missing the point

Using words, we are already missing the point

This is one of the great dilemmas for a spiritual teacher. As soon as we are in the world of words, spoken, written, or thought, as soon as we are in this world of words, our awareness has moved away from the direct contact with life. Words are symbols. They refer to something else. And from words we create concepts. These concepts are also an abstraction. And most of us go through life living in this world of words, concepts. And it would be okay if we were to remember, all the time, that these are symbols, they are a secondary phenomenon.

There is a primary phenomenon, and that is existence, which we are a part of ,and also witnessing. And we can be in direct contact with this existence, through bringing our awareness on to our senses, without getting caught up in thoughts, in words. And it's only when we are directly touching existence in this way that we have a chance of feeling the non-separation that is our spiritual essence. It is not just that we are touching existence, but we are existence.

And this is only possible, this non-duality can only be felt, can only be lived, when we are not bound up in symbols, in concepts, in words. Paradoxically, of course, most spiritual teachings come in the form of words, written or spoken, including these words I'm speaking now, and that's the dilemma: how to convey something that cannot be conveyed in words. When we are using words, we have moved away from that which is at the heart of spirituality. And yet the purpose, the aim of these teachings, is to point one back at that essence, at the essential part of who we are, which is also the essence of existence, the whole of existence. 

So we are using these symbols to refer to that which is non-symbolic, we could say to refer to what is real. And of course the old zen saying comes to mind: The teachings are a finger pointing to the moon. The finger is like the word, is pointing at something. But if you get obsessed with the finger, if you're caught up with the finger, you'll never notice the moon. And the sole purpose of the finger is to point to the moon, so that your awareness moves to the moon.

And so it is with spiritual teachings. They are all pointing to something. We could call it god. We could call it enlightenment. We could call it existence, our essence. There are many names for it, and these names are, of course, symbols. So there we go again. It's not surprising that in some religions speaking the name of God is a sin, is kind of banned, and this is the reason why. God is that which has no name. It's nameless. God is who we are when we are not living in symbols and words and thoughts and concepts. So this is why it can be said that by using words we are already missing the point. And the greatest teachings come in silence.