John Wheeler

[spookstreet]

Really appreciate you posting both those quotes, maxdprophet, but particularly the first one which is particularly apt for me at the moment.

Call me dogmatic (many do) but no one says it like John Wheeler.

[maxdprophet]

May 9, 2016 13:39:04 GMT -5 spookstreet said:

Really appreciate you posting both those quotes, maxdprophet, but particularly the first one which is particularly apt for me at the moment.

Call me dogmatic (many do) but no one says it like John Wheeler.

I like his style too.

[Deleted]

If anyone's come across anyone with a similar message to John Wheeler's, I'd love to know about it ...It seems to me that it's just not true that 'they all say the same thing in a different way'.

[maxdprophet]

via Full Stop (only $800   )


Words Are Only Pointers

It is a bit tricky quoting the words of ‘great’ teachers for confirmation of anything, because the words are only pointers and concepts arising in particular situations. In other words, in the moment the words were delivered they were spontaneous pointers of encouragement for someone in that moment to drop a particular concept or perspective in order to notice what is here prior to concepts. Later, when we read the words, it is actually a case of moving back into concepts and away from what is clear and present. Seeing this may free up a lot of space. That is why reading about non-duality is a bit misleading and often complicates the simplicity of it.

For every passage one quotes, you can find dozens more asserting the opposite view. It is helpful to see why this must be so. There is not a fixed ‘teaching’ at all. There is a stream of spontaneous points arising to expose whatever dualistic notions the ‘seeker’ may have been holding as true. It is more a matter of love in expression rather than some spiritual verbiage one should sift through years or centuries afterwards.

People think you get to the heart of this by studying philosophy, learning Sanskrit, or delving into the recorded words of Shankara, Buddha or whomever. This is entirely erroneous and completely misses the mark. It only fattens the stock of concepts and keeps the attention locked in the mind. It is overlooking your ever-present natural state.

Pause the concepts, whatever they may be, and notice what is present, what you actually are here and now. That is already evident and available in all its immediacy. No teacher, guru, scripture, satsang or awakenings are involved. I cannot stress this strongly enough. That we thought they were was only an ignorant mistake. So return to the basics and have a look for yourself.

Instead of talking about concepts, chuck them all overboard and talk from what is actually present in your experience.

Non-duality books, quotes, spiritual jargon and hypothetical ‘what ifs’ are entirely incapable of revealing the direct recognition of immediate freedom and happiness. That is present as the pure light of simple knowing and being shining in the core of your mind or the centre of your heart. In that light, the universe and all bodies and minds arise and pass like specks of dust in the warmth of a vast, cloudless sky, which is the sky of your being. That non-conceptual awareness or presence of life beyond the mind pours out through your senses and bathes each thought, feeling and experience in a timeless and inescapable clear cognisance. Call it what you will — being, awareness, love, presence, what is, knowing, light, life, intelligence, spirit, etc. Whatever it is, it is undeniable and inescapable. It is being that cannot be doubted or contradicted; an unborn, undying awareness without ceasing; life with no boundary; a peace and causeless joy that embraces all appearances, all possibilities, all opposites. Nothing can be outside of that; nothing stands apart from that; there is nothing other than that. And you are that.

[maxdprophet]

also from Full Stop:

Awareness and Objects

The resolution of the apparent duality of awareness and objects lies in seeing that the supposed difference is not really present. In other words, there is an assumption that there is awareness and objects. Then the mind gets tangled up in how they are supposed to be stitched together. This is like the person who asks, ‘How do I awaken?’ and then gets wrapped up in that concept. He or she overlooks that awareness is already awake, and that the supposed ‘I’ entity is not really present, except as an assumption. In the clear seeing of this, the dilemma collapses.

The issue is similar with awareness and objects. No object or experience can ever stand outside of, or apart from, the awareness of it. This resolves the issue directly. The objects and awareness are not separate, even now. So why talk of how to put them together, or how to see them as one? Are they separate to start with? No. Therefore, the concept and the problem drop.

