Episode 8: Abundant Living Here-Now with Joan Tollifson

Show NotesJoan Tollifson  writes and talks about being awake to the aliveness and inconceivability of Here-Now—being just this moment, exactly as it is. Rather than relying on outside authorities, traditional ideas, acquired knowledge or beliefs, this is about direct, immediate seeing and being. Joan has spent time with many teachers, exploring Buddhism, Advaita and radical nonduality, but she does not identify with or represent any particular tradition. She is the author of Bare-Bones Meditation: Waking Up from the Story of My Life (1996), Awake in the Heartland: The Ecstasy of What Is (2003), Painting the Sidewalk with Water: Talks and Dialogs about Nonduality (2010), Nothing to Grasp(2012), and Death: The End of Self-Improvement (2019). (Adapted from Joan’s website.) Joan Discusses-  When is it contemplative-  Is there spirituality and does it develop- The pathless path leading to the gateless gate-  Maps and conceptual constructions – help, hinderance or both -  Religious doctrine, dogma and beliefs vs. teachings-  How science and religion approach beliefs and direct experience-  The value of not knowing and groundlessness-  Suffering vs. pain: stories and identification with thinking as sources of suffering-  There’s no there there: self as fiction arising from thoughts and the paradox-  Here-Now defined and impermanence and presence as aspects-  Thinking as “mental chewing gum”-  "Dissolution" of my inner/outer boundary-  Freedom – what’s thought and thinking got to do with it-  What’s problematic – having thoughts or believing in them-  Non-Duality, unicity, making something an other (dualism)-  Yin/Yang symbol and being at peace with everything - more paradox-  Aging: natural loss and more wisdom, love, joy, peace, and beauty found in simple being References Mentioned Joan’s Website and Books - The Simplicity of What Is  Joan’s Facebook The Cloud of Unknowing Be Here Now, Ram DassThe All Things Contemplative Blog