You

Are the
Self
Daniel Clark
 Copyright 2014
First printed in the United States of America, June 2014.
ISBN 9781497411074

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 CONTENTS

Introduction 1

Time and Truth 2

The Game 3

Solidity and Self 4

Wholeness & Distinctness 5

Self and Other 6

Two-Way Looking 7

Helping Others 8

The Knower 9

Dividing Reality 10

Time & the Eternal 11

The Presence 12

The Boundless 13

Everything & Nothing 14

Seeking Form 15

The Miraculous 16

Attention & Illusion 17

Saying Yes 18

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The Absolute & the Relative 19

Cosmic Laughter 20

About the Author 22

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 INTRODUCTION

Our quest for drama has gone too far. We are

alienated from our true identity, at war within
our Self and with apparent others.

Love is the recognition of the Self in the other.

You are that Self. Come home.

Life is programmed for partisanship. We are

programmed to see and to relate to motion as a
multitude of distinct systems and patterns,
which we tend to either support or oppose.

As we mature, we begin to recognize the Self in

all systems and patterns and to see our identity
wherever we look.

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 TIME AND TRUTH

All things have their time. Now is a time for

Truth rather than illusion. It is time for
increasing Knowledge of the Self rather than
continuing to play the game of conflict. The
drama of motion and form needs to emerge
from the desert of separation to flow into the
universal sea. It’s time for us to awaken to the
recognition and realization of the Self.

We normally know only part of what we are.

We know only our becoming, we overlook our
being. Focusing on our becoming, we know
only the imperfection of the temporal; we
overlook the perfection of the eternal Self, our
ever-present awareness, the host and knower of
all form.

While noticing the content of your awareness,

notice also what contains that content. While
knowing objects, also become aware of the
Subject. In addition to being aware of your
imperfection in comparison to what you strive
to be, know the perfection of what you already,
always are.

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 THE GAME

Our game is the creation of form. You are

formless, the eternal being, whole, complete,
ever present here and now, the only Self. Your
game is to create definition, what is limited, to
experience becoming, to know time and space.

To play the game, you have launched your Self

into motion, stretching yourself toward
definition, into becoming. You have denied
your being, your wholeness. You have
embarked on an enterprise of time and space, of
separation, of having shape, size, direction,
color, boundaries, and vulnerability.

Your game is one of winners and losers, of

uncertainty, striving, successes and failures,
appearance and disappearance.

When you tire of the game, return to the reality

of the Self; rest and be whole.

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 SOLIDITY AND SELF

Solidity is an illusion, there is nothing solid.

Everything is in motion, a continuous flow
through changing patterns.

You are what always Is. You are the only

being, the presence, the substance, flowing to
form, alternating between forgetting and Self-
knowledge. You are the only Self and the
apparent multitude.

Though presently experiencing yourself as

separate, having form and boundaries, enter the
universal Self, your true identity, and be free,
undefined, the essence of all things, the single
Subject.

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 WHOLENESS AND DISTINCTNESS

Whenever you seek wholeness, it’s always

here, waiting for you. Nothing is external to
you. The cosmos is the movement of a single
being, your Self. Know both your wholeness
and your distinctness.

Your movement particularizes you, creating

unique trajectories of attention and experience,
with our sense of individual identity. Honor
your eternal Self as well as your temporal
individuality. The distinct you gives us the
interest, drama, and adventure of the world. It
also allows awareness of the universal Self,
since knowledge of anything is only possible in
relation to its opposite.

We love both the creation and contemplation of

form, the defined, as well as wholeness and the
freedom of the undefined. Your creativity, your
becoming, requires tension; your being, your
wholeness, requires nothing, only the relaxation
of tension. To know liberation from tension, to
know wholeness, relax in your perfect, formless
being.

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 SELF AND OTHER

The apparent other is you. The mind of

others is your mind, the bodies of others are
part of your own movement, the Tao. What
happens to others is done to you, and will affect
your continuing experience of the world.

