It’s all in your mind, right? But like Dumbledore asked somewhat rhetorically, “Why does that make it any less real?”
So, the issue is YES. And it’s in your mind. But just THINKING about being a good, decent, wonderful, warm, kind, human being isn’t enough, is it? The proof is in the pudding. And the pudding, to be useful at all, must be actual and not virtual. Present not future.
The present makes all the difference.
That’s the only real difference between Thusness and what I like to call Thisness.
Thusness is sometimes called Suchness. Meaning that a thing that is 100% itself is itself, as such, and beyond which there is no such-er. Or something like that. In essence, the Nisargadatta exhortation to focus on “I Am That”, uses That (which I’m also thinking is Thus) to encompass the everything that simply exists in absolutely completeness and needs no introduction, build-up, or conclusion.
Thisness, for me, is a more immediate (one might also dare say more imminent AND immanent) experience of selfless unity with the energy of the universe. It is of course the ultimate goal of self-enquiry, right, to no longer need the question, “Who Am I?” because once you actually KNOW the answer, the question, like a boat you’ve used to cross the ocean, is no longer needed once you’re on new ground. Or something like that.
I don’t want to quote any chapter or verse from ANY source, despite the grand and ultimately self-defeating practice of most human beings to seek both experience and qualifications from their gurus. You want the moon, not my finger. Trust me.
Which raises an interesting idea:
What humanity really needs is an interview guide for gurus. You know, what questions to ask to really get at the experience, qualifications, and general skill set required of someone you’re counting on to keep you advancing ever forward, excelsior, to the next impossible dream.
It might be called “How to Get the Guru You Want While You’re Waiting for the Guru You Need”.
Because if you’re going to take something as seriously as we seem to take our “spiritual” lives, there ought to be a sound basis for staking your soul on it.
Right?
30 SEP 2026
© 2026, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.
Ammiright? This is great. Love the reference to the Buddhist monk pointing to the moon. All very clear. Simplistically stated, really. Bravo. Thank you, thusly noted. Not the moon, and we want the moon. There should be a test for potential gurus!