Today’s video lesson turns on a long quote from Ramesh S. Balsekar, pointing us toward the essence of Zen training. This ties directly into our earlier discussions on presence. When we are identified with the separate self, we assume consciousness emanates from the individual “I.” But Zen tells us awareness itself is a field, not a possession. Consciousness, understanding, and the one who understands are not three different things. They are one flow.
Events unfold within the field of awareness. Understanding is part of that same unfolding. To mistake it for a fixed concept is to turn living truth into dead knowledge.
“The teachings are meant to lead us to no-mind and then to be discarded. In this no-mind true understanding can sprout spontaneously. When this happens no doubts of any kind can arise and that understanding is of the same nature as understanding ‘I Am.’ There is no ‘me’ flowing in the current of time and constantly struggling to resist the flow of events. There is only ‘I’ on the shore watching the events moving in the flow of consciousness. Understanding is a flow, not a fixed concept or idea. It may be felt but not conceived, as there is no effort in the act of breathing.” –Ramesh S. Balsekar
In no-mind, truth is experienced
The concept of no-mind is often misunderstood. It does not mean the absence of all thought. It means the absence of doubt. No-mind is effortless, like breathing. It cannot be sought or manufactured; it arrives on its own, washing over us when we are properly positioned.
And yet, how quickly we turn living moments into memory, and memory into a story about what happened. We try to analyze, recreate, or cling to the experience. But the very effort obscures it. No-mind is not a product of thought. It is the cessation of struggle.
The problem with knowledge
Wise sayings can feel like nourishment. They lift the mood, lighten the load. But the relief is temporary. Knowledge does not transform. In fact, it can become a trap—an addictive cycle of seeking “euphoria bumps” from affirmations or quotes. They inspire, but they fade. And then we realize nothing fundamental has shifted.
As Balsekar reminds us, teachings exist only to be discarded. They point us toward an experience, but they are not the experience itself.
From words to transformation
Transformation requires patience and commitment. Not efforting to force awakening, but devotion to placing ourselves where awakening can strike. Concepts like no-mind or not-doing can sound easy; in truth, they require a lifetime of sincerity.
This is why I return often to Nisargadatta Maharaj’s uncompromising reminder: “If you want peace, deserve it.”
No-mind is not the result of collecting knowledge. It is the dissolving of everything we thought knowledge was for.
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The idea that consciousness is a field that we inhabit ties into our recent conversation regarding the nature of presence. When we are trapped in the illusion of the separate, egoic self then we believe that consciousness emanates from this individual self we call I. Instead, Zen tells us that conscious awareness, like presence, is a field. Therefore conscious awareness is a quality of the universe itself. Events happen in the flow of consciousness. Understanding is a flow. Therefore, consciousness, understanding, the one who understands, all of these things are one.
This is a fascinating and highly relevant topic that I will return to someday in a future lesson. In the meantime, this article posted on the National Library of Medicine website takes a deep dive into these concepts of consciousness, awareness and presence.
🌀 From the GZM Archives – Polished, Preserved, Still Relevant.
Video by Curtis Erlinger
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