There is no part of life that is alien to you, and

that is not essential to the whole.

Life is entirely seamless, and is rent apart only

by the nature of perception. Greet others as
your Self. Honor the creative variety of life in
all movement, and know it as your own.

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 TWO-WAY LOOKING

We normally look in one direction only—out

at the world of time and space, at the front
portion of who we are.

Learn to look also in the other direction, at the

back portion of who you are, at the looker.

The front part of who you are appears solid,

defined; the back portion is empty, undefined.
The front portion is limited, confined; the back
part is infinite, without limits. The front part of
you is full of imperfection; in the other direction
lies perfection. The front part consists of
objects; the back part is the Subject.

Your front part is what you see and feel; your

back part is the One who sees and feels. Your
front portion is always changing; your back part
doesn’t change.

Your movement is always different; your

awareness remains the same. The Self is both
the temporal you and the eternal you. Practice
two-way looking.

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 HELPING OTHERS

Look for ways to help those in distress to

discover their wholeness. Those who know the
Self, who experience the perfection of their
being, are better able to engage in the
adventure into the imperfection of time and
space.

You can best help others by recognizing them as

your Self. As you encounter each person or
thing, say internally, “Here is the Self.” Your
actions toward them will then begin to reflect
your own Self- awareness.

Beyond the beneficial impacts of your respectful

action, on occasion you may have the capacity
to help others to experience their wholeness.

Look for ways to help others to realize that their

wholeness is not out there somewhere, it’s here,
where we are. Wholeness is not in becoming,
but in being, which is now, and already
complete.

Wholeness is not in the future, or in the past, or

in only part of what is, but in the entirety of the
present moment, which is the Self.

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 THE KNOWER

You are not your changing thoughts, which

are simply abstractions from the movement of
the Self; you are the knower of your thoughts,

The knower, whose attention wanders the

cosmos and occasionally returns home, is the
host of all that is.

Be careful not to confuse the knower with the

known. The known is only an imperfect image
of a portion of our movement. The knower is
what cannot be lost, and is always here.

The knower is our identity—awareness itself,

undefined, infinite, eternal. The knowing Self
is the Cup, the Source, and the Sustainer.

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 DIVIDING REALITY

We create form by dividing the Self,

becoming blind to our fullness, and focusing
our attention on only a small portion of our
seamless reality.

Dividing life and creating definition results in

the sense that we are separate individuals.

Abiding in the Self, I am free from limiting

definitions, and encompass all of the present
moment, not just part of it. Allow your
attention to return home, to what exists without
effort, here and now. Rest in the simple
presence of your undivided being, the eternal
Self.

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 TIME AND THE ETERNAL

Time is your adventure into imperfection.

When it becomes too painful, come back to the
perfection of the immediate present, what you
eternally are.

Deny the demands of time their claimed

preeminence. What you see is only a passing
appearance; what sees is true, and beyond time.

You are not becoming anything; you are the

changeless, and are complete in the present.
You are not in time and you occupy no space.
Space and time are part of you.

Your present being is complete, and extends to

infinity, containing all that is, was, and will be.
Know your eternal being, in the here and now.

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.

THE PRESENCE

When you experience your infinite presence,

there is no room for any other. All existence is
complete and is accounted for. Nothing has
been left out; it is all within you.

In the experience of the presence, here and now,

the Tao moves according to its nature, needing
no assistance or interference. In the present
you are unbound and unconditioned. Here is
all value.

Know your Self, what you always are, in the

utter present, the eternal moment, the center of
time.

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 THE BOUNDLESS

The key to the Self is boundlessness. If

anything has bounds, it’s not the Self, and will
pass away and be lost. The Self has no bounds
and cannot be lost.

Let the Tao deal with objects, which have

bounds. They will all pass, and more will come.
Enjoy them in their time, but hold them only
lightly. They are your play, they are not your
Self.

Unlimited by form or definition, in your natural

motion you are the creator of worlds through
the flow of the infinite Tao.

