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Mark is now sharing some insights via these notes below.

Sydney, Friday 23rd Nov 07.
What can I do, where can I go when it is clearly seen that the "me" that I am referring to is only a mental conceptual entity? - If there were no Consciousness it would be impossible for me to have any thoughts or concepts. - So consciousness, awareness of presence, is fundamental to any sense of existence or non existence.
This conscious awareness is nothing in itself, it is the equivalent of space or emptiness, yet is is
the very sentience of all sentient beings. Space or pure space like awareness, has no center or circumference.
You cannot find a beginning to it - This empty cognizance is the fundamental reality and essence of all things.
This is basically what I am. - I am not a separate entity or thing. Things perish, they come and go,appear and disappear in this emptiness. - Everything in the manifestation is vibrating intelligence energy patterns.
Everything is basically energy,livingness - vibration - appearing as the manifest universe of so called separate entities.
This energy is infinite,boundless, whole, one without a second, as we say in Advaita.
Everything in the universe can be broken down into space or emptiness.
Everything is appearing in space and is nothing but space.
All that we are seeing is empty space appearing as people, animals, trees, mountains. - Space or awareness is unborn, boundless emptiness - energy,or pure intelligence.
So there is always the possibility that on hearing this message expounded and expressed, that there can be an undoing of this contraction called "me", Mr and Mrs So and So, and a release into boundlessness.
This boundless essence, can never, ever be grasped by the limited mind of a human being.
It cannot be put into words - they can never hope to capture it - they can at best only point to it - This is it.
This is all there ever is. - Grace is - but not for any entity - hearing sounds, seeing sights, thoughts arising and passing away.
This very livingness - aliveness is all there is - wherever you go there is only this livingness or
now-ness. - There is no coming or going except in the dream. - This livingness is everywhere, every when and it can't know death - death is only for the character in the world dream.
Dream characters have no destiny or free will, except in the dream.Outside the dream, in awakening - Buddhahood, there are no people or things - there is no sun, moon,stars,or living beings. - Even within the dream or manifestation, this holds true.
Realize right now, that you are dreaming and being dreamed as this illusory entity and wake up! Don't wait for another 1000 lifetimes. - Hear the words of the master issuing from the heart essence - "I am the self-luminous reality".
Wake up and be free this very instant. - These boundless blessings flow from the glorious lineage of the Navanath Sampradaya - the group of 9 friends or masters reportedly beginning with Dattatreya, author of The Avadhuta Gita, back in antiquity; one truly great one from this same lineage, living in the last century, was Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, who I had the extreme good fortune to see, know, and love in this life.
- end.


Sydney, Monday 19th Nov 07.

Back to basics. -Right here and now there is the presence of awareness, livingness, pure being - you cannot grasp it with a thought or concept, yet you cannot negate it. - This livingness, knowing-ness - hearing sounds, seeing objects, feeling feelings, sensations etc, is all there is.- "THIS" is all there ever is. - This livingness is nothing, no thing - utterly empty, yet fullness,
empty pure intelligence energy - no beginning - no ending.
So all this is simply happening spontaneously. - It is not happening to anyone.
It is just happening ceaselessly and there is no person as such, that has or knows this.
This is a conversation about nothing - utterly absurd to a conditioned mind or
person who mistakenly thinks that they have and are consciously living their own lives and running the show,as we say.
Just see that livingness "is". - Don't try to be or do anything special - just be - choice-less,effortless, awareness or being-ness.
What effort are you making right now to be aware?
No effort, of course, you just are infinitely and eternally - I am That - You are That - everything is THAT (as Nisargadatta pointed out to me).
Relax into this pure awareness.
Let go and just be THAT instead of the miserable sentient human being that you had, prior to this pointing out instruction; taken yourself to be.
Realize that you, as this pure awareness or knowingness, are prior to everything and the knower of it.
This is the path (of) wisdom - the wisdom of your own natural state.
Even before a thought arises,and you label something, calling it a chair or table, you already know what it is before you name it.
This knowing-ness or awareness is Omnipresent, or as we say in Advaita - One without a second.
SAT CHIT ANANDA - Existence,Consciousness,Bliss,Absolute.
Being, knowing, and loving to be.
They are not three things - they are all aspects of this ordinary everyday awareness that
you are presently and timelessly enjoying. - Realize it, acknowledge it, do not ignore or take it for granted. - It is the very livingness or power that is enabeling me to write these words and allowing you to read or hear them. - Awaken from this dream that you are mortal, fallible, and full of sin, and realize right now that you are this deathless essence or spirit that is enabeling everything to happen.
No one is doing anything to you - everything is happening spontaneously - there is no creator,
preserver, or destroyer. - No Ishwara, no Brahma, no God in heaven. - All these are only conceptual entites.
Everything arises without any cause and disappears into this empty living essence.
There is no reason for the appearance of the universe - it has no cause or creator.
It is just in the nature of things, that this "seems" to happen - nothing has happened at all.
All that you think you are seeing is appearance only - Maya - without any substance or
independent nature apart from this empty essence or knowing-ness - Jnana Prajnana - that you cannot under any circumstances negate.
This is the greatest 'good news' that anyone (a so called 'someone') can ever have - "you have never been born,
and you will never die".
This "is" the truth that will make you free - know it now if you will. - You yourself are what you are seeking - The non dual Absolute - Your nature is already perfect.

