Which Came First?

I want to toss around a few things here and see if and how they land. This morning I read somewhere the idea that Love, among other things, like wisdom and joy are simply byproducts of clear seeing; seeing through separation. This would seem to be in line with Nisargadatta Maharaj's famous quote, which I use all the time:

"When I see that I am nothing, I call that wisdom. When I see that I am everything, I call that Love. Between the two, my life continually flows."

That statement would seem to confirm that Love and Wisdom are indeed byproducts, or at least the results of seeing through separation. But is this really true? Lets have a look.

I think that we can at least assume that Love, joy, and Divine Wisdom are beyond the mind; not describable in words. If we can box in Love, joy, or Divine Wisdom, in our words, concepts or thoughts, they are not the genuine article; the genuine article being indefinable.

"When I see that I am nothing ", "When I see that I am everything ". That certainly sounds like clear seeing; seeing through separation. And it is. But does the "seeing " come before the Love, joy andDivine Wisdom, or is the clear "seeing " a byproduct of Love, joy, and Divine Wisdom?

I would propose that the Love, joy, and Divine Wisdom must come first. Clear seeing is not available to the mind. Clear seeing lives only in Love. Joy and Divine Wisdom are the byproducts of Love only, all being beyond mind. The mind, of course, wants to come first. It will try to usurp the Love, joyand Divine Wisdom, and try to present them as it's byproducts; it's "discovery ".

This false belief that the mind is "seeing " through separation is one of the pitfalls of "spirituality without spirit ", that I have referred to in previous writings. As soon as the heart opens to Love, joy, or Divine Wisdom , and the truth is reveled, the mind, like a hidden snake, sneaks in and grabs the "awakening ". Love, being our very nature, the "very form of "God" ", as Ramana Maharshi put it, is the only place where no separation exists, all else being dualist. This is not available to the mind, but the mind tries to claim it.

The late, and loving American Jnani, Robert Adams took this idea even further, in that he felt it was valuable to "worship " the "absolute " as "God " in form. He expressed that worshiping (Loving) a formless "God " would not produce sufficient energy:

" if you worship God without form, the energy is not as strong. For what kind of a God are you worshipping? An invisible God that has no form, no shape. Therefore, you have doubts. You are not too sure. And, the energy you send out is not that strong. But when you worship God as form, you can give that God all of your energy, or totally Surrender ( to that particular deity.) That is the purpose of worship. To finally, totally, surrender your ego, your pride, your body, your affairs, your life, to that deity. And then, ‘You’ ( as divine Self rather than human person) become that deity, itself."

This "energy " that Robert is talking about is Love itself. Only through Loving can we "be " Love. Only through practicing Love (silence, devotion, service) can we step into the unseen realm of Love itself. We can practice all the mind games and "awareness " tecniques that we like, but to allow that the mind is quieting itself, illuminating itself, is to follow a road that leads only back to the mind, and not beyond it.

Here, in this teaching that has been given me by Grace, there is difficulty in this idea of "God " in form. Robert Adams believed that "the importance of loyalty to one Teacher in personal reverence and practice " results in "powerful practical results in life." He went so far as to say that:

"Worshiping God in the form of Sat Guru or in the form of a Buddha or a Christ, whichever, is even better."

To many, the personal "God " in form, becomes a stumbling block. The Guru "as "God " also leads many astray. This is why seeing Love only is the start of understanding. You can look at it as "God's Love " if that helps, but to see something "personal " in the universal , unconditional Love is an error. We, the world and the whole of the universe are not nouns,, but a verb. We are not a "thing", but life itself.

But this "argument " with Robert is a small one. We both see that Love, devotion and "worship " are vital to any awakening. To simply say that Love, joy and Divine Wisdom are "byproducts " of clear "seeing " is to believe the deception that the mind "saw it first ".

We open our hearts by Loving, as that is what the heart does. No matter how "clearly " we can explain the mind's "discovery ", it will not open the heart, Love being the only key. Love in Silence(contemplation), and Love in action (service) are the shortest route to "awakening ". The mind with all it's clever words, concepts and ideas will try to tell you that, with it, you can, and indeed you have discovered "truth ", but it is simply deceiving you by swapping a vision it couldn't understand, for one it makes up.

Make no mistake, the mind exists in Love, not Love in the mind. Clear "seeing " results from Love. Everything is a "byproduct " of Love, including this "clear seeing ".

Peace