Dr. Robert Saltzman


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TODOS SANTOS doctor robert saltzman TODOS SANTOS counseling psychotherapy


There ARE no answers. Nothing important remains to be understood. Each moment of awareness is self-standing, unique, unconnected to any other. The habitual, autobiographical "myself" labors to connect all the moments together sequentially, like pearls on a string, producing a conventional narrative about my life and my imagined place in the world, but that is a only story I tell myself, a habit, a fiction.



Each perception, each thought, each feeling arises as a point of silence, an instant of stillness, independent of anything which ever happened before, a "once-upon-a-once."

The struggle to find "God," to attain "liberation," or to become "enlightened" continues, aided and abetted by the gurus, spiritual teachers, philosophers and priests, but all that is merely another story we tell ourselves. Meanwhile, whatever is simply is AS it is--incomprehensible, boundless, inexhaustible, ineffable, unfathomable--while "I" find myself naked in the now.



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Dear Dr. Saltzman,

What role has discipline to play in the process of becoming own's own teacher? Is discipline even possible when we understand there is no such thing as 'will power'? I think that a teacher is always needed. . . but I have been thinking that a teacher can arise also from within. How can I let this 'inner teacher' shine through?

 

When I say that there is no such thing as will power, I am speaking about living from true nature, in which "you" and "the universe" are not separate in any way. As long as you feel separation, then choice and will appear, and cannot be denied, no matter what some teacher tells you. Under the spell of that apparent separation between "myself" and the universe, the apparent separate "myself" will need to "make choices," and use "will power" to direct action and non-action. If you think about a time of actual relaxation into the eternal NOW—we all have them—you will immediately see the distinction I am making. From the vantage of that at-one-ment, striving willfully for some future "improvement" is seen for what it is, an illusion in service of ego.

The apparent outer teacher serves only to carry the student's true teacher (the inner teacher, as you put it), and to advocate for it, until the student begins to feel the truth of her existence. Once that occurs, the outer teacher's work is over.

If you feel the need for discipline, let it be this: Whenever a thought arises which does not need an immediate practical response, simply let it pass. Use whatever "discipline" you can muster to avoid making a random thought into a story or narrative, especially avoiding any story which contains a self-judgmental message or a fantasy of imagined "improvement." If such a story begins to arise (many of us are in the habit of entertaining such stories routinely, and pretty much unconsciously), use whatever "will power" you imagine you have to cut it off right then and there.












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Dr. Robert (replying to a question): ALL your feelings are valid. They are valid because they refer to previous emotional experiences which are part of your personality and with which you still have to deal. But saying that they are valid does not mean either that they give you a real, accurate picture of how things are, or that you need those feelings to be there in order to still be "you."

Questioner: Hearing that puts me into a state of panic. I would be alone without them.

Dr. Robert: You are really alone now. We all are. But clinging to ideas and beliefs, and calling them "mine" or "me" does nothing to change that aloneness.

Psychological freedom will never be achieved by means of logic or belief of any kind, but only by discarding beliefs in favor of being naked in the moment. Naked in the moment is reality. Beliefs are only fiction.

There is no doubt that turning ones back on a mind full of beliefs can feel daunting and scary, but living with a mind full of beliefs is no bargain either. Who really wants to live in a haunted house?

That's what a mind full of beliefs is like—a haunted house full of the ghosts of other people's ideas, other people's beliefs, other people's mistreatment of themselves and of us as children.

When we cling to a haunted house and claim it as "mine," that is self-inflicted self-deception. One could just as easily walk away from the house into the open air of NOW, leaving behind all the pain. The pain is over—completely gone—unless you continue to breathe new life into it with your mental energy. This is obvious: the past exists only as thought, and thoughts have no power unless you give them power.

Every time a shopworn, second-hand thought arises, just say, "That's just some words. It doesn't mean anything, I—the real myself—am here now, and that is NOT a thought, but a reality—the only reality I will ever know.

 










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Hello, Robert!

I have a question for you! What is "trust"? My old ideas of trust just don't seem to fit anymore:) Well, Kirsten, words become difficult in these matters because a word may have one meaning in ordinary life, and another, entirely different meaning when speaking of true nature. In ordinary life, what is called "trust" is based on previous positive experiences.

Thanks,

Kirsten

 

Hi, Kirsten.

