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The Living Method
What Distinguishes the Living Method?
The Living Method is the Pathless Path to Nondual Awakening - Realization
There is no path to realization. The Living Method helps its students uncover immediate realization. Other spiritual teachings are engaging in a path to enlightenment. There’s a myth that there is somewhere to get to. With other nondual teachings, there’s a journey to become enlightened, and an expectation that when you reach enlightenment, you’re done.
Enlightenment is considered an end point. Enlightenment is not an end point. It’s a beginning.
There are 4 phases of realization in order to abide as true nature.
Acceptance (Claiming)
Clearing
Abidance
The Living Method “Awakens” First, Then Clears! It Is a Backwards Teaching!
Until it is clearly seen what you are not, truth cannot be revealed. Discovering what you are not has been called neti neti and The Living Method does neti neti on steroids! With The Living Method it can be recognized that the body is not you, the mind is not you, nor are emotions.
It’s recognized that the body-mind is merely the “camera” through which life is experiencing itself. The lifeness of life itself is dreaming experiencing and viewing itself, so to speak, through the body-mind.
The Living Method Realization session first dispels what is not true. How can you know what’s going on if you don’t even know the truth about what you are? If you lost your memory, would you have to ask someone if you exist? Of course not. Even without a memory of who you are, you still know you exist, but you have no identity (no story). Through The Living Method, once what you are not is recognized, you know that you exist, but you don’t know what that is. You can now inquire into this existence so that you may discover and recognize what you really are.
Participants in The Living Method actually come to recognize, through direct and consistent inquiry, that there is no actual seeker who can wake up. There is no awakening for anyone.
"Awakeness" is all there is, and through The Living Method, Awakeness comes to recognize itself.
The Living Method Is Direct and Immediate: It Reveals There is Only Here/Now.
That’s why there is no realization soon. That’s why there’s no path to realization. Realization is here and now, or not. The Living Method inquires into direct experiencing now, and brings about the recognition that there is what is, as it is, here, now. There’s no separate self running the show, and there never has been.
Without a Story, The Living Method Reveals Freedom Now!
Why is there apparently no freedom?
Fred’s 4 Ignoble Truths explain:
1. We make things up.
2. We believe what we make up.
3. We suffer because we believe the things we make up.
4. We turn to spirituality to end the suffering caused by believing the things we make up.
The Living Method Realization session enables true nature to see through Fred’s 4 Ignoble
Truths, and as a result, ever present freedom from imagination is revealed.
With the questioning of thinking, comes freedom from imagination. How do you know a thought is a lie? It’s a thought!
The Living Method allows for the recognition of freedom from being a doer. Doing happens spontaneously no matter how it may feel otherwise. The Living Method reveals the truth of freedom from identification.
The Living Method enables freedom from what seems to be. The method distinguishes between how things feel or how they are sensed, and what is. The question is posed - Is the sense of something the same as the truth of something?
The Living Method is for freedom from the dream. The Living Method is not about making a better dream (a better relative experience), however, ironically, a better relative experience is usually an outcome of clarity. It’s recognized that whatever condition appears, true nature is unaffected.
Claim Your Realization! Claim What’s Recognized, Instead of What’s Imagined!
Students of The Living Method thrive with the claiming of realization. Another way that claiming your realization can be said is, accepting the recognition that happens in the first phase of realization. Acceptance (claiming) is the second phase of realization. The claiming of the realization is Awakeness claiming it knows itself, not as the body or a mind, but as Awakeness – or truth itself.
The claiming is standing as Awakeness no matter what body-mind experience is happening. If the realization isn’t claimed (accepted), Awakeness will continue to believe it is a body-mind.
That is identification as an imaginary self. That’s a belief that “I am fill in the blank.”
The Living Method inquires into “I am” and reveals it as the first dreamed thought. “I am” is the first story. “I am” is the birth of identification and therefore, apparent separation.
“I am” is not self-realization.
If realization isn’t claimed by true nature, the imaginary “I am ____________” will appropriate the realization, or deny it. If there was recognition of the truth that wasn’t claimed by Awakeness, imagination will have a sense of “I got it,” or of “getting it and losing it,” or of “not getting it.” Nothing can be lost or gained. Can you find an owner of imagination? It is discovered and recognized that imagination is Awakeness itself, misidentified as a someone.
Post-Realization Clearing IS a Path.
Clearing is necessary after realization, not before (as conventional spiritual teachings attempt to accomplish). Conventional spiritual teachings attempt to clear out beliefs without revealing that there is no believer. Clearing is the third phase of realization. The path of clearing is the path of clearing away the belief in an imaginary character and the assumptions that have kept ever present freedom from being noticed. Once true nature has been recognized, do the conditioned patterns of the body-mind disappear? They do not!
