NOT I, NOT OTHER THAN I – the Life and Teachings of Russel Williams

Readers may like to refer to Steve Taylor's article above before reading my review of this remarkable record and compilation from a little-known spiritual teacher now in his 90s. Steve has rendered a valuable service to spiritual seekers in making this wisdom more widely available. The book neatly alternates a chronological account of Russel's life with his spiritual teachings transcribed from his talks at the Buddhist Society in Manchester. Russel's life is both ordinary and extraordinary, ordinary in some of the jobs that he has done, but extraordinary in terms of his experience, development and insight.

Even as a child, he came close to death by drowning on a number of occasions. The narrative describes a number of accidents that would probably have killed a normal person, including being struck by lightning and electrocuted. He lived through the Blitz and took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk, seeing some terrible scenes in the process. He shows no fear, recalling an incident as a child when he pummelled the legs of an elephant for throwing his dog into the air. After the war, he got a job looking after horses, which proved a turning point in his life. He became so concentrated on the horses that his mind went quiet and he was not thinking any more; effectively he was absorbed in mindfulness meditation. As described in Steve's article, he suddenly becomes one with the horse from the inside, realising that there is one consciousness linking us all together – he then felt a sense of oneness towards everything.

He became involved in circuses and tells the story of when he was trapped inside a lion's cage with the lion walking towards him, then the next thing he knew he was standing 10 feet outside the cage watching the lion bringing his other legs in. Not only was the door closed, but it was also padlocked. His relationship with horses is based on complete trust and is quite remarkable. One horse had mauled four people, and Russel manages to calm him down within half an hour. On another occasion, he had to deal with 27 wild horses, so he sat down completely calm with a bucket of water, waiting as each horse came up to drink and sniff him. He did a similar process with another 150 wild horses. He was also able to calm a horse that had impaled itself on a fence and required a painful and protracted set of stitches. The vet had never seen anything like it.

Through an interesting coincidence of circumstances, Russel finally meets John Garrie, one of the founders of the Buddhist Society, who is absolutely able to understand what he has been through and his spiritual philosophy. He then gets involved with the Buddhist Society and has been teaching there ever since. He seems to have a special relationship with Ramana Maharshi and it is clear that his wisdom is channelled from another level and not derived from any reading. For him, the only reality is consciousness itself, with no separation. He sees the future involving a shift in the human psyche where people will more readily perceive their spiritual nature. As for him, he has memories of being a spiritual teacher in previous lives, but does not feel that he will be born again - his influence will remain as a wider consciousness: 'I won't be coming back, but I'll still be here.'

Russel's teaching is one of feeling and being. For him, feeling unites and thinking separates, to feel is to experience through mindful attention to the present. This involves giving full attention not only to people, but also to trivial household tasks. God is the universal unmanifest consciousness that manifests through each of us. Metta or loving-kindness is equally important and can be felt as a sense of unity and expansion in his meetings, creating a rapport between those present. He encourages shorter rather than longer periods of meditation in order to gain a greater sense of continuity. He reminds us that it doesn't take any effort to be content, we just need to let go and be in the present. This also enables us to nurture, to give out - and in moving beyond duality we move beyond thought into stillness and peace. Russel urges us to slow down and be gentle, reminding us that our qualities and perceptions are reflected back to us by life.

Spiritual development enables transparency to emerge and to reach a place beyond words: 'living in the moment, there is now a clarity - in the seeing is the knowing, in the experiencing is the knowing…..we see clearly, with no judgement whatsoever. There is nothing to judge by, because judgement lies in a conceptual field. And if that field is clear and empty, then no judgement can take place.' As he humorously summarises, 'when you see things clearly for what they are, understanding isn't necessary.' There is nothing missing in our lives if we look into wholeness rather than duality. He also comments that our problems cannot be stronger than ourselves 'because you are the one who created them in the first place.' Similarly, 'someone might feel there is something missing, but as a person they are the bit that is missing from the whole.'

Readers can perhaps appreciate that there is great simplicity, clarity and wisdom in these insights into the nature of consciousness and the self. The mind likes to complicate things and we can end up chasing our tails instead of experiencing life as it is. There is a way of striving and a way of letting go. If the approach of Barbara De Angelis is fundamentally one of striving, then Russel's is equally a simple way of being that focuses on experiencing life beyond duality and feeling its wholeness.