' Self-deception '...

The mind has an uncanny capacity for self-deception. It can hear a spiritual pointer and forget that it is merely a pointer. So when the pointer, “there is no one to reach enlightenment,” or “all there is, is Oneness” or “awareness is what you really are” is heard, it can easily be turned into a belief.

Each of the pointers above, when taken to be absolutely true, becomes an erroneous idea. The pointers in this book and every other non-duality or enlightenment teaching are merely signs pointing to a realization that can only be known through direct experience. Just as the word “pencil” is merely a sign pointing to the tool you use to write a letter, the words Oneness and awareness are pointing to the direct experience of life just as it is, without the filter of identification with concepts.

The moment any pointer is taken to be absolutely true, a new religion is born—a belief system. As with all belief systems, that pointer must be defended. Only a false self would defend a pointer or way of expressing ‘This’ because the false self is identification with thought.

See all these pointers as merely signs, arising and falling in awareness, and pointing to a realization that can never be known through thought. This realization can only be seen through the direct experience of now. In this direct experience, thoughts are not reality. They are appearing in reality.



-Scott Kiloby, Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment (