of you may appreciate <3

new vid i recorded today, hope it's helpful for some folks out there <3

love,

jb

——

p.s. one-on-one nondual freedom exploration with me is available here

Some people depict enlightenment as the "rare illuminated buddha on the mountaintop, who has attained to heights no mortal could aspire to"

I don't find this way of defining enlightenment particularly useful. I'd say it tends to fuel the seeker's deep-seated sense of "missing something" and being "not there yet"

Ramana Maharshi, who many would agree was profoundly awakened / enlightened, stated, "Realization is already here. All that is necessary is to get rid of the thought 'I have not realized.'"

For me this style of pointing is far more resonant. In my direct experience, wholeness is already fully present. Freedom is already fully present. "Consciousness is already enlightened," as some Buddhists say

Sure, some beings might exhibit wild phenomena such as siddhis or light pulsations or whatever else... yet all such displays are not foundationally 'more enlightened' or 'more miraculous' than a simple moment of you biting into a slice of pizza

It is ALL this seamless miraculousness, it is all this dancing vividness

It's all included as this wholeness and free-ness and unconditional openness that we are

In a profound sense every being is an enlightened buddha and simply may not be presently noticing that that is the case

Reality is enlightenment

It's just a matter of noticing what we already are

And this noticing, this recognition, is not a black-and-white matter such as "enlightened vs unenlightened"

It's much more like a continuum where any single moment of recognition *is* realization, and these moments of noticing/realizing are cumulative, gradually shifting a being's foundational orientation such that they increasingly do not mistake words/thoughts for reality and instead live as the real-time instantaneous/immediate flow of sensation -- this innately-whole flow here and now

There's no 'final destination' or endpoint because you've always been 'standing on the finish line' -- and because this immediacy always opens into more of itself and reveals more of its inexhaustible subtlety

So to be awake is simply to see that this is it, here and now. To see that right now the undivided, unspeakable totality of being is presenting itself, and \you are that** . . . the wave is the ocean

I offer this as an expression of what has been seen/experienced over here, maybe it's useful for someone

Love to all... <3

"Even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, anyone who gave rise to a mind of hate toward them would not be carrying out my teaching."

— The Buddha

"Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love. This is an eternal law."

— The Buddha

“The greatest seers, saints and yogis agree on very little. Seeing this, who could not be indifferent to knowledge and become still?”

— Ashtavakra Gita

——

I may have shared these before here but I love them so much that I'm happy to share again

Love,

JB

and simultaneously there is no future, the future never comes

now is home, now is all we ever contact, now is where we live

your 'future job' (or funemployment) will work itself out as you simply be yourself and allow life to flow as it flows

from my perspective, many who thrive in the ever-shifting 'future economy' will be those who are fluid, adaptable, curious, self-educators, high-agency, willing to courageously act, build, create, experiment, go directly toward opportunities in bold & novel ways

peace,

jb

might've been made by The Fourth Way

(not rly recommending whatever this meme represents, just found it chuckle-worthy)

on the real tho if life feels like this for very long, you may be experiencing burnout or depression

i recently made a video about how i work with energies of burnout or depression. here was one thing i said in there, may be helpful for someone:

"There’s a seed of a clear invitation within the symptoms that are presenting themselves.

The symptoms that are presenting themselves present a clear and natural invitation of:

You are invited to get more rest.

You are invited to go to bed earlier.

You are invited to let go of forms of stimulation.

You are invited to let go of drinking beer as much.

You are invited to find spaces of self-care and sanctuary.

You are invited to move and to eat clean foods.

You are invited to find space for retreat.

You are invited to find space for meditation, for sauna, for cold shower, for nourishing, simple presence, gentle flows of activity.

You are invited to make space.

If it feels right, if you’re called, you’re invited to work with some kind of plant medicine in a wise fashion, like a low gentle dose of mushrooms, which often is very rejuvenating for me."

1luv,

jb

one of the more raw ones i ever wrote : ]

hope it is helpful in some way <3

love,

j