End.


Sydney Friday 16th Nov 07.
Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. - When not altering it, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present. - Right here and now as you are reading these words, seeing is happening, hearing is happening, thinking etc is happening. - There is no one making it happen, yet it is happening by itself, so to speak. - So it is imperative to see, investigate, or realize that there is no entity as such, no "me" who is doing any of this. - The true implications of this fact are quite shocking--This means that in actuality, there is no entity that has ever or will ever do anything.--You as that entity, Mr So and So, have not done a darn thing--Yet, this fact is quite sobering and liberating, if it is truly seen and taken to heart.
Even though no one is doing anything--things still get done, actions happen, deeds are done but there is no personal doer involved in all this.- Therefore, it is this empty cognizance, or cognizing emptiness that is responsible for everything that happens or doesn't happen.--This emptiness suffused with intelligence or knowing-ness is the ultimate doer or prime-mover. - This is the Natural State that Nisargadatta Maharaj would constantly and tirelessly point to. - No one can negate this presence of awareness or pure knowing-ness.
There is no one who is knowing, there is just knowing, seeing, functioning, feeling etc—This emptiness of one taste is the fundamental essence that is always and
ever the same and whole - One without a second--non dual - non conceptual knowing-ness--Jhana Prajnana—heart essence.
Now even though everything perceivable or conceivable appears and disappears in this ultimate essence—the essence itself never changes--empty cognizance of one taste. - There is literally and actually no one home--no person or entity ever existed--everything is empty of a permanent self or "me".
There is no such thing as an ego or person--all such apparent things are simply dream characters without any substance or independent nature of their own apart from this livingness, that you as the essence cannot negate--You cannot negate this essence and on the other hand you cannot grasp it with any idea, notion or thought.
If you are seeking it, you can never find it, because you "are" it. - So the search from this realization is a trap, because what you are seeking you already are, so how can you ever find yourself if you already are yourself?
You would have to split yourself in two--the seeker and the sought and that is impossible because your Self is whole--One without a second.
Moreover when you really inquire and have a good look--you cannot pinpoint the origin of anything in this world because everything is beyond arising, dwelling, and
ceasing--unborn, un-originated.
Normally we think that a leaf is born in the Spring and dies in the Autumn, but actually that leaf has not been born, nor does it die--it was always present, and when the conditions become favorable ( the 5 elements-earth,water,fire,air,ether in the right combinations) it manifests.
So that leaf is never born and it never dies--and nor do we as these apparent entites.
So you who are reading this have never been born and you will never die.
This is the greatest good news that any imaginary person or entity could have-I am THAT.
End.



