Remembering, even as we know we will forget again

Yesterday, I spent some time watching videos which feature Burt Harding. He is a spiritual teacher of the lineage of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.

I came upon his work via my typical path, meaning I am not sure how I found it. Were I one of the main characters in Hansel and Gretel, I fear I would not have found the witch's house after getting lost. Instead, I would have wandered until I stumbled upon a Holiday Inn.

That's how it goes for me: I get lost, I fail to despair, and I find out I'm not as lost as I was. After some years of this kind of activity, one becomes rather familiar with "lost" and doesn't really experience stress about it as rookies do when lost.

So, in losing my way, I find me.

At some level, those last two paragraphs are my unintentional response to Burt. I'll continue on more intentionally.

Take a look at this short video so you have a better idea what this man is up to.


I really like his description of our condition. Human: seeking, desiring, yearning. Being: just that...being. It is such a powerful concept, that of "allowing." I came upon it as a way of describing surrender in terms which were less indicative to assertive, driven American folks of failure. Of course, that's not what "surrender" means in this context. But, rather than fight the battle of old connotation, I hit upon "allowing" years ago as the same concept, more acceptable word.

Burt uses "allowing" in this video with powerful result.

To relate it to what I was saying earlier, the entire experience of looking around for something, seeking an answer to an unasked question, is what Burt terms the human part of us. When we become lost and pause, we experience the being part of ourselves, as we are in that instant. Not actively in want, simply being.

If that "being" state lasts a millisecond and is followed by large amounts of angst and worry, we are lost. If, instead, we allow, we just be, we find that the lost sensation loses its power. We may or may not know where we are, but we are no longer lost.