Meeting notes

Theme of the following quotations: The Self is not a noun, but a verb; not a static entity, but a psychological process. Each instant the process reveals unfolding experience within and without, guided by a dynamic or Will which some call individuation, others self-actualization. The Taoist practice of or nonaction expresses how when we identity with this process, it unfolds naturally and spontaneously according to each moment’s necessity.

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It is through his understanding of the word “process” that the disciple discovers the true meaning of the occult statement that “before a man can tread the path he must become that Path himself.”

~ (1880-1949), American esotericist, in The Rays and the Initiations

We are, in our deepest nature, processes, not things. We are humans, be-ing. We are the ing of our doing. We are not what we do, but the do-ing. We are not what we think ,but the think-ing… Life, process, is always moving on, always in process.

~ (1950-2008), American existential/humanistic psychotherapist and author, in The Art of the Psychotherapist

The “self” in Self Acceptance Training is actually a process. You are not the body, not the ego, but the process. You are what exists right now, not what you were a minute ago or what you will be a minute from now, to say nothing of a year ago or a year from now.

~ (1915-1994) American human potential therapist, quoted in Walking in Beauty edited by Roslyn Moore

~ (1945-) contemporary Australian cartoonist

I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process — an integral function of the universe.

~ (1895-1983), American philosopher, systems theorist, architect, and inventory, in I Seem to be a Verb

Man is a stream whose source is hidden…. I am constrained every moment to acknowledge a higher origin for events than the will I call mine.

~ (1803-1882), American author, poet, and philosopher, in The Over-Soul

The most fundamental lesson I have learned about life is this: The essence of my being is that i am subjective awareness continually in process…. I am solely the process of my being – as an example, I am the process of writing these words, but I am not the content of the words or the ideas they express. I am the being aware of writing, the choosing ways of expressing thoughts, the hoping for communication, the enjoying of the emergence in thoughts and images of what I have experienced.

~ (1915-2008) existential humanistic psychotherapist in Search for Identity

But he that hath the steerage of my course Direct my sail.

~ The character of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet by (1564-1616), English playwright

I will tell you of the origin of the controversy between Buddha and Devadadatta.

The only difference between Adamic man and the man of today is that the one was born to paradise and the other has to create it. And that brings me back to the question of choice. A man can only prove that he is free by electing to be so. And he can only do so when he realizes that he himself made himself unfree. And that to me means that he must wrest from God the powers he has given God. The more of God he recognizes in himself the freer he becomes. And the freer he becomes the fewer decisions he has to make, the less choice is presented to him. Freedom is a misnomer. Certitude is more like it. Unerringness. Because truthfully there is always only one way to act in any situation, not two, nor three. Freedom implies choice and choice exists only to the extent that we are aware of our ineptitude. The adept takes no thought, one might say. He is one with thought, the path.

~ (1891-1980), American author, in Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymous Bosch

One who has reached full maturity, who knows himself in consciousness will not necessarily conform with social convention. Such a one will act at the right moment as the situation dictates, without anybody being hindered in any way. If your acts are dictated by your desires, you have no freedom whatsoever. On the other hand, if you do what the situation calls for, you do what is right and you and your surroundings are free.

~ (1916-1998), French Advaita Vedanta master, in I Am

Problems cannot be solved through choosing and deciding. Opinions arise from the fractional mind. When the I is absent the situation presents itself to you as a collection of facts. When there is no one involved in these facts right action appears spontaneously. Seeing all the facts calls for acceptance. Where there is no longer psychological involvement there are no opposing factors and therefore no choices of some facts, some elements over others. Acceptance does not come from the body-mind, it comes from our wholeness. Once all the elements of the situation are welcomed in our acceptance free from qualifying, the situation itself calls for action, but we do not go to it already armed.

~ (1916-1998), French Advaita Vedanta master, in I Am

So instead of intention one experiences a spontaneous flow of intelligent and purposeful action, realizing that Being flows through one, as one, and it is the flow that determines one’s life, action, interests, creativity and so on….

~ (1944-present), Kuwait-born American psychologist and philosopher, in Diamond Heart: Book Three

One who lives in silence is purposeless. He accomplishes whatever must be accomplished. One could say there is spontaneous purposeless activity.

~ (1916-1998), French Advaita Vedanta master, in Ease of Being

The actions of the Taoist sage thus arise out of his intuitive wisdom, spontaneously and in harmony with his environment. He does not need to force himself, or anything around him, but merely adapts his actions to the movements of the . In the words of Huai Nan Tzu,

Those who follow the natural order flow in the current of the Tao.

Such a way of acting is called wu-wei in Taoist philosophy; a term which means literally ‘non-action’, and which Joseph Needham translates as ‘refraining from activity contrary to nature,’ justifying this interpretation with a quotation from the Chuang-tzu,

Non-action does not mean doing nothing and keeping silent. Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied.

If one refrains from acting contrary to nature or, as Needham says, ‘from going against the grain of things,’ one is in harmony with the Tao and thus one’s action will be successful. This is the meaning of Lao Tzu’s seemingly so puzzling words, “By non-action, everything can be done.”

~ (1939-present), American physicist, in The Tao of Physics

Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the present moment.

~ (1948-present), German-born spiritual teacher, in A New Earth

Situations are the voice of my guru, the presence of my guru.

~ (1866?-1949), Greek-Armenian mystic

~ Note: If you have found these quotes to be supportive, you may be interested in my book How to Be Yourself: A Guide to Living an Authentic Life which contains more than 300 quotations such as these which are organized into different topics related to authenticity. The book is available on Amazon in print and ebook format. (See top right cover image for a link to more info). ~

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