Most people naturally assume there are only objects and have no real sense of awareness itself. So the pointer is brought up to distinguish objects and awareness only for the purpose of highlighting the presence of awareness, not to create an absolute split between them (because there isn’t one). Once awareness and your identity as that is clear, you can look back at the apparent objects and see that they have no real substance or independent nature apart from the awareness of them. This is somewhat like the figures on a carved marble relief not being separate from the marble itself. The false dilemma is apparent in the question, ‘How are the carved figures and the marble to be seen as one?’ The real question is, ‘Have you ever seen them as separate from each other?’ The bottom line is that there can be no experience outside of awareness. So, to speak of awareness and objects as if they were independent is not possible based on direct experience.

It is very important to mention a subtle point that many miss at this juncture. The objects are not in themselves the same as awareness, or the abiding reality. Objects are appearances, but your real being remains independent of the presence or absence of the objects. In practical experience, you can see that objects are constantly changing, but your own being remains without break. A wave is nothing but water; but water as such is not a wave as such. Therefore, it is not a one-to-one equivalence. That is why when people say ‘all appearances are the oneness’, it is not a precisely clear and accurate statement.

[spookstreet]

Excellent excerpts!

[Deleted]

First you have to discriminate between awareness and objects only to discover later that there is no difference when you become established as the Self.

[barryg]

(question was answered earlier in this thread)

[mason]

Huh, that's interesting. How did you find that out?

Probably a good thing. John seems like a very sweet guy and was super receptive when he was teaching, but his message seemed a little convoluted to me. But then again some folks might benefit from taking the "I am awareness" approach. It's more of a "bridge pointer" then the "final destination (for lack of better words)" and if I could have recognized that from the outset, his message have been much more beneficial.

Do hope John is doing well though.

[barryg]

(question was answered earlier in this thread)

[echozs]

Hello everyone,

I managed to find PDF's of John's first 4 books and thought some might appreciate it, hopefully it's allowed...

I was going to attach direct downloads to the books, but they are too big to attach.

So here is a link to the site I found them on, it's just a massive online library, scroll down through all the physics stuff and you will see his first 4 books.

b-ok.cc/s/john%20wheeler

[echozs]

Hello again,

Over the past few days I threw together a blog to concentrate John's books, pointers and videos in one space. I have his first 5 books on PDF there, no Clear in your heart or Full Stop at the moment.

Here's a link, hope some can find it useful johnwheelernonduality.wordpress.com/

[reidar6140]

Thanks for that blog. In this interview on BuddhaAtTheGasPump with Jeffery Martin, he says something about John Wheeler, which I believe can confirm the story above, but is it possible I interpret what he says wrong? 1.07.17 in this video he says something about J W? Can anyone interpret this for me? My English is not good.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSrquiuqurY&t=4039s

[echozs]

Jun 25, 2020 18:49:03 GMT -5 reidar6140 said:

Thanks for that blog. In this interview on BuddhaAtTheGasPump with Jeffery Martin, he says something about John Wheeler, which I believe can confirm the story above, but is it possible I interpret what he says wrong? 1.07.17 in this video he says something about J W? Can anyone interpret this for me? My English is not good.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSrquiuqurY&t=4039s

Good find, it does seem to confirm the book quote and everything, not that it's really that important

I happened to be reading one of his pointers today and it reminded me of the story of John going to India and the Jeffrey Martin interview and thought I should post it.

"A note of caution is in order regarding the attitude that self-knowledge is not of much importance, not spectacular, boring, etc. Such views are coming from a mind evaluation, not from the immediate experience of what your nature IS. From the mind’s perspective, your nature is nothing perceivable or conceivable, so it appears as nothing. So the mind is apt to discount it. But from within itself, it is perfectly whole and complete in all respects. Sages have been singing the glories of this timeless reality for centuries and have never run out of praises for it. Sometimes, I have noticed in cases where people feel like the understanding is nothing too significant, the mind will gradually start reforming and subtly seeking once again in the appearances. That is one reason why there is a strong tradition in the line of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and Sri Siddharameswar of what they called “devotion AFTER realization”. The image given was like a “jilebi” (Indian sweet) that is soaked in sugar syrup after being fried so that it is saturated through and through with sweetness. This type of devotion was (and is) done in their tradition through remembrance of the guru, singing bhajans, discoursing on non-dual scriptures, gathering with co-disciples, visiting shrines connected with the lineage, etc. Anyway, that was their way, and there is some deep truth in it. So let the jilebi soak and marinate in the rich nectar of blissful immortality always!"

[Xiao]

Weird that even the Twitter account for The Secret is dying to know where John is: