from a workshop by Douglas Harding
|
... in other words, to submit to what is clearly given, instead of
editing it out from our lives, on account of social pressure, fear,
and the tyranny of language. And I think we'll get all the grace that's
needed, really. If we have several things to do, like 'see Who we are'
and 'find grace' and do a few thousand other things, we will do nothing.
For my part, I suppose I am really a kind of idiot or simpleton, who
says, 'I've only got one thing to do, and one thing will do, and that
is to come Home to the place I never left.' The text for this is quite a good one - 'Seek ye first the Kingdom'
- in fact, find the Kingdom - which is here - 'and every thing shall
be added.' All things shall be added. If I have two things to do, I'm
in trouble, because I say, Well I've done this, I've done my Devotional
bit, now I have to do my Looking bit, then I have to do my Grace-recipient
bit, and I really can't be bothered.' I think, go for the heart of the
matter, and everything else will fall into place It seems to me that what is seen from the very beginning is what is
seen at the end. The penny dropped for me sixty-something years ago,
and I saw Who I was, and I see Who I am now, and there's no difference,
no development! No development whatever, it's EXACTLY the same! You
say, Oh that's awful, Douglas. You should have improved a lot. Well
it hasn't, I promise you, it's exactly the same. What has changed perhaps,
is the continuity and the effect on one's physique and so on. But the
vision itself does not. It does not improve or grow. And this is why it is so encouraging, and also so democratic, because
I share this perhaps at this meeting with a new friend; and do I feel
'Oh, he's a beginner, of course, I'm very accomplished' ? Not at all!
It's very democratic. I like that. So, the Seeing doesn't develop at
all. No improvement. What does change is I think, the continuity, the
steadiness of it, and the effect on one's life at every level. Above
all, what develops. Or should develop, is trust. And that is very slow
to come, and very precious, and very important. So I see Who I am, and
trusting this One is more difficult. For example, coming here today, I had some ideas what I was going to
do, and it turned out utterly differently, thank God. Some people would
say No, I think that was wrong. You should have worked it out and presented
what you intended to do. Well, I don't think that's the way things should
work, or would work, insofar as I trust. What we need to do is practise
this and practise. The practice is essential. 'Practice' is a horrible
word. I say, 'Enjoy this, enjoy this.' This is sheer enjoyment, it's
practical, it enables us to do better what we would do worse. Seeing
Who we are ensures that what we do, we do better, and it is accompanied
by the development of trust. This means throwing away your notes for an occasion; and just coming
and saying 'I give up, I just want to sit here and see what happens.'
You see, Who you are has the supreme savoir-faire, the supreme know-how
- what is the know-how, what is the expertise of the One you know? It
has the supreme and impossible expertise, which is the curious knack
of actually being. Now the One who can BE, from not-being, and raise itself out of not-being
by its own nonexistent bootstraps, so to say - this one I trust; and
it is the only One I really will trust. This One has a supreme know-how,
which is Self-origination. There should be nothing at all! But Be-ing
has the knack of upping itself, all the time, in you now. That One is
trustworthy, isn't it? - Douglas Harding, 2000 - |
(September
2000, courtesy
of the Ramana Maharshi Foundation, London)