Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning in August of 2009. May you find them interesting and enriching.
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May 13, 2010
Student: From the enlightened perspective, is there no liberation? What the heck is there to be liberated from?
Michael: It depends on how you are defining liberation. What is liberation?
Student: Freedom. But in the ultimate sense, there’s nothing to be free from. Oh – but there’s still all this mind-related stuff that I deal with each day. Just that. Ha. Nevermind.
Michael: Okay, so what is the sound of understanding?
Student: In Emptiness, there’s no sound. But there’s the hearing of everything at once.
Michael: Is there hearing of the hearing? Seeing of the seeing? I feel like I’m reading you the Surangama Sutra, but seriously, what is this One Experience? What is this, as we say, One Taste?
Student: It’s like there’s the seeing of the hearing, then, an implosion, a turning completely inside out and only the recognition of silence the nonformed, unbirthed unconditional love of just Being.
Michael: … and this hangnail. All One. Alone. Wisdom. The Many. The Singularity. Compassion.
Student: There’s this energy that happens in my body when the I steps away for a while (happening as we were emailing back and forth) – my heart rate goes up like I’m hill-running, and breathing increases. Then my boss came into my office and wanted to talk business. Haha! All One, indeed, responding with compassion even to this seeming “switch” from abyss, to patent law. It’s all included, isnt it.
Michael: Yep.