Experience presents signposts, or red flags that indicate the need for clearing away, or recognizing without judgement, believed thinking patterns. Any suffering is a red flag, as are guilt, shame, and using the word should. Wanting to understand is another indication that ever present clarity is apparently veiled.
You cannot understand truth! As a matter of fact, the need to understand is an apparent veil superimposed over clarity. The Living Method brings to life the fact that truth and true nature are beyond understanding.
Information does not reveal truth. Pointing to the truth is not equal to recognizing that the truth is all, and you are it. Recognition is possible through the unique nature of The Living Method inquiry.
Clearing is the continued inquiry that clears out the idea of a "character" that never was. This idea of a character, the belief in a character, is imagination, and is a belief in a separation that does not exist. Realization is an event, most of the time, (not always), but clearing is always experienced as a process. Realization is actually the beginning of authentic spiritual living, and clearing enables living as true nature. Clearing programs are a hallmark of The Living Method.
The Living Method works as true nature recognizes true nature, or "grocks" itself (has a feeling, intuited, understanding, that is not understanding as a mental activity). It’s a resonation.
Repetition is the mother of clarity. As true nature recognizes itself over and over through inquiry and the repetition of truth, imaginary character patterns (aka, the separate self) are cleared out or seen through. More and more of ever present clarity is revealed.
The Living Method demonstrates there is no graduation because there is no one to graduate.
There’s infinite clarity to be recognized as long as there’s an animating presence enlivening the body. There is no state to achieve.
Clearing Is a Method of Unlearning
After recognizing the truth that we are, that actually is, with clearing, the dissolving of what we thought we knew - unlearning - reveals all the clarity there is. Notice the “Un” in the titles of three of Fred Davis’ six books - The Book of Undoing: Direct Pointing to Nondual Awareness, The Book of Unknowing: From Enlightenment to Embodiment, and, The Book of Unveiling: From Awakening to Abidance.
The Living Method Can Be Duplicated Because It IS A METHOD!
The Living Method is a method, and methods can be duplicated, thereby producing consistent and reliable results. The beauty of the method is that it has a life of its own. There are no gurus or enlightened ones here. The teaching is unique because it can express through any participant who is consciously being the clarity that is ever present.
By using The Living Method of inquiry, with sufficient clarity, any participant can successfully have the experience of guiding the realization of truth or exposing what is a lie. The Living Method was originated through Fred Davis, who has duplicated the teaching by authorizing two other teachers.
The Living Method is Inclusive: The Absolute and the Relative Are One.
Students, or seekers of nonduality, are seeking Oneness. The Living Method guides nondual students to the clarity of being Oneness now. With The Living Method of inquiry, Oneness comes to know itself as itself. The Living Method allows for experiencing the truth that is, as the very existence of all. It is recognized that all there is, is love. There is only Oneness, so is there any way you cannot be it?
The Living Method includes the absolute and the relative. There’s only one thing going on, with no separation. The absolute is the ground of being, so to speak, of the relative. There is the Absolute appearing to be Oneness, or somethingness. There’s no choosing whether the
absolute is true or the relative is true. Both are one. It is seen that everything counts, and nothing matters.
The Living Method does not negate relative experiencing. Negating relative experiencing is absolutism and is not nonduality. Nor does The Living Method aim to create a better dream. The Living Method reveals that the absolute and relative are one. When this is recognized and lived as the default, abidance, the fourth phase of realization, is realized.
The Living Method is the teaching of direct experiencing now, and what’s beyond experiencing.
The Living Method is immediate and instant. It is inquiry into, this – the experiencing now, and the field of what seems to be happening. The Living Method inquires into that which is prior to manifestation.
The Living Method acknowledges the unspeakable absence of that which is prior to consciousness, or manifestation. The profound nature of acknowledging that which is prior to, or devoid of language, is a hallmark of The Living Method.
The Living Method is Intentional - Often Blunt and Straight.
There is no "pretty dance" of trying to make the imaginary character feel better. Love is expressed as tough love, if that is what’s necessary for truth to be recognized. It is of no importance to a teacher of The Living Method to be liked, more than they want to end seeking and reveal the realization of truth.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Nonduality?
Nonduality is the term we use to label the examination and exploration of oneness. “Non” means “no” and “duality” means “more than one,” so this is the philosophy of not-more-than-one. There is “just one thing going on”. Everybody and everything are part of this one thing. Nonduality takes the Golden Rule one step further. It’s not telling you to treat others as you would have them treat you, but rather that as you treat others, so are you treating yourself.
