I saw this quote / insight posted on line and thought it relevant to some of our discussions here. Jeff Foster is a indie spiritual teacher / author in the advaita tradition. I know many Zen and vipasanna students who went on to advaita after their Buddhist experience, because they found it less formal and less religious. I am NOT promoting Jeff or this approach, per se, but do find this kind of inquiry useful. It is rare to find someone playing the role of master / guru who can live with uncertainly. They need to be certain, to instruct others what is so, and so on. Kennett's lotus blossom chapter was an expression of her fleeing her doubt, uncertainty, vulnerability and creating realms of light and cosmic budddhas to avoid her humanity.
"Instead of seeking certainty, can we fearlessly meet our doubt? Instead of seeking security, can we embrace present moment insecurity, and see the aliveness in it?
Instead of trying to resolve our lives perfectly, can we come to rest here and now - the place where everything is perfectly unresolved?
Instead of trying to find the answers, can we recognize ourselves as the wide open space of consciousness in which all questions, all doubts, all movements of mind and feeling are deeply allowed to arise and dissolve? Can we remember that we are neither the questioner nor the one with the answers, neither the seeker nor the sought, but the resting place for all of life?
Instead of striving to hold up the story of 'me', or even striving to get rid of that story, can we simply rest as this sacred space where the story has not yet coagulated?
Can we gently notice the story of 'me' arise and dissolve with such tenderness?
Can we stop pretending to know, and rest in wonder and never-ending mystery?"
Jeff Foster
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