One major obstacle that keeps coming up in the seeker's mind is the nature of action that will eventually reveal this Knowledge to the seeker. This is perhaps one of the most misunderstood aspects of this path to Self Knowledge. Unfortunately, despite repeated hammering away at the fact that you are not the body nor the mind, the idea that you are an individual that actually does actions and thereby reaps the rewards of the action is hard to dispel for many a seeker.
Non-duality or Advaita is not a topic to be studied or memorized. It is not a play of words. On the other hand, it is purely intuitive knowledge. The words once listened to or read, will suddenly strike somewhere deep inside of you and the clarity of this teaching will become immediately evident. It also becomes clear that there is nothing actually done by anybody and there is actually no one to attain anything (including this Knowledge). What is evident is that what you are seeking, you already ARE. Then what is it that has happened? What actually happens is the realization that you are not an individual entity and all that is happening is happening in consciousness. No one has, can, or will ever DO anything. All happening is just a play in consciousness.
It is imperative that the seeker keep his/her mind constantly focused on where he/she came from. Obviously, the "I-thought" (or the ego) was not there in deep sleep and suddenly spontaneously it arose and thereafter the idea of an entity called "me" came with it. What cannot be denied is the fact that the one who is awake is also the one who was sleeping. There is no denying the fact that you existed in deep sleep and the one reading this article is the one who was sleeping last night. However, in deep sleep there was no "I-thought" or for that matter any thoughts. That means the "I-thought" is discontinuous and you are continuous ( for you know that you are the same one that existed in deep sleep as well as now). Anything that is discontinuous, or which appears and disappears is not real. What is continuous and always exists is the real. This 'you' that the author is pointing to is the Real You. No effort was needed by this entity called 'John or Ashok or Ali' to be Present through all the three states of deep sleep, dream and wakeful state. Also, this John/Ashok/Ali (or whatever name you want to give to the entity called 'me'), did not do any action to wake up. Wakefulness came spontaneously. In the same way, seeing is happening. Before any thought can arise, seeing is happening. However, a thought comes along and translates the natural happening of seeing into the thought "I see". The thought has divided this happening into a subject (I), the action (seeing) and an object (seen). This is the way the mind works. In the same way, Understanding happens spontaneously. There is no question of any entity called 'me' (which does not exist in any case) doing something to make understanding happen. In the same way there is no question of an entity claiming "I understand". There is just Understanding.
THAT Awareness is always present, irrespective of the supposed 'actions' of this entity called 'me'. Just think over this carefully. You are always aware and present.
What action are you doing to beat the heart, or to make the lungs move, or to digest the food, or to make the liver metabolize the food? Is this not happening spontaneously, right now? Yet is it not uncommon in terms of language to say "I am digesting my food"? This is because, the ego believes it IS the body. The ego gives rise to the idea that it is a Do-er of all actions. Hence the quest to 'do some action or practice' to get this Realization. The entity thinks that if he/she does some practice or ritual over some period of time, then "I will get Self Realization". All through, there is nothing but the Self and yet it is ignored.
Having said that, as long as the idea that you are the body/mind entity exists, the above statement that no action is required will not fly. This is almost like a 'catch 22' situation. Hence, the ancient sages insisted on first investigating the very existence of the ego. This is done by asking oneself the question "who am I?" or "where did I come from?". When looked for, the ego is like a ghost which just vanishes and yet functioning continues in the ego-less state. This ego-less state is your state of Pure Beingness or Pure Consciousness. Once there is this understanding, what is there is to be done and by whom?
