James Wood Teachings

Judgment is tied to a sense of separation. The word “God,” implies religious belief, whereas “Truth” does not. Truth is just what is. We usually project parental qualities onto “God” and argue with “God.” But who would argue with Truth? Wouldn’t you have to be insane? Living a lie isn’t wrong; it’s just painful. Truth moves Itself. There is a difference between reacting and responding. Consciousness doesn’t judge, but makes distinctions between healthy and unhealthy functioning. Faith is a relationship with Formlessness that doesn’t require thought.

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Awakening reveals the true nature of things: that they neither exist nor not exist. They are mentally projected and have no intrinsic existence. This is not nihilism. Things exist, but only dependently. They don’t exist independently or absolutely. No thought ultimately matches your experience. Nothing you can say, think, or imagine actually captures Reality. The more you feel that you are an independent, intrinsically self-existing entity, it’s like a little prison cell that shuts out Freedom. Ego is an attachment to self that causes suffering.

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The sense of self is empty, or empty of intrinsic existence. It may be useful but it doesn’t have an ultimate nature of itself. Forms are empty — like phantoms, snowflakes, or puffs of smoke. Formlessness is the essence of all that is. Awakening is letting go of concepts as if they were ultimately true but allowing them as you would allow a puff of smoke in a room. Awareness is like a vast space that doesn’t cling to objects. Faith consists in not-knowing, trusting, and letting go. Nirvana is the end of the dream of forms as having intrinsic Reality.

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Words are not necessary to discern Truth. Silence is always present. Listening into this space is a kind of wisdom that is deeper than thinking. It’s harder to do this when there’s more noise, specifically mental noise. But part of the practice is to notice mental noise, what causes it, and what it feels like. This practice allows you to fall into a deeper witnessing of stillness. There may a noise or disturbance underneath this stillness that requires patience to dissolve. If you’re persistent, patient, and present, you can wake up in this lifetime. That’s what we’re here for.

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Intimate relationships are a convenient way to see your negativity up close, to have it mirrored to you. We all come to that point where we see what’s going on inside us, and it’s not pretty. The key is to allow it and yet remain conscious. Your protection is not repression or indulgence, but a conscious allowing of what is. You’re fortunate if you have an intimate partner with whom you can do that. If you can be present for a negative emotion such as anger as it it expresses itself, it will dissipate and eventually dissolve. If you say something mean, you can apologize and be forgiven.

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Evil is a description of thought, feeling, or behavior that causes harm. If it doesn’t cause harm, it can’t be evil. The cure for evil is finding its root: unconsciousness. Unconsciousness is believing that thoughts are ultimately true; this contributes to negativity on the planet. To eradicate it is really necessary, even if it seems somewhat innocuous. Consciousness is the answer — seeing negativity for what it is without judgment. Negativity is ultimately neither good nor bad; it’s harmful. The way to eliminate it is to be fully present for it as it is, without judgment.

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