Sydney Tues Wed 20th to 21st Nov 07.
Vedanta is the study of the Vedas in Hinduism--The 4 principal Vedas are the core of their sacred scriptures. - Veda means the "word" of God or Truth as revealed to man. - However Vedanta itself means the end of the Vedas-- the end of words or concepts. - What we point to in Advaita Vedanta is that the Vedas or sacred scriptures are powerless to reveal this Absolute, or what we commonly call God.
This is beyond words,so Advaita that we point to here is beyond or prior to, words, concepts, or the Vedas as such. Advaita Vedanta means the end of the Vedas-the end of words or concepts. - Also Advaita means total unicity-not two--In that how can there be two: one asking about another?
Realize that prior to the arising of a single word or thought, there "is" an unspeakable, unknowable essence that enables this present expression to take place.
Pause, just for a split second, and relax into that essence--Now without a thought or concept, what can you say about this Omnipresence?
You cannot say anything about it without a thought, yet undeniably it "is"- thought or no thought. -This Natural State or essence cannot be approached positively--you cannot say what it is--it is a mystery--unknowable by any entity or concept--yet you who are reading this cannot be apart from it.
Approach it negatively. - Neti Neti--not this, not this--not the body, not the mind.
Keep negating until you come to something that you cannot negate--I am--even without a word. - That itself leads you to the Mahavakya---the great Word or Upanishad-- TAT TVAM ASI--Thou art THAT!--You "are" THAT—I am THAT, as Nisargadatta and other Jnanis' proclaim.
You are what you are seeking.Seeing that clearly the search for Truth is brought to an end. - You put an axe to the concepts at the very root, and firmly abide as That. - No more sprouting, no more rebirth can take place because you have gone to the very root. the source of the concepts and destroyed that root by firmly inhering and abiding in the state 3 days prior to conception. - This state or essence, prior to conception as a sentient human being, is your true eternal state--That state prevailed thousands of years ago, right now, thousands of years hence, it will prevail--It always and ever prevails. (It is state-less)
Know it and abide in it--all your problems will be solved and all your desires will be fulfilled. - The scriptural passage Proverbs3:56 "Lean not not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths" becomes true. - The true meaning of this statement doesn't mean acknowledge some person--it simply means acknowledge this unspeakable essence that is living you, breathing you, thinking you, performing all your bodily functions, beating your heart etc, moving the galaxies--you don't exist apart from it--you are being dreamed--a dream character.
Also "He will perfect that which concerneth me". - You have no free will-"Take no thought for the morrow". - Don't try to reason anything out. - The answer is not in the mind. - This nothingness contains the mind, the mind doesn't contain it. - So stop looking there.
No sage, saint, or saviour has ever touched this nothingness or Noumenon--no one, not - Jesus, Buddha, Mahavira or anyone else has ever gone beyond nothing or such-ness.
When this fully dawns you will realize that you were never born, nor have you carried out any worldly actions—everything that you ever thought you did or was done to you—never happened at all--all that you imagined you did was pure ignorance, dream and illusion.
This is the secret of the Siddhas --you're just pissing in the wind--if you ever find a friend who tells you this and you take direct delivery of it, you will be blessed beyond words.
This is Salvation, Liberation, Nirvana,
the Kingdom of Heaven--accept it now if you can.
If there is still a you there wanting enlightenment--then this is also just what is--don't fight with it--just notice it, be aware of it and in due course it will vanish by itself without any personal effort. - Stop playing God and let Him run the universe.
End.

