Floating Non-duality in a ziplock bag
In July 1995, 31 years ago, Aaron told me he wanted to refine, clean up and expand his dictated teachings to me on non-duality. At that time, Karen Weber (now deceased) was our main transcriber and a wonderful friend to me and Aaron. She was a vital part of our first years of exploration! I was spending my summers at the lake cabin and Karen offered to come out each day, and type what Aaron said into my computer (no internet in those days; we used an old fashioned tape recorder to save transcripts and they were typed by hand) Our process that summer was, each morning, for me to read the previous thoughts from Aaron and to channel while Karen typed Aaron’s words into my computer, or on a typewriter, then to print out the pages, put each in a ziplock bag to keep them dry, and take them down to the lake, to my sailboat, along with a permanent marker for editing. There, we’d drift, read and talk more with Aaron! And occasionally jump in and cool off!
It was inevitable that pages blew off the boat deck and we’d retrieve them. Hence,
Aaron dubbed the project, “Floating Non-duality in a Ziplock Bag”.
The following years, Karen and I worked on reviewing the material until her illness made that impossible. For almost 30 years I’ve been wanting to get back to this writing, as has Aaron. He has been patient. It’s time. This is not yet a final edit but it’s ready to be shared. Through July and August, I want to use the beginning of this writing as the base for my blog.
It’s not just intellectual material. What does it mean to my life? To your life?
I also hope our work together can finalize the transcripts and get them ready for book form. Please share your thoughts and questions with me. In September, Aaron, John and I will focus our class on non-dual teachings and how we can truly live them. We’ll use this transcript, Path of Clear Light, and Flight of the Garuda as background guidance. So, this is a start. I hope you’ll enjoy the journey with us.
These transcripts are the work of Karen Weber, Barbara Brodsky and the spirit known as Aaron. From Jan 20, 1995 through January 24, 1996, they are Aaron’s response to the combined questions of Barbara and Karen only. . In January 1996 Barbara and Karen began to receive e-mail questions from others which were included in the work, although the channeling proceeded as before. In the channeled sessions, Barbara vocally channeled these words from Aaron: Karen transcribed them as they were channeled. The transcripts have been checked by Aaron for accuracy. The private journals are a continuation of the channeling sessions, done by Barbara alone, in her private work with Aaron. They are typed by Barbara during the dialogue, a kind of taking-of-dictation process. They are the portion of Barbara’s daily work with Aaron which seems relevant to the subject of these transcripts. Personal material in these daily journals has been omitted unless Aaron specifically asked that it remain for illustrative purposes.
Friday 95.01.20 private, partially corrected (present: Barbara and Karen
Barbara and Karen began with some discussion of giving/receiving as non-dual
Aaron: I am Aaron.
Every telling of this story is biased. I state here my bias as highly positively-polarized discarnate energy.
In the beginning, there was no beginning! We speak here of the Birthless!
K: Question: I am aware that when I read some statements like “there has always been energy” and “birthless,” my mind just goes into “tilt,” just blank. It is like it is so habituated to linear time and concepts that I can’t really wrap my mind around such things deeply.
Aaron: I am Aaron. I understand that terms such as “birthless” and “infinite” are only concepts to those who are confined in human understanding, as you all believe you are. I would ask you not to judge yourselves that you cannot immediately experientially understand such terms, nor to grasp at such understanding. Just let these terms sit. Note any confusion that arises from it and go on with your reading.
Of course I was not here at that “beginning”. I do not speak from personal experience. My understanding of it, from my present experience and my teachers, is that the infinite truly is infinite. It did not begin with a “big bang”. There has always been energy. One can conjecture that that energy was neutral in its polarity and through its increasing experience, moved toward positive polarity until it became the model of positive polarity.
B: I have a question about the word “neutral, Aaron. I don’t even know how to phrase the question, but something here troubles me. What you say below makes sense, that if it had manifest as light then it would be dual with darkness. But if it became positive, what is the relation to negative? Did it become positive, or does it just express more of the positive aspect of its still existent neutral nature, and express less of the negative?
Aaron: I am Aaron. I understand the difficulty in clear articulation. You are correct that this needs re-phrasing. If that which is neutral offers its freewill choice to express that which is positive and to release without expression that which is negative, it is still made up of positive and negative aspects. Think of it in terms of human expression. Greed and aversion may still arise in the deeply positively polarized human. Because they are met with compassion, and are not enacted, they become powerless. The arising of anger no longer serves as catalyst for angry action or speech. It serves as catalyst for compassion. Eventually when angry thought arises, there is no contraction around it at all. It is seen with compassion and that compassion serves as part of the motivation for the service to all beings.
In one sense, we would not say that this being is only neutral. It is positively polarized. We cannot say it no longer contains negativity. If that were so, there would be a duality. It is in its essence neutral with the free will decision to enact its positivity and not to get caught in the stories of its negativity. This power of intention is vital. It is not an intention enacted through force, control or further negativity, but an intention enacted based on lovingkindness.
