Nothing to Grasp Quotes

“During the last year she was alive, at age 95, my mother said many times, “It’s so freeing to realize that nothing really matters.” She said it joyously, with relief, as if a burden had been lifted. She also said over and over, “Love yourself".

Tollifson, Joan. Nothing to Grasp (p. 174). New Harbinger Publications. Kindle Edition.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“But still, we seem to be separate, independent entities. After all, the mind reasons, I can’t open your hand or feel your headache, so doesn’t that prove that we are separate? Well, not really. I am no more conscious of the actions of “my” blood cells than I am of “your” headache, and I’m no more in control of “my” spleen than I am of the opening and closing of “your” hand. The boundary lines and the sense of ownership are conceptual abstractions we learn.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Of course, thinking and conceptualizing are also a part of this seamless happening, but it is only in thinking and conceptualizing that we seem to get caught up in imaginary problems and dilemmas. It is only conceptually, in thought-generated stories, that we seem to be “somebody” who needs to be different from how we are. That’s why it can be so liberating when attention shifts from thoughts to the bare simplicity of hearing, seeing, sensing, awaring.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“True freedom is the willingness for life to be as it is, no matter how it appears. This willingness is expressed in the Abrahamic religions as “Thy will be done.” Paradoxically, in completely accepting everything just as it is, there is space for something truly new and creative to enter the picture. And this space is never not here.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Unlike seeking, which is result-oriented and rooted in a sense of dissatisfaction and incompleteness, this kind of meditative inquiry is rooted in curiosity, interest and love. Much as a lover explores the beloved, this nondual, nonconceptual inquiry is an act of love and devotion. Much as a child explores the world with open curiosity and wonder, this kind of inquiry is a form of play and self-discovery.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Basic awareness meditation is really nothing more or less than giving open, nonjudgmental attention to present-moment, non-conceptual experiencing. You don’t have to be in the lotus position. This can happen on the city bus.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“To reveal what is obvious, unavoidable, and never-not-here requires an approach that is not result-oriented, an approach that goes nowhere, an approach that is utterly useless and without purpose.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Presence is not an object. It is the openness that beholds it all.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Longing to stop, thinking we 'should' stop, trying to stop, and this whole conflict between the desire to stop and the desire to indulge--all of it is part of the addiction (and is different from actually stopping).”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“There is no light apart from the dark, and no enlightenment apart from delusion. There is no permanently enlightened person. The very notion of such a thing is delusion.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Rather than trying to paper over our suffering with comforting beliefs, this approach is about actually exploring directly what seems to be in the way of freedom, peace and happiness, what seems scary, dreadful and unbearable. It's one thing to believe that the tiger chasing you is only a mirage, and it's another thing entirely to actually turn around and embrace the tiger and find out for sure.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“These are many words for one happening. The words only seem to divide what is actually undivided. In the end, the words are all 'sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“If we say, 'This is it,' the words create the very split they attempt to point beyond. If we say 'All is One,' it is one too many. If we call it 'nothing,' it seems to deny the undeniable presence of everything. If we assert that 'there is nothing to do,' it seems to overlook the necessity of doing whatever we are moved by life to do. If we assert that 'there is something to do,' it makes it sound as if something else is required in order to be what we already are. The dualistic mind grasps, reifies, asserts, denies and fixates. It takes positions and clings to those positions, mistaking them for reality. It identifies with its positions and feels threatened when they are questioned. But to cling to any conceptual map of reality is to miss the ever-changing actuality of this-here-now.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Any interpretation of this present experiencing (what it is, or why it is) can be doubted, but that it is, is beyond doubt.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Only when we think, does there seem to be an unfolding narrative happening in time with “me” at the center of the story, an apparently separate unit of consciousness (a mind) encapsulated inside an apparently separate body, someone who must make something of myself, use my gifts to help the world, be a success, do the right thing, and perhaps get enlightened.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Ultimate Reality is not somewhere else. Supreme enlightenment is not somewhere else. The absolute is not somewhere else. The Holy Reality is the intimacy, the subtlety, the aliveness of Here/Now. This is God, this is emptiness ‌—‌ this blue sky, this white cloud, this piece of trash in the gutter, this armchair, this television program, this leaf fluttering in the wind, this surge of anger, this yellow school bus, this wave of loneliness, this burst of laughter, this train of thought, this seeing-hearing-sensing-awaring-being. This is the Beloved.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“The Holy Reality is already here, fully complete. And if you think otherwise, then simply stop, look and listen.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Nobody else can see us, because we have no objective existence whatsoever, and we cannot see anybody else because they have none.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“During the last year she was alive, at age 95, my mother said many times, “It’s so freeing to realize that nothing really matters.” She said it joyously, with relief, as if a burden had been lifted. She also said over and over, “Love yourself.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“For some people, being a Zen monk is the perfect expression. For others, drinking beer and calling meditation hogwash is the perfect expression. Some teachers will tell you to sweep the floor mindfully, and others will tell you that your mindful sweeping is only a dream. Life is wonderfully playful and diverse.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Once people start identifying themselves or others as “permanently enlightened people,” the bullshit begins.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“You're not going anywhere.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“There is no one-size-fits-all spiritual practice or pointer. One person will gravitate to a highly structured approach, another to an approach that is more open and spontaneous. For some, meditating daily on a schedule or practicing with a group may be essential. For others, these activities just get in the way. What we need in one moment may be different from what we need in another moment. There is no one right way. This universe is magnificently diverse and playful.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Waking up is the end of spirituality in the usual sense of that word.

With that in mind, we can approach various nondual explorations (or practices, if you want to call them that) in a playful way, as natural and spontaneous activities of life. Like art, music or dancing, they are ways in which life is exploring, enjoying, revealing, loving and entertaining itself.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Every instant is a new universe.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“You may discover that when there is no resistance to totally being in hell, heaven opens up and samsara reveals its true nature as nirvana.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Awareness by its very nature doesn’t need anything to be other than exactly how it is. It doesn’t go to war with the way things are, it simply exposes them to the light. It allows everything to undo itself. Awareness is unconditional love, absolute devotion. It accepts everything.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“Only the mirage-like separate fragment, the character in the movie, is concerned about being perfect and not being fooled again. The wholeness of being doesn’t mind being fooled. Awareness has no self-image to protect, no self to defend against death. For life itself, there is no end to being fooled and no end to waking up. It is all happening to no one. It’s not personal.”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“In simple presence with what is right here now, be it joyful or painful, an amazing freedom reveals itself. It cannot be described or explained in words. It is the freedom to be totally, effortlessly the way things are at this moment. ‌—‌Toni Packer”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp

“we maintain awareness, whether we know it or not, healing is taking place… a door that has been shut begins to open…. As the door opens, we see that the present is absolute and that, in a sense, the whole universe begins right now, in each second. And the healing of life is in that second of simple awareness…. Healing is always just being here, with a simple mind. ‌—‌Charlotte Joko Beck”
― Joan Tollifson, Nothing to Grasp