Words become difficult in these matters because a word may have one meaning in ordinary life, and another, entirely different meaning when speaking of true nature. In ordinary life, what is called "trust" is based on previous positive experiences.For example, if I am in a strange town for the first time, I might ask a native if the tap water is OK to drink. I would not simply TRUST it. But in my own town, if I have been drinking the water every day without problems, I will trust that it will be OK to drink today too. When I walk, I trust that I am on solid ground. If I am not sure (let's say I am hiking on some iffy ground), I might probe the ground with my staff before I step on it in order to test whether I can TRUST the surface to support my weight or not. If you have been my friend for years, and have always kept my secrets private, I will TRUST you with a new secret. If I am just meeting you, I will keep my secrets to myself. That is the ordinary meaning of the word trust.

 

In the matter of awakening to true nature, that meaning of trust is useless, and, in fact, counterproductive, because that kind of trust requires making constant judgments and discriminations between what I like and what I do not like, or what I want to happen and what I hope will not happen, whereas living in true nature requires NOT making such judgments, but simply being totally open to whatever IS in this very moment. In this very moment, things are as they are and cannot be any different, and "I" am part of that. Each moment is a moment of death and of rebirth, and all of that simply is as it is. This, perhaps could be called trust in the universe, or trust in life.

 

This is not easy ground, and I am finding it difficult to get to the heart of it without having you here with me, face-to-face. Instead of struggling on, allow me to quote a wonderful poem, The Mind of Absolute Trust, by Seng-Ts'an (died 609), one of my favorite Taoist teachers. I am sure this will be better than anything I might be able to say:


The Great Way isn't difficult

for those who are unattached to their preferences.

Let go of longing and aversion,

and everything will be perfectly clear.

When you cling to a hairbreadth of distinction, heaven and earth are set apart.

If you want to realize the truth,

don't be for or against.

The struggle between good and evil

is the primal disease of the mind.

Not grasping the deeper meaning,

you just trouble your mind's serenity.

As vast as infinite space,

it is perfect and lacks nothing.

But because you select and reject,

you can't perceive its true nature.

Don't get entangled in the world;

don't lose yourself in emptiness.

Be at peace in the oneness of things,

and all errors will disappear by themselves.

 

If you don't live the Tao,

you fall into assertion or denial.

Asserting that the world is real,

you are blind to its deeper reality;

denying that the world is real,

you are blind to the selflessness of all things.

The more you think about these matters,

the farther you are from the truth.

Step aside from all thinking,

and there is nowhere you can't go.

Returning to the root, you find the meaning; chasing appearances, you lose their source.

At the moment of profound insight,

you transcend both appearance and emptiness.

Don't keep searching for the truth;

just let go of your opinions.

For the mind in harmony with the Tao,

all selfishness disappears.

With not even a trace of self-doubt,

you can trust the universe completely.

All at once you are free,

with nothing left to hold on to.

All is empty, brilliant,

perfect in its own being.

In the world of things as they are,

there is no self, no non-self.

If you want to describe its essence,

the best you can say is "Not-two."

 

For the mind in harmony with the Tao,

all selfishness disappears.

With not even a trace of self-doubt,

you can trust the universe completely.

 

In this "Not-two" nothing is separate,

and nothing in the world is excluded.

The enlightened of all times and places

have entered into this truth.

In it there is no gain or loss;

one instant is ten thousand years.

There is no here, no there;

infinity is right before your eyes.

The tiny is as large as the vast when objective boundaries have vanished;

the vast is as small as the tiny,

when you don't have external limits.

Being is an aspect of non-being;

non-being is no different from being.

Until you understand this truth,

you won't see anything clearly.

One is all; all are one. When

you realize this, what reason for holiness or wisdom?

The mind of absolute trust

is beyond all thought, all striving,

is perfectly at peace; for in it

there is no yesterday,

no tomorrow,

no today.







Interview on the WCOM-FM radio program Conversations With Avant-Garde Sages


Interview with John Lekay of Nonduality Magazine about spiritual awakening, and the nature of "nonduality.


Awakening Never Ends, a memoir about Robert's work as a psychotherapist and teacher of "awakening."




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The Psychology of Awakening: A recorded conversation between Robert K. Hall M.D. and Robert Saltzman PhD.


