Excerpt from "Naked Being" by Jonathan Harrison
This collection of over 400 illuminating insights is a breath of fresh air for all seekers of the inner self. A beautiful fusion of mainstream spirituality, esoteric oneness and non-duality, "Naked Being" provides a powerful foundation for positive and lasting life changes. In clear, precise and thought provoking terms the author gently guides the reader into the experience of present moment awareness (the Now), and to the Wholeness beyond.The author defines Naked Being as: "Your pure minded nature. The formless heart of what you are. You are a human being, but more precisely a human getting to know Being. When the layers or 'habits' covering your core nature are removed, you recognise the essential naked truth of pure consciousness that you and all others are."
The powerful effects from implementing this insightful teaching are beneficial to our lives, health and relationships, for by reading and contemplating "Naked Being" we can recognize what it really means to come home: to realize what it means to be a human Being.
The book is broken down into bits of wisdom that you can read, study, meditate upon and carry with you throughout the day. It's one of those lasting books that you can open to any section and find just what you need to help you through your journey.
Here is the Introduction...
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Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held Believe nothing because it is said in ancient books Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin Believe nothing just because someone else believes it Believe only what you, yourself test and judge to be true. ~ Siddhārtha Gautama aka Buddha (563-483 BCE) |
Naked Being is about coming home. Coming home to the formless heart of what you are. It doesn't involve adding to what you've already got, or acquiring something you don't yet have, simply the recognition and realisation of your true nature. That nature is not something you can be taught or anything you can learn to become. It is the simple truth of what you are - here and now in this very moment.
Reading this book is a journey in awareness. It's not the absolute route, or the only way, simply a collection of reflections to help guide you home. The further you travel down this sacred path of remembrance, the more you'll learn to discern and trust in your inner Self. For the True Self is the best navigation system in the entire universe. Not only does it help you understand who you are, but where you come from.
Nobody's saying this journey home is going to be easy. You'll need courage to face up to problems and difficulties, the honesty to deal with them and sufficient patience to see it all through. No one else can hold your hand or take this voyage of the soul for you, and yet at no time will you be alone, for you can never truly be alone.
You will know when you arrive home - not because you logically understand it to be so, or because somebody tells you as much, but from the vibrant knowingness of love reverberating throughout your entire being. The joy you are is uncovered when the conditioning of the mind is withdrawn, for only then do you create enough space to truly 'see' yourself and reality as they are.
So these words are here to guide you, to comfort you and to help you question the meaning of life. They will make you happy and sad, laugh and cry, and if you allow them, they will move you as you need to be moved, for they contain the essence of what you are. If there is a 'purpose' for them, it is not personal gain, or to convince you of opinions, but to encourage spiritual momentum. They do not belong to a particular time, person or place, for they arose out of the timeless truth of Naked Being.
Approaching the nature of who you are means allowing your self to see more clearly, for allowance, acceptance and surrender are the three best revealers of that truth. The more you reveal or peel back from the outer layers of your being, the greater sense you will have of a formless underlying reality. You will increasingly see that people are neither what they appear to be, nor what they believe themselves to be; for beyond the physical, mental and emotional layers lies the foundational truth of Being, Naked Being.
All thoughts, theories, desires, concepts, ideas, experiences, memories, notions, emotions and appearances contribute to the conditioning or patterning of your mind. They define the way in which you think, speak and act. But none of these are the real you. They are only pale indications of a deeper essence. No name can define the realness of you, just as the colour of your hair or eyes do not substantiate who you are. Your body and looks are physical traits inherited from your parents. Even your name was given to a nameless you. When looking at yourself in the mirror, you are looking at your face, the face that belongs to you, which is an expression of you, but which does not and cannot substantiate the whole truth of who or what you actually are.
The same applies to your habitual mind. This separated ego-consciousness is not who you are, but something with which you identify. However, once you remove all the stories, notions, emotions and pent up baggage of the habitual mind, something happens. As it fades, an increasing space of clarity arises which allows you to see the bare truth of what you and reality are. For when that compulsive habitual mind is seen and stopped, the pure mind of universal consciousness is revealed. This is not something that belongs to you, but something everybody essentially IS. In short, pure mind is the most natural, transparent way of being.
In pure mind awareness, there is no reliance on the intellect to find an answer, just the effortless appearance of the solution. When you look at the world around you, the beauty of nature can be seen as that same pure mind in action. Surrender allows true expression. The acceptance of a sunflower is a stunning lesson if you only take the time to reflect upon it. This all makes further sense when you look up at the stars in the night sky and contemplate the ingenuity of the universe. For what genius could create and maintain such order and sustain such beauty and organisation? Like a drop of water in an endless ocean, the awareness of pure mind is a direct reflection of that same miracle.
Your True Nature can be considered 'Naked' - because it is the bare essence of what you are, and 'Being' - because it is unblemished existence. Now don't for one second think that this nakedness is embarrassing or leaves you in anyway vulnerable or exposed. The opposite is true. When you remember your Naked Being-ness, you experience a joyful relationship with your inner self, which leads to 'peace of mind' and a natural 'intelligent love' or compassion for all life. Your health will improve and your attitude to life will alter in the most positive ways. You will simply love being and naturally empathise with all forms of life. This essential nature or True Self is a treasure beyond your wildest dreams, and yet something so obvious it often remains overlooked. Being untouched and unaffected by time and space, we can't even say it 'exists' as such, and yet it underlies all.
We are human beings, but what do we know of the nature of Being? Truly knowing yourself means connecting with and remaining aware of your whole nature; remembering that you are limited (by form) and yet on the other hand limitless (through your relationship with formlessness). For only when you let go of what you appear to be, do you begin to sense what you truly are.
Naked Being is not a concept or a theory, neither is it a belief, religion or philosophy. It is the founding truth of our existence, the undisturbed nature of reality seen through the transparent unconditioned pure mind. It is the realisation of original peace, the experiencing of the clear blue sky of consciousness; and whether you realise it or not, it is the essence of what you are.
As Linda Pannell says in her Foreword, "Naked Being holds the promise and the power to re-create our planet, making pollution, illness, terrorism, greed, and inequality disappear. It holds the possibility of healing the past, making gold from all the 'stories' we have spun into a million reasons to struggle, strive, endure, and suffer in pain. It holds all possibility for celebrating our children!"
"Naked Being - Undressing Your Mind, Transforming Your Life"
by Jonathan Harrison