Being the end of the path

It may seem presumptuous to say, as we do in Radiant Mind, that we can be at the end of the spiritual path from the very beginning, immediately and directly. But this objection is based on the belief that the end of the path can only be attained after many years – or even lifetimes – of purification or transformation. The critical point to understand here is that the end of the path is not an attainment at all; it is a timelessly present reality that needs only to be clearly seen. The end of the path is our true eternal nature, the Ground of our being. It is not something we can attain because it is what we already are at the unconditioned level of our being. The initial “practice” involved is to see this – and to rest here, being this pure aware presence knowingly. There are many skillful ways of pointing to this, but it isn’t grasped by the thinking mind; it involves a deeper knowing, a recognition by that in us which is already awake. We may have some conceptual ideas about this, but they are irrelevant at best. What matters is the simple, clear seeing with our “inner eye,” which naturally opens when we begin to relax into the space-like presence of awareness. So being at the end of the path is really a matter of coming home to rest in the stillness of our true nature … and being the end of the path. (by Ron)