Why The Three Principles isn’t the Full Answer
The Three Principles, or 3Ps (as articulated by Sydney Banks) is a brilliant entry point, and it’s not always the full answer.
I shared the following words this morning, to help disentangle 3Ps, nonduality and enlightenment for a community member who’s in my current programmes.
See if this helps you too…
3Ps is nonduality dressed up in societally acceptable clothing. The easing off is a really helpful way to get people to settle out of their heads and realise their spiritual nature. A helpful way to ease off, dis-identify from the child identity driving the car, and realise their spiritual nature. And to realise the role our conscious thoughts play in colouring our day to day experience.
THEN, as we said somewhere the other day, (1) we realise we’re bypassing some stuff. And (2) we realise we don’t feel we have a grasp of what’s happening when we ease off, so we don’t trust it. It doesn’t feel reliable.
So there are 2 routes we can take at that point.
(1) Go deeper into lightening conditioning (enlightenment). That’s what we’re doing here. It isn’t nonduality (but the process is made easier with a nondual understanding.) This route is where we get to do the kinds of things we’ve been doing in The Enlightenment Event (TEE). Things that open the cracks wider, bring more light in, help things move more easily. So yes with an intention to feel good (because we know that’s truly who we are and how we can live as a human – little kids as the best role models), but without a ‘need’ to feel good (that just makes the process more sticky). Everything we’re doing here, and in TEE, is about meeting conditioning as it is. Not ‘trying’ to change anything.
(2) Go deeper into nonduality (awakening). That’s what we’re doing this month in TEE. That’s what mine & Sara’s book is about. That’s not what we’re doing here in C&T. A complete understanding of our awakened nature provides a logical ‘known at all levels of the system’ understanding and experience of our nondual nature. And the nondual nature of all things. (The fact that this is all one appearing as many.) This provides a reliable, stable knowing of our awakened nature. It’s no longer something we hope will come back again one day, if I’m lucky, if I can ease off enough, if I can hold hope in my heart enough. It’s simply known. The same as we know gravity will hold us down on earth so we don’t need to give it consideration. Same as the nondual is known. And yes we feel good as a result of knowing this, because we know our good-feeling, fundamental, essential nature.
Awakening supports enlightenment. Enlightenment supports awakening. Doesn’t matter which door you walk through, it’s all leading to a good-feeling life.
What clicks for you in this?
With love, Helen
