More than twenty years ago, my (second) wife and I divorced, after ten years of marriage. After we divorced, I recognized that I had some unfinished business: it revolved around “the meaning of life”, which is at the bottom of the spiritual pursuit—to which I returned.
As soon as our house was sold, I took my share of the equity and bought a fully-equipped camper van. I parked it on the property of an absentee friend in the redwood forest, near where I had been living in Northern California. I lived there in virtual solitude: reading, contemplating, taking walks for hours in the forest. At the end of three years, something suddenly fell into place. The spiritual quest resolutely came to an end. I discovered the actuality which is inescapable.
The inseparability of all things, which has been referred to persistently by mystic sages for 3,500 years of our written history, is commonly spoken of as “oneness” (or Oneness). There is an aspect of this oneness which is rather apparent to most any attentive mind. But the aspect which seems to give many of us some difficulty has to do with our personal, individual relationship to this oneness. This latter aspect is the matter which had now become clarified for me.
This radical, and sudden, shift in perspective was received like good news by me. Where before there had been confusion and perplexity concerning the relationship of the individual to the whole of existence, now there was a calming clarity. There was a profound resolution of the uneasy questing which had punctuated my prior years, a resolution which was not transitory because it has not since been apart from my general awareness.
I hoped to share the good news, particularly with those whom I knew to have quested concurrently with myself. I knew, from my own experience, that a certain element of this unitive understanding is communicable from one mind to another; the analogy is sometimes given of a flame leaping from one torch to another torch.
For the past fifteen years, I have conducted a considerable number of discussions (both individually and in groups) with persons who indicated their interest in resolving—and in recognizing that they had resolved—what has been called the perennial question. I have carefully observed the junctures at which their confusion compounded. I have also observed that for a few individuals there was no point at which their confusion was not surmounted, to their satisfaction.
The essence of the unitive understanding is that it is liberating; the marvel of the unitive understanding is that it is basically effortless. Its liberation is a consequence of the non-attachment it engenders. This is not a detaching of piece from piece, item by item. It is an across-the-board release of attachment, which even includes non-attachment to the continuity of one's life. This dispelling of attachment is, in the same moment, the dispelling of correlated fear—and that is dynamic liberation.
Robert's website.
Books:
Living Nonduality
The Gospel of Thomas: The Enlightenment Teachings of Jesus
Summary and transcript of this interview
Interview recorded 12/3/2011
YouTube Video Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to the Interview with Robert Wolfe
00:02:08 - The Meaning of Enlightenment
00:03:47 - The Myth of Enlightenment
00:05:41 - Recognizing the Truth
00:07:42 - The dissolution of the individual conception
00:09:41 - The Significance of the Word "If"
00:11:30 - Insights from Living in the Forest
00:13:50 - Finding the Zen Farming Commune
00:16:14 - Life Changes and Unfinished Business
00:18:42 - Three years in the forest reading, contemplating, and taking walks
00:20:58 - The Misconceptions of Enlightenment
00:22:42 - Guru Suits and Businessmen
00:24:45 - The Power of Immersion in Non-Duality
00:27:21 - Sharing the Truth with Others
00:29:46 - Relocating to Ohio for Krishnamurti's Teachings
00:32:51 - Making self-realization a priority amidst worldly responsibilities
00:35:54 - The Illusion of Future Results
00:38:23 - The Cultivation of Deep Interest in Enlightenment
00:40:57 - The Difference in Interest levels
00:43:13 - The Illusion of Control and the Mystery of Self
00:46:04 - Awareness of the Witness vs. the Witnessed
00:48:57 - Non-duality and Physics
00:52:06 - Linkage of Subatomic Particles
00:54:41 - The Intelligence of the Cosmos
00:56:52 - The Development of Spiritual Intelligence
00:59:24 - The Purpose of Human Existence
01:01:30 - The Importance of Expressing Awakening Experiences
01:04:21 - The Importance of Reading, Writing, and Speaking
01:06:28 - A Quest for Truth
01:07:56 - A Joyful Journey
01:09:15 - Stay Connected with Buddha at the Gas Pump
01:10:46 - Theme Music