Customer Reviews

Right Here, Right Now: Seeing Your True Nature as Present Awareness

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I have read hundreds of "Spiritual Books," from Advaita to Zen. From Ramana Maharshi (Who Am I?) to Nisargadatta Maharaj (I Am That) ... with all manner of practices, and Gurus (like Baba Muktananda who I still love,) as well seminars, therapies, and meditations ... which went on for over 30 years.

Meeting John Wheeler was the beginning of the end of all that seeking, confusion, mistaken identification, and the attendant suffering. It's that simple and that real, what John points to.

I had a long struggle with the uncompromising nondual pointers John shares, until awareness began to dawn, and the suffering began to lessen, then subside as the Truth revealed itself. This cannot be attained, as the brute fact is that the one who wants to attain is a phantom. This is made crystal clear in John's sharing. But it is not something John gives a seeker - that very dualism is what is false and as John reminds the reader over and over, only through our OWN rigorous and committed investigation can this Innate Truth of our Aware Presence be seen to be the ground of all being and then the seeking evaporates, along with the seeker-identity. All is clear then and it is as obvious and bright as a sunrise that what we are IS this presence of awareness ... simply, Being Itself. It was never absent - so the search itself was the real problem!

I have known my now very good friend John Wheeler since November of 2004; we met first through his writings and website, and then through in-person meetings and e-mail exchanges (John may well be the most generous and forgiving human being I have ever known; I was a hard case and never once did he give up on me!)

In my view only one with a sharp sense of self-awareness can point to That Truth of Timeless Being in ways that the seeker can see for himself or herself. This sharp clear loving energy comes through between, and before, the `words' in the book. I was totally skeptical that words could lead beyond words ... but when the words are viewed not as "the truth" but rather as "signposts" or Arrows that show us, stop and look here! can there be a dawning of the innate intelligence-energy that lies at the heart of all creation.

I'd suggest to not dismiss this as merely a book! Take it up with a commitment to discover what the words are pointing to (NOT describing or representing, but indicating the direction for our own looking) and you will be amazed at the resonance and heart-felt affinity for your own true Self that arises.

Over and over we are reminded by the ancient sages and saints, the great word: "You Are That." That - Sat - Chit - Ananda, which can be translated as Being, Awareness and Pure Love - THAT is what you are.

Some call this Awareness-Presence God. Know this as you look in the ways John suggests: As the great Word - the "Mahavakya" - states: That, Thou Art. That, I Am. All That Is, Is That.
With love and respect for who you are, I humbly suggest that you read this book, as well as others by John, and follow the pointers back into your True Self. That Self is eternally free, Self-knowing, and brimming with affection and respect for all that is, as it is.

Five stars ain't enough!

In love and Gratitude, to The One appearing as Mr. John Wheeler,

I Am.

The author's message is this: Against all appearances, we are not separate people. We are ONE. And what we all are is Presence-Awareness. Thoughts come and go, but we remain clear, and are always here now.

Our experiences/thoughts are flashed out as on a screen, and we are not the screen or actors but the background. The background is permanent.

We don't need to become enlightened because we are already that and have forgotten it. Our Real Nature is shining right now.

It makes me think of the Hawaiian Islands -- seeming like separate islands but in reality are connected at the base.

John Wheeler--one of the world's finest contemporary teachers of nonduality (or Advaita)--directly realized his true nature through in-depth conversations with "Sailor" Bob Adamson in 2003. John carries on that colloquial approach in this admirable work.

Through discussions and email exchanges with a multitude of seekers, John points--with captivating precision--to their overlooked, self-shining freedom. It is literally is right here, right now, as your own everyday awareness. (Full disclosure: I awakened to that fact through reading John's first book, AWAKENING TO THE NATURAL STATE, and through some follow-up emails with him).

This present work is both sturdy and handsomely-printed, and it contains over 100-chapters of Q&As. Oftentimes, the chapter-headings themselves are exquisite pointers to one's ever-present nature, e.g., "It is Just a Simple Recognition," "Awareness Is the Background of All Experiences," and "Stay With What Is Clear, Simple and Present."

As in all of his books, John's magnificent patience is clearly apparent here. Sensing a questioner's frustration, John will, for example, remind the questioner to stay not with the concept of what he thinks presence-awareness should be, but rather, with what is clearly evident at this very moment.

Near the end of the book, John--in lyrical prose--reminds a seeker that "There is no ordinary life...The universe being revealed in each moment is aflame with the presence of equisite love. In that, even the most ordinary thing is a unique and wonderful expressions of the underlying oneness of all."

Yes, this is no ordinary life. And RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW is no ordinary book. Indeed, it is not to be missed.

Here we go again. I don't mean that pejoratively. But anybody landing on this page must already be somewhat clued to Non-Duality. Life is but a dream. Nothing is real but awareness. This book is a clear, consistent, unremitting, repeater-beacon on that theme. No matter what the question, there's only one answer from John.

However, some of the questioners retain a bit of their humanly spiced vacillation and weakness as they step up to the plate one more time with their little doubts and quibbles. They all take John's relentlessly polite slapdowns with good grace and are quick to blame themselves for not quite getting it yet. Both students and Master (just kidding just kidding!) all seem like nice people (if rather colorless, but after all that is entailed by the nature of their enterprise).

In one sense, what Wheeler asserts must be true. It has to be. What else could consciousness ever experience, in this world, the next world, or any world, other than "sensations, emotions, and thoughts"? There couldn't ever be anything else... see 'The Matrix' if you have trouble with that. So all the contents of Awareness are just the meaningless stream of sensory events and automated reactions occuring nowhere, to nobody. Fine, that simply must be true, it is a tautology anyway.

But a more interesting question remains. Since apparently there is no escape from this SET-stream (Sensations, Emotions, Thoughts), even after you see the empty chair behind the curtain, now the question arises, can it at least be made more pleasant? I would assert that this question might be a more practical take on the whole thing.

In other words, even though I accept the essential truth of Wheeler's bare epistemology, I think another question lurks behind it. I'm still human enough to be interested in suffering. Like The Matrix's Cypher character.

John Wheeler has a unique ability to clarify the teachings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj for a western audience. He hammers home his dual message that we are not the separate isolated beings we take ourselves to be and that our true nature is present awareness. Highly recommended.

John Wheeler writes very clearly about non-duality. I ordered about 20 non-duality books from Amazon by various writers, and John Wheeler's books were definitely the ones that impressed me the most by using the clearest and simplest language. I highly recommend John Wheeler's books if you are interested in non-duality.