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The following is an excerpt from the book ‘You Were Never Born’ by John Wheeler.

Questioner: Just over a week ago I leaped out of bed in the middle of the night with the absolute self-evident awareness that there was no time, that all memories of the past and anticipation of the future are quite simply thoughts arising right now. I had previously understood this conceptually, but here it was slapping me in the face with the obviousness of it. This remained with me. At the same time there was a sense of a huge implication for something which, paradoxically, took a couple of days before it too started slapping me in the face–if the past and future are presently-arising thoughts, then what am ‘I‘?

Somewhere between those two events, I listened to your song. It was during a period of immense, gentle, effortless silence on a peaceful Sunday afternoon while watching the clouds go by. Everything seemed so appropriate. What followed was a week of life living itself absolutely effortlessly. There were no worries about time, just being present, even while being late for work, squabbling with my family, watching the clouds or enduring a hangover. Things were also falling away, such that I was not so much discovering things as noticing what was always there and, equally, realizing what was not there. I recall looking down at my feet resting on the floor and seeing the mind call them ‘my feet’ and that what they were resting on was the ‘not-me’ floor. It was absolutely clear that this was an entirely arbitrary distinction. I tried to write this down at the time, but there is no meaningful way to describe the utter simplistic obviousness of ‘what is’ and of the operation of the conceptualizing or dualizing thought occurring within ‘this‘.

John: This is all well said, and I cannot add anything. This is the way things are. At some point, it is simply seen. Once you see this, you can never go back to the old view with any force or sustained belief. However, the old mental views, out of habit, may arise. These are the residual doubts, beliefs and assumptions based on duality and belief in separation. If we put these lenses back on by believing and focusing on the thoughts and taking them to be real, we overlook the clear seeing of what is. Once you get a sense of the clear perspective and realize that the duality is driven by old, unexamined concepts picked up in years of not knowing any better, a natural intelligence arises that pulls the energy of belief out of the conceptual mechanism.

Questioner: Yes. Unfortunately, the ‘I’ appears to have returned this week, as if a large and persistent cloud squatting on the horizon. I am currently feeling something of a sense of loss for, ironically, ‘nothing‘. The old pattern of trying to attain or grasp that which has been seen to be unattainable and ungraspable by ‘me’ has re-established itself! What occurred is now something in memory. The treadmill of trying to regain ‘it’ has heaved into motion with all its inherent friction and utter pointlessness.

John: The best approach at this juncture is to clearly understand what is happening. I was cycling through this kind of thing for years. However, things cleared up quickly when I at last understood the mechanism, so to speak, of what was occurring. Presence, awareness, or whatever you want to call it, has not gone anywhere. You are the same now as last week. Nothing has changed. The experience of separation, individuality or ‘me’ and the attendant flow of self-centered ideas and experiences is a chain of conceptual thought based on an assumption of separation. Apart from those thoughts, there is really nothing going on! You have not changed. The nature of what is has not changed. All is as it was and has always been. The erroneous thoughts are taken as true and some focus goes into them. That is all.

At some point with this, there is a recognition that the ‘me’ and me-related thoughts are simply creations in the mind. Being clearly aware that the whole affair is a production in thought undercuts the beliefs. Ultimately, the seeing dawns that all the thoughts are based on the belief in a separate person. On investigation the separate person is found to be absent. In other words, the whole superstructure is based on an assumed person that was never there! Yet presence is, awareness is, your true nature is—and this is undeniable. These kinds of things are pointed out in various ways and that natural intelligence in you resonates. You then have a look and see it for yourself. There are many ways to phrase all this. It gets down to seeing what is true about yourself along with, as needed, questioning the false beliefs about ourselves that we have taken as true.

Questioner: I am planning to attend the talks of a certain teacher. It is a four or five hour drive from here, but reading about your own much longer journey ‘down under‘, I sense that any apparent obstacles to the journey are trivial in the extreme. This is especially clear when I realize that I once again may see that any further journeys are needless.

John: Remember, we are not talking about an event in the future. You are present and aware now. All the concepts and beliefs based on apparent dualism are arising right here and now in present awareness. In no way are you ever separate or apart from presence, even if the mind says otherwise. It is simply not true. This is not about going anywhere or getting anything that is not already clearly present.