There is no room for accidents in this kind of spontaneously arising environment. It’s such an extraordinary concept that the mind cannot hold it; it can only behold it. It is this very beholding that was experienced by Jesus, Buddha, Rumi, St. Francis, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and many more of whom the average person has never heard. It’s my educated guess that more awakened people are living on the planet today than have lived on it in all the previous years combined. For thousands of years, Nondual awakening was an extraordinary and isolated event. Percentagewise, it’s still unusual for someone to come to a deep and ongoing spiritual awakening, but glimpses of reality—clear seeings which can forever alter our lives—are simply no longer rare.
The effectiveness of Nondual teachings is measurable. Under the guidance of an awakened teacher, no matter what the tradition, or lack of tradition, we will come to self-realization, and/or we will see others do so, or we don’t. If awakening isn’t happening, it’s simply not the real thing. You will know it by its fruits. I know of no other set of spiritual teachings in which success or failure is so clear, evident, and public. You’re surely going to be hearing more and more about oneness teachings in coming years as they quietly spread like an ocean of dye while making their way both around the globe, and around your block. Wherever they reach, there is marked change.
Once we enter the stream of this teaching we don’t need science to convince us of anything, but it’s nonetheless interesting to note that many branches of science, from quantum physics to advanced neurology, are pointing to many of the same conclusions advanced by Nondual teachings. We find striking similarities—or mirrors—in quantum physics, cutting edge neuroscience, computer science, biology, and more.
Even if you have never heard of Nonduality, it doesn’t matter. That might even work for you, simply because you won’t have to unlearn or overcome a bunch of intellectual knowledge about it. Such knowledge can be very helpful, particularly at the beginning, but if we don’t stand upon it and reach beyond it, then it can become a hindrance. I have seen two men, neither of whom had even heard the word “Nonduality,” come to an awakening as we were going through an investigation together. They didn’t need background. I have also seen people who’ve followed this path for years become so steeped in their own ideas about truth that they have become resistant to truth itself. We become too right and too smart to wake up—at least until the fact that we don’t forces us to change our path.
Nondual awakening is what has traditionally been referred to as “enlightenment.” All of this is explained in more depth below. Suffice to say, awakening is real, and the truth can be realized by ordinary people without any sort of deprivation or renouncement. One way to do that, the quickest way that I know, is through the Direct Pointing Method that I share and write about.
What is awakening?
Awakening is actually something of a misnomer. What we’re speaking of is simply the recognition of your true nature–seeing/being that which you already are. As explained in FAQ 1, there is just “one thing going on,” and awakening is the seeing of this truth for ourselves. We no longer have to rely on hearsay or second-hand information. We may not yet be clear, but we know a deep truth that we can never fully un-know. When this occurs it tends to feel like an awakening from a dream. However, what is ‘experienced’ is that which is always already awake–which in fact never was asleep to begin with. The easiest way to put this is to say that it’s not the ego which awakens, but rather Life itself which awakens from the dream of exclusive identification. In short, we see that what we are includes the body (and everything else!), but that our true nature is not limited to the body.
This is not something we can figure out; it has to be seen directly for ourselves. This seeing can come as a glimpse, or as a full seeing–with a whimper, a bang, or anything in between. Awakening can seem to come quickly, or slowly. Most often it’s a combination. It may appear to require special spiritual practices, or be shown to completely transcend them. It can and does happen any way it wants to, any time it wants to, through any body it wants to. Any attempt to explain what awakening really is, including this one, will ultimately fail. That which is always already awake is also that which is beyond words. Still, we try!
The personality–the one looking to wake up, get enlightened, find liberation–whatever you want to call it–will never actually awaken. The personality, the character of the so-called individual, and hence that entire play, is precisely what is seen through. In the absence of a personal me, reality is shown to be spontaneously arising. It’s right here, right now: nowhere and nowhen else. This is it, but it’s so close, so obvious, so incredible that we can’t see it. Until we do. Once we do, if it’s thoroughly seen, we can see nothing else. Our story is like clouds in front of the sun. In the presence of clouds, the sun is shining, but it isn’t seen. In the absence of clouds, the sun is seen, but the clouds never actually affected either the sun or its shining. In the absence of story, only truth remains.
What can I do to help myself wake up?