This All-That-Is in the ultimate sense does remain neutral. But increasingly it chose to express its positivity and to release its negativity without expression. I think it is merely a semantic question whether one will call it neutral or positive. Suffice it to say that it is neutral, expressing positivity.
In the beginning, perhaps it played with both expressions of its being. To be true to its non-dual nature, it saw that to express its negativity was to injure itself and to reap the karma of that injury. I would perceive that it understood immediately that as soon as it acted in a dualistic way, it brought itself into the field of karma. Only when it acted resonant with its true non-dualistic nature could it continue free of karma.
Expressions of this All-That-Is still offer out negatively polarized, hurtful expression. These are not things separate from All-That-Is but in those expressions they do wrap themselves in karma. But they are still non-dual.
It is hard to talk about this in the same ways and for the same reason that it is hard to articulate non-linear time. All-That-Is can simultaneously be Unconditioned and free of the karmic field and offer conditioned expressions which are within the karmic field. These are both wholesome and unwholesome expressions, but still from a place of self. As the unwholesome expressions – sense of separated self and fear about that self, and identification with it – are laid aside, the result is a bit like the blowing off of dust from a clear light so that the unshadowed light can emerge in its fullness. We blow the dust off the light bulb, the dust that dimmed the light. The dust doesn’t cease to exist; it settles elsewhere, but it no longer has the capacity to dim the light.
As That-Which-Is rested in deepening awareness of its unlimitedness and power, and the power of its choice to create suffering or freedom from suffering, it increasingly chose to express its radiance and not its darkness.
The label “neutrality which expresses its utmost radiance and clarity” is a mouthful. I think this is no different than the shortened term, positive polarity. Think of positive polarity in terms of that magnet with a positive and negative pole. Positive polarity still has a negative pole. It does not choose to express it. Thus, it is the positive expression of the magnet, or of neutral.
The term “Positive polarity” will be taken to mean , “neutrality which expresses its utmost radiance and clarity” through the remainder of this text.
K. noted that positive, neutral and negative are not on a linear continuum. The whole magnet is neutral and contains positive and negative poles, but even within the positive pole is some negativity and vice versa.
Barbara today: what do these words mean for my life?
From daily reflections July 6: When something is pleasant in your experience—think here of the warmth of sunshine on a spring day, or the fragrance of beautiful flowers, the presence of your beloved cat or dog cuddling up against you, the taste of something delicious to your taste buds—you will, of course, experience it as pleasant, and your energy field will open toward it. When something is unpleasant in your experience, you will contract a bit. If there is sudden sharp pain, for example, you will contract with the pain. If somebody approaches you with anger, you pull back. Again, no judgment here. You are mammals and these are mammal reflexes to open to that which is pleasant, and to pull back from that which is unpleasant. There is no judgment of this, no problem with it. It becomes a challenge when it becomes habitual and deepens, so that that which is unpleasant is experienced as a closing and armoring and pushing away, and that which is pleasant is experienced as opening, but also there can be grasping, which moves into the contracted area. So, we’re not talking about pleasant and unpleasant, or the reaction to pleasant or unpleasant, but the habitual holding of these, and the way that it moves into a habitual response, so that when you see something coming at you, you not only contract—which is normal. That which is aware of contraction is not contracted. Awareness notices contracting, “Ah, hello, contraction,” and holds space for it, compassion for the human who is contracting, and then it releases. It does not move into a karmic pattern. It’s just a human reflex. No problem.
Barbara today, July 7: the promised power return didn’t happen, and it will be 85 today, 90 tomorrow. Now they say power return tomorrow by midnight! (and it was restored night of 7/8) Anger arises! Lack of electricity is unpleasant; heat is unpleasant… These feelings will arise. The vital movement is into compassion, for myself and others. What allows me to find that compassion? I can’t, when I’m judging myself for feeling anger. Aaron just asks gently, “In this moment, where is compassion?” The essence of the work above for me is free will choice. Unpleasant feelings will always arise, with aversion. Pleasant will always arise, and will come with grasping to hold on. Can the essence, the awareness, grounded in compassion, watch these changes without getting caught in stories. If stories come, can I bring them into my heart, free of the self-centeredness that creates further karma?
These days have been challenging: 85 to 90 degrees, Hal hot and uncomfortable, take-out food or cooking on the grill, no shower, no laundry…. Anger arises. Gratitude for what we do have, and awareness – that I can hold that anger (today at DTE, who will no longer prioritize service repair for someone like Hal as they always did in the past) ) with compassion and not get caught in the stories of anger as “right” or “wrong,” and not condemn myself for feeling anger – sees me through. Time to meditate.
Gratitude for my garden this morning