Randall Friend is a “disciple” of Sailor Bob Adamson, who pointed out the simplicity and immediacy of Reality.  Randall was on the spiritual path for over 30 years, reading and practicing Zen Buddhism, Alan Watts, and many others, until stumbling upon Advaita Vedanta and eventually Nisargadatta  Maharaj’s classic book, “I AM THAT”.  Randall eventually had discussions with Gilbert Schultz and Sailor Bob.

The search ended with the simple words from Sailor Bob – “you are the present activity of knowing.”

It was clear that the search was based on the very idea of a “seeker” – once the “seeker”, the individual who seeks, was seriously questioned, the string of concepts and beliefs started to unwind.  The idea of ME as a body-mind was seen to be only a belief, an assumption from which all else is created.

Upon looking at a simple tree, there was no “me” seeing a tree.  There was only the present SEEING, the present activity of knowing.

Avastu Maruti is the Second Life Avatar for Randall Friend.