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Teachings & Method

I call my primary spiritual teaching method Tracing Back the Witness. It's part of a wider body of Advaita or nondual teachings where awakening is understood as a pivotal reorientation in consciousness from an identification with the illusory ego, to the eternal and enduring and blissful backdrop of Being itself, called, depending on the tradition, Source, Spirit, Brahman, Tao, Nirvana, Absolute Reality, Awareness, Consciousness, or even God. It is the constant, ever present, and unchangeable essence of all existence.

As I mention in my bio, this reorientation is described in pretty much every contemplative tradition. It is the universal phenomenological core of mysticism, and, once you're plugged in, it has exponentially more authority than any intellectual notion from any tradition, including science (although that hasn't stopped some contemporary neuroscientists from trying to figure out what may be happening in the brain to support these changes – as they should!)

The following section is a brief overview of this method and a summary of the process of spiritual awakening.

Overview of the Spiritual Path

Self-realization (aka awakening or enlightenment), as a phenomenon, is real. It also has a story that goes along with it, often referred to as the perennial philosophy, (the common impulse at the heart of all the world’s great wisdom traditions, religions and philosophies). The basic idea is that there are many conscious entities in existence, each following their own evolutionary paths, all knowingly or unknowingly moving towards the final goal of enlightenment. The human soul is an individuated aspect of the formless dimension that incarnates into the physical world of form in order to evolve and grow and, ultimately, to make self-realization a real, embodied experience in the world. However, in the process of living any given life, most of us forget our true natures as formless beings. This forgetting – or falling asleep – is the source of a deep, often unconscious, feeling of existential despair, or a spiritual sense of separation from others, life, and the entire cosmos really.

The whole point of the spiritual path is basically about becoming conscious of the source of existence itself, which is experienced as the formless essence of our true nature. Tat Tvam Asi (meaning, You Are That) is a famous Vedantic expression referring to the absolute equality between the individual self or soul and the origin of all that exists. This core mystical discovery marks the end of the spiritual search, and the beginning of a life lived from the unifying perspective of our true nature. What's more, when we are fully awake to our true nature, our lives become charged with a deep sense of purpose and direction, far beyond personal contentment, freedom or fulfillment (although that is the personal boon of enlightenment.) We rediscover or remember what life is really about: to be a vessel for the Infinite in this world, giving it a body and a heart and a mind so that the Absolute can walk and talk and interact with other living, breathing, embodied souls. Why? To assist in the creation of a more loving and, ultimately, more enlightened world.

Tracing Back the Witness

Witnessing

Witnessing is one of the most direct ways to reconnect with our true nature. Witnessing is the observing aspect of human consciousness that can be cultivated through the practice of meditation. At first, this observing awareness may seem almost indistinguishable from the contents of consciousness, i.e., thoughts, ideas, feelings, desires, memories, sensations, perceptions and so on. But eventually a field of witnessing arises that allows us to distinguish the essence of consciousness from the contents of consciousness, or the observer/witness from what is observed/witnessed.

Presence

Once the witnessing aspect of consciousness is sufficiently cultivated, entering into our true nature involves taking an inward step back through the 'looking glass', which is another way of describing the mirror-like quality of the witnessing self or soul. This process is a form of self-inquiry that I call Tracing Back the Witness. For me the movement has a very distinct character. It is like passing backwards through a window that opens into an infinite field of awareness behind me. For others the emergence of both witnessing and the movement through it may occur differently. For some people it comes from above or below or even from in front with the corresponding movements towards and through it. In any case, when we allow ourselves to open up in this way – when we trust in the process – a distinct Presence emerges. We remember the formless essence of who we are, our true nature.

Essence

As we grow more accustomed to recognizing and abiding in the Presence of our true nature, we begin to notice and embody the three changeless qualities inherent in it, which can be grouped together as pure being, pure consciousness, and pure bliss, or sat-chit-ananda in the Hindu tradition. When fully awakened as a permanent and complete state of self-realization, these three essential qualities radiate out from the formless depths of our being, enlightening our bodies, hearts, and minds.

The Enlightened Mind, Heart, and Body

In the mind, self-realization manifests as nondual awareness, which reveals the oneness of everything. This immaculate perception is based on the realization that the same consciousness flowing through all creation also gives rise to our own awareness as thinking, feeling, perceiving souls.

In this state of unity consciousness, the human heart opens up to all that is. The heart is filled with unconditional love for everything in existence, since it is all a manifestation of the same underlying source of creation.

And finally, self-realization fills the body with bliss, which manifests as an absolute delight in life, and the joy of being alive. At the same time, the sense of being bound in a body is transcended by the absolute certainty that we exist beyond space and time as formless beings. As a result, we simultaneously and paradoxically feel as though we are everything and nothing, both infinitely formed and utterly formless.

The Mutability of True Nature

As I mentioned above, our true nature has three essential qualities that never change: sat-chit-ananda or being-consciousness-bliss. But out of these three changeless qualities emerge all the other qualities of being that we can also experience in life. For example, strength, compassion, courage, love, peace, friendliness and determination are just some of these qualities – all of which arise out of our true nature freely when unimpeded by the ego. Which particular quality manifests depends on the situation we find ourselves in. It could be assertiveness in one moment, passivity in the next – each and every possible quality flowing out of the basic essence of true nature.

So, while the three basic qualities of our true nature never change, the particular ways it manifests may change, or the specific quality of being that we are most in touch with in any given moment may be different, depending on what is called for in the situation. This means we already have everything we need within us to live a fully liberated and fulfilled life. It all boils down to reconnecting with our true nature and becoming a fit vehicle for this ultimate level of being to manifest freely through us.

Summary of Methodology

The ability to reconnect with our true nature can become a continuous state of being. Tracing Back the Witness is a relatively simple and repeatable experiment in consciousness. It works by withdrawing into witnessing until the essence of who and what we already are is fully revealed. If the method is repeated as an ongoing form of spiritual practice, it eventually leads to direct experiences of Presence. The more the experience of Presence is returned to and stabilized, the more it integrates into all aspects of life, until the practitioner is able to abide full-time in his or her true nature.