If you mean, what can the non-existent character do to bring about a change in its hypothetical sleep state–well you see it right there in the words “non-existent” and “hypothetical.” In the end there’s nothing we can do, not directly. However, don’t despair. While it’s true that from the absolute view there is “nothing to do and no one to do it,” that’s just a view. It feels like the whole, but it’s really just half; it’s 180 degrees of seeing out of a possible 360 to be experienced. It could be said that taking this fatalistic viewpoint is tantamount to absolutely denying the existence of the relative, which happens a lot, especially with glimpses, or less than full awakenings, which are by far the most common sort. After spending most of our lives identifying as the relative, we get a glimpse of the absolute and completely shift our loyalties–to the other side of limitation! First I thought I was Fred. Then, after a true seeing, I thought I was Not-Fred. Now, I know I’m both. If we embrace this “I am the vastness and only the vastness” limitation after our own experience, or borrow it from others, then our view remains incorrect, but in a wholly new way. Now we get to suffer from a higher level!
The true Nondual view, the 360, as I call it, denies nothing. Nonduality means that there’s just one thing going on; how can we deny any part of it? The absolute and relative, the real and unreal, the permanent and temporary are all just halves, which is the tip-off that, although our view may have significantly broadened or deepened, we’re still seeing from duality. Neither yin nor yang is true or complete, but the pairing of the two is both true and complete, so to speak. Let me add that there are fully awake teachers who employ this “no-method method” as a teaching strategy. That’s their story and they’re sticking to it. I get it. When this strategy works, it works well, but it only seems to work with a fairly narrow band of seekers. My teaching is based the Law of Large Numbers: how do the most people wake up most of the time? Let’s do that!
Regardless of what we may see, know, and experience from that absolute view, there is nonetheless a body still here on a planet we call Earth, and it’s still going to want lunch and a nap. We can, in essence, enlist the dream character to work within the dream toward the apparent goal of awakening, and to carry out skillful living in the relative world. From a higher view it could be said to all be part of a spontaneously unfolding script, and that’s fine. None of this makes any logical sense. If we insist on putting everything into neat, logical boxes, then we are lost, because at that point even doing nothing is seen as a practice!
Again, this is not something we can figure out. We have to experience it first-hand. This is what Direct Pointing is all about.
Do I have free will, or not?
Neither. Both. Actually, it’s a moot question.
Once again, this has to be looked at from the larger picture. Once we enter Nonduality, we have left the land of easy answers and entered the land of difficult questions. Who is it that is supposed to either have free will, or not have free will?
Ah, yes, we’re right back to our old friend, the imaginary character! Answer in the negative, and we’re saying that no, I as a separate being do not have free will. Answer in the positive, and we are stating that yes, I as a separate being do have free will. The trap is successfully sprung either way we go.
This is precisely the kind of question that human minds love to get involved with because we can take a stand and battle over it forever. In fact, we have already done so: clerics and philosophers have had an ongoing argument over this for several thousand years. We’re just the latest generation to address it.
Ego delights in all of this, because it gets to keep churning along no matter which side has the temporary upper hand. All ego needs to survive is resistance in any form, which is why war in its ten thousand costumes is the single most common phenomenon on our planet.
Nonduality is not declaring that you do not have free will. Nonduality is not declaring that you do have free will. Nonduality is declaring that you, as a separate entity, do not exist.
How do I stay awake?
This question is a doozy. I say that because it haunted me for so long. We get a glimpse, or maybe even have a major seeing that lasts for days or weeks, but gradually we begin to see it soften and slide, and the next thing we know, we’re right back in the mud. We had it, but we lost it. We have lost our “connection!”
In order to answer this question, I have to ask the used-to-be-enlightened human a couple of questions of my own. “What was the primary knowledge you received from your “awakening experience?” If it was for real, there can only be one answer. (Of course you can now fake this answer, but that’s a whole other bucket of misery.)
The only legitimate answer is, “I saw that there was no separate me. I saw that there was just one thing going on, which left no place whatsoever for an individual. From that view, bodies are true, but persons and personalities are stories, nothing more.”
Very well, my used-to-be-enlightened friend. Then let me ask you a few more questions that you don’t even need to answer. I really hate to do this, but I have no choice. Who is it that has lost the connection? Who is it that feels like it has “fallen out,” or become “disconnected” from the one thing going on? It couldn’t be that imaginary character creeping back into the picture, could it?
Of course it is. Not every question that arises in Nondual teachings comes back to this one question, but damn near every one of them does.
One more quick note here. The chief reason we feel like we’ve lost “our connection” is that we’ve lost our buzz. Humans are hooked up to love their buzzes. Sometimes the apparent penetration of reality is accompanied by waves of energy, blissful highs, hallucinations (which we call visions), and any amount and variety of fireworks and candy. We confuse that with the awakening. We confuse the bugle with the sunrise, and we happen to like the bugle a lot. And who is it that likes the bugle? You tell me.
But does the bugle actually have anything to do with the sunrise? Is it causation, or is it accompaniment? The answer is clear. Having said all of that, let me end this by saying that there are things we can do to encourage stable awakeness, so there is no reason for despair.