New Note (3) from Mark:
Notes from Kings Cross,
Tuesday 12th Nov 07.
What we talk about here is Advaita----Truth or Reality. - Now the definition of Reality is That which does not change. - Everything apart from this Omnipresent Awareness is a was-ing---past or an if-ing----future.
So this that we talk about, is the only thing worth talking about. - It must be seen very clearly that past or future, are only in imagination and never ever actual--Apart from thought, memory and anticipation, there is no past or future. - As Sailor Bob says, what's wrong with right now if you don't think about it? - And I think it is fairly obvious that there can be nothing wrong or right if I don't think about it. - Also Nisargadatta Maharaj would often point out to me that nothing can trouble you except in your own imagination--read thought--read time--read mind. - So mind as we ordinarily use the term is time--memory of past or anticipation of some coming event -- future.
Mind is time and time is fear because it is circumscribed--it has a beginning and an end. - However this pure Presence Awareness is timelessly present or Omnipresent--but usually it's being ignored or overlooked, taken for granted, we might say. - The "me", Joe Blogs is time or memory and it wants to continue for all time--it doesn't want to disappear. - I, Joe Blogs love to be---I am so and so and I'll do anything to stay alive for as long as possible. - This desire to be and continue endlessly is Thana (sanskrit term meaning thirst for existence), suffering and delusion.
There is no need for me to continue to be or not to be as Shakespeare said, because I am, infinitely and eternally as this pure Presence Awareness that no one can ever, under any circumstances, negate this pure awareness that (they are) I already am is Omnipresence, Omniscience, Omnipotence--All Presence--All Knowing--All Power, and the "me" as Joe Blogs is only a mental concept, a bunch of memories, which ultimately has no substance or independent nature apart from the pure awareness or knowingness which I already am and can't negate.
So there is no need to get rid of the me or ego, because it never existed--or as Nisargadatta says is the child of a barren woman---and after all a barren woman has never had a son in the first place! - So where is the need to get rid of it, because it is appearance only?
Don't take my word for it--investigate and find out for yourself. - Who am I? - Who and where is this separate I (Joe Blogs that I have taken myself to be?
Right here and right now, without a word or concept there is just a pure "is" ness or as we say in Dzogchen, the highest expression of Buddhism, non-conceptual awareness.
Dzogchen translated means The Great Perfection. - This pure "is" ness or knowingness that you are That is this present experiencing--without a word or concept, you can't sat it is good or bad happy or sad--it just "is"--even without a concept
--this non-conceptual awareness that you presently cannot negate is The Great Perfection and you already are That.
The manifest universe (Phenomena) has appeared on and will disappear into this non-dual Noumenon-----read Absolute. - So really, as far as I'm concerned, nothing has ever happened at all---all this discussion, all actions good or bad, everything I am saying is for entertainment only--whirling away the illusory time. - A Jnani knows and I know that all this (whatever anyone says or doesn't say) is nothing but pure ignorance.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it! -See what it does to your pride of doership and arrogance. - As Nisargadatta pointed out --you as that separate entity, are the result of spit (or sperm, or dirt), so how can you even entertain ego or doership, when this is seen?
What will happen to your self-esteem if you are exposed to this actuality--how can you have ego? Full stop!
Yes sir! - That's the reason why there doesn't seem to be many takers for this. - No one wants to be nothing or no thing, and that's exactly what you are -- not a vacuum or a void---pure emptiness suffused with intelligence or knowingness—not a dead thing--- pure boundless self-shining intelligence energy--no beginning, no ending -- ineffable, unborn, unspeakable, non-conceptual awareness.
Nothing perceivable or conceivable--inconceivable--unknowable--so give up trying to grasp ‘This’ with the mind, you can't grasp it because you are it!

End.


New Note (2) from Mark:

Where to start? - Start from the fact that here and now there is (a) presence of awareness which can not under any circumstances be negated. - You know "I am"- but since when did you know or have this consciousness "I am'? -- Also this consciousness"I am" is a temporary thing; it comes and goes. - When it comes it's called birth and when it goes it's called death; but my question is - who knows this? - Who is aware of these happenings which we are all are witnessing from day to day?

Isn't there (an) awareness of the very sentience or consciousness that we are all enjoying presently? -Isn't everything appearing and disappearing on and in this pure awareness or knowing-ness; this changeless background? - Now this awareness is ever present or
Omnipresent because it allows me to say "I am" - It is totally impersonal and invisible and no matter how hard you try, you cannot notice It or see It as an object.

- This pure non dual awareness or knowing-ness has always and ever been with you, but you as that imagined entity "me" have through inadvertence been ignoring it and "this" is the very ignorance that is keeping you in bondage. - This pure awareness which is your Natural or Original State or condition is neither sentient nor insentient.

Please note that all these words I am using are only concepts or pointers, they are not (the) Reality itself - that being said, we can use the words instead of ‘the words using us’. - So if what we have just pointed out is the Truth or Reality that ever seeker is seeking and I can assure you from direct experience that it is;- then this person or sentient human being that I had prior to this realization taken myself to be, is totally false or illusory. -So with just a simple looking I see that what was born is this consciousness or concept "I am" and that is what is going to die, and that can die right now if I actually see that it is false – So this pure awareness unaware of itself is my true or Natural State.

It can only know itself when a vehicle ie body-mind organism, consciousness is present or available. - And truly this pure awareness is here and now untouched and totally unaffected - it is birth-less, deathless, body-less, mind-less, time-less, and space-less and I, the true formless I am That - Right from the beginning -nothing(no thing) is -nothing has ever existed apart from That.

This is self realization not god realization, because that will get you nowhere.

I have never seen any god I am only telling you about myself.

Before there can be any God you the Self or non dual Absolute have to be their first. -You are the proof of God not the other way round.- You as pure awareness are prior to everything and that includes the ‘knower’ of it.- This is wisdom and self knowledge. - Nisargadatta Maharaj told me the only way you can help anyone is to take them beyond the need for further help and he did that by showing me what I was not....this body and mind. - He did not and could not show me or explain to me what is the Truth or actual Reality of all things. because That cannot be put into words or seen as an object. - I had to do my own inner work and see the Truth for myself. - See and acknowledge this present awareness that you cannot negate or grasp and you too will be beyond the need for further help. - No guru, new age spiritual master, or outer teacher can do it for you, you have to see it for yourself.............