Noticing awareness, and abiding in it requires no effort at all. You do not have to earn it, and you do not have to deserve it. Awareness, or presence is here now. Nothing needs to be added to this moment, and nothing can be added to it. But when I tell you this, you doubt it, and so you continue the relentless seeking—which is simply more egoic seeking. Calling it “spiritual seeking” or “practice” changes nothing but the name. Although this very moment is all we ever have, you continue to seek something “better,” something “higher,” something more “evolved,” some accomplishment you will eventually realize by following a supposed path. That fruitless search continues, and will continue until the fantasy of becoming exhausts itself and you find yourself at last, just as you always were.








Radio interview with, Benjamin Smythe, John Troy and Trip Overholt.





"I've experienced a lot of abuse in my life and so suffered from mental health problems. I think the worst part of my abuse was remembering being molested as a child, and these memories have been resurfacing just in this last year. The biggest problem for me when i first came to acknowledge what happened to me as a child, was at first i had this strong sense and feeling that i was in some way damaged or tainted. But now i come to realize more and more that i am not. Not when you talk about awareness. To me i realize now that the things i went through are not who i am, they were things that happened and now they are only really past events and how i perceive them. And as this perception happens in thoughts and feelings then they really are no part of what i truly am. And this has led me to believe im just as pristine, or new (if that makes sense ?) as the day i was born. This feels very liberating for me. i still experience grief and anger from time to time but im aware there natural thoughts and feelings and they dont take over my life. They arise, i acknowledge them and then let them go. I dont need to be scared of them as there not what the real me is. And its just a part of being human."

---Claire, writing on the Dr. Robert Forum.



Claire understood that the "past" no longer exists, except as thought. Then she saw that "oneself" is the KNOWING of thoughts, not the thoughts themselves. No one has to TRY to know, and no one can avoid knowing. Knowing simply arises spontaneously. That arising IS "you." The key to that door is the understanding that the past is gone forever. Although this seems obvious, some people have difficulty with that idea. The late great philosopher, Alan Watts, had wonderful ways of clarifying it. Here is one of them:



Alan Watts - Living in the present (boat analogy)










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One common reason for consulting a psychotherapist seems worthy of urgent special mention here. If you suspect that you or someone you care for may be suffering from depression, please read am I depressed?, which deals with brain chemistry and depression, and discusses treatment of depression with medication, psychotherapy, or spiritual understanding as required.

Careful attention to diet, as well as daily physical exercise, is good not just for bodily health, but for improved emotional health too. In other words, mood disorders such as anxiety and depression should be not treated with medication and talk therapy alone, but rather with a combination of psychotherapy, medication (if necessary), properly chosen food and drink, daily aerobic exercise, and other healthy choices.

A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that finding happiness in life can improve physical health in profound ways. Mental health (insight and philosophical well-being), emotional health (happiness, contentment, and gratitude), and physical health (a sound body) are simply various aspects of a total state of being--the human being--and all three must be considered together in the course of any effective therapy

Increasing the proportion of beneficial foods in the diet can sometimes make dramatic changes in how one feels both physically and emotionally, and can often reduce the incidence of serious disease. A recent study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that one specific approach to diet, the so-called Mediterranean diet, probably is optimal for many people. If you have not been feeling well, please begin self-treatment by adopting some of my dietary recommendations.






If you you have questions or concerns that you have wanted to ask a psychologist--whether about lifestyle changes, about counseling and psychotherapy, about spirituality and spiritual unfoldment, or just about human life in general, please post your questions on the Dr. Robert Forum where they may open a discussion among forum regulars, many of whom bring intelligence, experience, and wisdom to these conversations. I check in on the forum regularly, and will contribute if and when necessary.

In addition, you may send an e-mail requesting a personal consultation. Please state your reason for wanting a meeting along with your times of availability.






Please be aware that the information on this website is not intended to replace the personal relationship between patient and physician or therapist, and that Dr. Saltzman's replies to "ask the psychologist" questions are not a substitute for psychotherapy or consultation with a physician. Indeed, there is absolutely no substitute for such a relationship, so if you are troubled, please get the personal counseling you need.




To comment about anything relevent to this website, or to read the comments of others, visit the dr. robert forum, where your comments may be posted for all to see.









www.dr-robert.com contains no advertising of any kind, and is edited and supported solely by Dr. Robert Saltzman, Ph.D., Box 75, Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, 23305, as a source of information about his counseling practice, and about mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being in general.

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The information on this website is not intended to replace the personal relationship between patient and physician or therapist. Indeed, there is absolutely no substitute for such a relationship, so if you are troubled, please get the personal counseling you need.







last update: March 28, 2012