When Joe’s pivotal recognition occurred—“I am that”—it was immediately followed by “and this never ends.” The evolution never stops. There is no final state.
Joe considers this insight one of the most important fruits of his eight years of meditation work, because he has watched people get stuck for a decade thinking they’ve arrived at an endpoint—which is just another form of avoidance and self-definition. Defining yourself as “awakened” is as limiting as any other identity.
“I’ve seen people get stuck for 10 years thinking that they’re at an end, and they’re just another form of avoidance and self-definition.”
“Every epiphany is a future rut.”
Over time, even Joe’s relationship to awakening dissolved from something profound to something as unremarkable as hair color. The deeper teaching: we keep dancing, keep evolving, keep becoming kinder and more compassionate. The idea of an end state propagates the illusion of “a way” and “a teaching,” which doesn’t serve anyone.
Related Concepts
- Any self-definition limits you
- Discovery, not improvement
- Self-improvement is self-annihilation
- Every epiphany is a rut waiting to happen