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 EVERYTHING AND NOTHING

We can experience the Self as everything, or

as nothing—as the single fabric or substance of
all form, or as the pointless point and formless
source of all motion.

When we focus fully on the present, reality is

seamless, both in essence and in its flow. The
completely Here is whole, the eternal presence,
the Subject that contains everything.

When you are rooted Here, as the source of all

existence, undefined, formless, then the world
of apparently distinct objects and forces
becomes a single flow, all of which is you.

When you are totally Now, you are nothing,

and at the same time you are everything. Come
to Now.

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 SEEKING FORM

It is the nature of the Self to produce form,

which in turn makes us more keenly aware of
its opposite, the formless, which it is also our
nature to embrace.

We stretch our Self into time and space, seeking

definition, then rebound into balance and peace
through Self-awareness.

We are fascinated and enchanted by form and

motion, even when they are painful. The
pursuit of form clearly has its time, as does the
need to be free of form.

Recognize the joy of definition and the need for

form in their time, as well as the need for
wholeness and peace which is also fundamental
to your being.

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 THE MIRACULOUS

You are a miracle substance, absolutely clear

and transparent, yet able to generate and
contain unending complexity.

You are the infinite, eternal, boundless

presence. You are unchanging and at rest, yet
also in motion and constantly transforming.
Your ability to diversify and surprise yourself is
the most astounding aspect of the cosmos.

You are continually stretching the strings of

your being, seeking manifestation and drama,
before subsiding again into wholeness and
peace.

Your motion is a magical tour, the supreme

adventure of the Tao.

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 ATTENTION AND ILLUSION

The truth is that we are all a single substance;

the illusion is that we are all separate.

The Tao concentrates our attention, creating an

illusion of individuality and temporarily
blinding us to our fullness of being.

The sense that we are limited objects among

others is an illusory image we abstract from the
single flow of the Self.

No matter how petty or disturbing the objects

of your attention are, remember that they need
your pure awareness, your undivided mind in
order to appear. Let the perfection and infinity
of the knower balance the pain and limitation of
the known. The known will soon pass; the
knower will endure.

The Self is the ultimate value. Bring your

attention home to the Self.

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 SAYING YES

Take an inclusive approach to life instead of

an exclusive one. Rather than rejecting any
experience, add to it what is missing.

Be the here and now; accept all of it. Enlarge

what is petty, make what is partial part of your
own wholeness.

Say Yes! Honor everything, no matter how

limited, by adding to it and not denying it.

In truth, each thing is part of the seamless flow,

the One being, your being. Acknowledge and
embrace it as your Self.

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 THE ABSOLUTE & THE RELATIVE

You are absolute being, what always is.

You are what is beyond description, the always
here.

Words are temporal and relative. You are

beyond all becoming and change, the Self
eternal, for which no words are adequate,

You are the All-Value, existence itself, One

without a second, the Self in everyone.

You, the Absolute, are not in the world. You

contain everything; you are the unmoved
mover, the Tao, Mind itself.

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 COSMIC LAUGHTER

One day your attention will turn a corner,

and you will be there, laughing at your absolute
freedom and wholeness.

The biggest joke is when we realize that we

have been imagining ourselves to be separate
and our motion to be independent, bringing
cosmic laughter at the enormity of our mistake.

Time is a charlatan, form is a fraud. When you

see through these illusions, you might find
yourself laughing or singing with joy. I do.

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daniel Clark has also written “Notes to my Self”
(2014), “You are the Self” (2018), “A Spiritual Journal”
(2018), “A Privileged Life: Memoirs of an Activist” (2013),
“Come Dancing: A Collection of Contras, Circles, Squares,
and More” ( 2014), and has co-authored “Words: Dan &
Barbara’s Deathless Prose, and a Few Poems” (2014),
among other publications. He can be contacted by writing
to PO Box 1222, Walla Walla, Washington, USA, 99362, or
by email to clarkdn@charter.net.

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