Questions and comments to mark.west1@bigpond.com

Note 1.

What we point to here in these or any gatherings is undivided empty cognizance of One Taste, suffused with knowing, or what Nisargadatta calls the Natural State. - There is nobody reading or listening to this who is not aware or conscious. - This present fresh wakefulness that everyone is already enjoying is what we call in Dzogchen (the very highest expression of Buddhism) - Rigpa - Emptiness suffused with awareness - The Great Perfection.
So let us start from the "fact" that we "are" That. - The Great Perfection or Natural State is already present and is our own true essence - This is the 'pointing out' - an instruction -acknowledge that simple fact that you are present and aware - that pure knowing-ness is non dual, effortlessly arising, pure from the very beginning and is the primordial Buddhahood. (Buddha means 'awake')
There is nothing to do or become. - 'Becoming' implies 'change' and 'time'. - Just realize I am That 'I am' (presence) and be what you already are - You cannot say "I am not". - Realize that here and now, without a concept, there is just a pure knowing-ness or "is" ness.
Now this pure "is"ness is what everyone is seeking and yet they already "are", so this seeking is like a dog chasing it own tail - Seeking must take place in the mind - which is time (process).
The pure awareness that everyone is already enjoying is timelessly present, or as the Ancient's say Omnipresent - So mind or time is only a mental concept - There is nothing inherently wrong with concepts ,they are useful but they are only pointers - This pure awareness that everyone is enjoying is there prior to and after any and every concept - So this non conceptual awareness "is" The Great Perfection of Dzogchen and is our true essence here and now - So it must be seen from this logical step by step inquiry that the search for Truth, God, or enlightenment is a trap, as we are already That - However no one can see it for anyone else - each must see it for him or her self, so to speak.
So I say happy hunting - closer than hands and feet - can't see the forest for the trees - there is only seeing, hearing. etc, there is no seer or hearer etc - The answer is not in the mind. so stop looking there - full stop! - Find the seeker - have a good look and everything will resolve itself and be clear - Everything is happening spontaneously, without a doer - you so called are being lived period.
Realize that you are the pure awareness - The Supreme Principal, beyond mind and body and abide as That.


Some really good news, if you have not heard it already is:
Mark's book "Gleanings from Nisargadatta" is available from the T.S. Bookshop in Melbourne.
This remarkable book is a clear record of many of the meetings with Nisargadatta in Khetwadi, Bombay.
The notes were taken down with Maharaj's blesssings. - Note taking was usually discouraged, so these notes are rare. I was struck by their potent clarity, a clear record that carries with it a sense of authenticity - one can almost hear Maharaj speaking in them. - It is encouraging to see some bookshops starting to stock the book. The T.S. Bookshop in Melbourne & the Adyar Bookshop in Sydney are stocking Mark's book now (as stock is available).
The link for the Melbourne bookshop is - Click Here.

The new book "Gleanings From Nisargadatta" is a Powerhouse of clear pointing.
Mark has done a great service for us all by taking down those notes, which make up the main contents of the book. - In my opinion, this book is so potent, one can only read a few pages in one sitting. - It is so full of profoundly clear pointers, it requires a period of contemplation and digestion or assimilation. - Such contemplation is essential with any profound teaching.
It has been a 'gift' for me to have assisted Mark with getting this book together and out there, so that many others can benefit from its unique message.

- Gilbert Schultz (of shiningthroughthemind.net - and editor of Sailor Bob Adamson's books and CD's - also author of "The First Instant" and "Everything is Clear and Obvious")


The book is generating a lot of interest and no doubt will continue to do so.
It is 'a must' for anyone interested in this subject of Non Duality and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Mark highly recommends the 'teachings' of Bob Adamson. One recent CD "Gentle Reminders" -is a clear recording of a recent meeting in Melbourne - it is a record of a typical meeting at Bob's yet it has a gentleness, which can profoundly 'touch' the weary seeker. - You can only order the CD from Bob Adamson's Website. - Mark is holding a weekly meeting on Sunday's 10.30am - 12 noon (in Sydney Central Area) Email him for details of where it is happening (mark.west1(AT)bigpond.com) - Replace (AT) with @ in the email address shown.