Thoughts on The 7 Barriers

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Hey there!

I had a request to have somewhere to put comments on the 7 Barriers to Awakening report on the site.

So, here it is! (I’ll also put a link to this post in the blog page nav-bar for easy finding later.)

Please let me know any thoughts, comments, suggestions or question you have below.

Cheers!

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  1. summer
    661 days ago

    Hi Travis,
    Great article. What you say here is so true "What the awakened ones have said about your true nature is a matter of what you are. Almost immediately, what you are gets submerged in a pile of how to be."

    Knowing our true nature is what sets us free. And much of the seeking stage gets filled up trying all sorts of new methods of being. It is very similar to any self help program. Endlessly refining behavior, and "improving" ourselves, which will never set us free, no matter how "perfect" we become.


  2. Travis
    661 days ago

    Agreed! I would only add that refining our behavior may set us free of unrefined behavior, but it will not set us free of the lie about what we really are.

    Thanks for taking the time to comment!

    Cheers!


    • steven
      661 days ago

      Agreeing with your agreement, Travis. To see who or what you are is one thing. To live according to the truth of what you see is another…__Thanks,_Steven_


      • Travis
        661 days ago

        Amen, Steve. In my experience getting clear on what I really am let's me proceed with working on how I show up to the moment from a true center rather than a mistaken idea about that center.

        Cheers!


        • Rajiv Haksar
          529 days ago

          Hello Travis
          what you say is so true,that there is nothing to do to realise out true nature and that we are already enlightened but the fact is that we miss it,otherwise there would be no suffering.Therefore,the false 'I' that suffers has to go but doesn't removing it require an effort or at least constant vigil,which again becomes a practice.How to get out of this paradox?
          thanks
          Rajiv Haksar


          • Travis
            529 days ago

            Rajiv,

            Thanks for the kind words. In my experience the only thing to do is to do some kind of practice, stepping towards what we really are until that truth then reaches out and overwhelms us. In my experience it is at that point that the contradiction of "you are already that" / "make steps towards realization" becomes instead a delightful paradox that comforts, confounds and brings a huge smile to your face.


  3. seeker
    651 days ago

    Golden thread of truth runs throughout.


    • Travis
      651 days ago

      *deep bow* I am glad if it helps. Thanks for taking the time to leave such a kind comment.

      Cheers!


  4. Juan
    529 days ago

    Nice to know about 7 Barriers, interesting point, but how to know who you are????


    • Travis
      529 days ago

      Juan,

      The form I was given was simply to look, To look directly, at you without any looking at how you are or what is going on, and to do that repeatedly until the lie of the separate self is washed away by the truth of what you are.

      I made a video about the method, which you can check out here: http://thetruthisyou.com/video-series-what-is-the…

      Cheers!


  5. Peter
    527 days ago

    Hello Travis,_I enjoyed your Barriers, and essentially I agree. I'm coming out of Zen (and I mean Out) after some 30 years and many sesshin. Advaita has been very meaningful for me (now, at this late stage, whatever that may imply).
    I would simply take exception to your No. 5 where you state/ ask the question, "are you human?"
    The / my answer is No. (You did conclude this with a wink, so perhaps I am slow on the uptake) ….
    Anyway,
    Thank you.
    Peter


    • Travis
      526 days ago

      Peter,

      Glad you enjoyed the report. You've got a lot of background there, and I am sure your Zen know-how is serving you quite well in the Advaita space.

      It's one of those funny little questions, isn't it? On the one hand I am very much human. On the other, well… I'll just paraphrase Nagarjuna: You can't say it's A, you can't say it's B, and you can't say it's both, or neither. ;)


  6. Arthur
    507 days ago

    Well Peter is so near isn't he? "A picture equals a thousand words" and that wink at the bottom of page 5 was it, says it all to me. have corresponded with Richard Lang and spent many happy visits with our common mentor Douglas Harding. Ask yourself Peter Where have you been all your life? and ask When were you thee? Surely your answer is my answer "Here" and "Now" or to paraphrase the Bible I think Jesus said "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." I put a comma after the first two words so it becomes "I am, and that's all there is to it," I hope this helps, if not ignore it and certainly don't let it confuse you.


    • Travis
      507 days ago

      Great comma placement, Arthur!


  7. Peter
    489 days ago

    Travis: "You can't say it's A, you can't say it's B, and you can't say it's both, or neither. ;) "
    How does the Heart Sutra put it? ;)
    Great questions Arthur!
    Many thanks to you both.


    • Travis
      489 days ago

      Many thanks to you, Peter! Especially for the reminder of the Heart Sutra.

      Perhaps it is time for me to read it again. ;)


  8. Lucyliz
    447 days ago

    I really enjoyed reading this, Travis. I liked the directness and simplicity of the message. It was easy to read and also very impactful. Ta very much!


    • Travis
      447 days ago

      Glad you got something out of it, Lucy!

      Cheers!


  9. denis
    366 days ago

    hello Travis, I read with a lot of pleasure your text about the seven barriers. It's really great to read the simplicity of what to be instead of the confusion about how to do in order to, finaly, be nobody. For many years now, I meet a lot of advaIta teachers, including last Sand symposium in Netherland, or many satsangs in Tiruvanamalai, or in other places. Meeting so many great guys (and others maybe not so honnest) encrease the confusion that there is something to do to get back in a state where I am already. Maybe just stay where I am, do nothing, just being opening all my senses, just experiencing, sometimes it's yet tremendously enough ! Thank you once again for your contribution.


    • Travis
      366 days ago

      Hello Denis,

      Thank you for your thoughts, and kind words!

      I agree that there can quickly come a point when hearing from different teachers, where confusion and frustration can creep in. Part of the problem, as near as I can tell, has to do with trying to talk about the untalkable and adapting the words we have for things to that which is (ultimately) no-thing. Add to that, that people don't try to come to mutually shared definitions to much, and it can be a total mess!

      I am certainly not in the "do nothing" camp. Then again, I am also not in the "you need to get something extra in order to be what you are" camp. I am all about looking, for yourself, and seeing what you are directly so that you can get rid of convictions about what you are that have been installed by others.

      As the buddha advised, we all need to be, "a light unto yourself."

      Glad to have you on the site. I hope you enjoy more here, and please do keep in touch!

      Cheer!

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