Jim Burns (1931-2016) is the author of At Home with the Inner Self, was a unique spiritual teacher whose insights were born from a life of immense personal struggle, including a diagnosis of schizophrenia. [1][2] His work, primarily captured in transcripts of informal talks, offers a direct path to self-knowledge by turning inward. [1][3] He was a long-time friend and speaker at the TAT Foundation, an organization founded by his own teacher, Richard Rose. [1][3]

Core Philosophy and the Inner Self

  1. On the Source of Guidance: "There is a fountain-spring of endless guidance and information within every human being. One only has to learn to get out of its way, to let the consciousness generate in a stilled and quiet mind." [1][3]
  2. The Goal of the Search: "What everyone is really seeking is their own inner guidance." [4][5]
  3. The Nature of the Inner Self: "When you begin to have experiences of the information from within, you learn how perfectly attuned the inner mind is to... your whole system." [6]
  4. The Path to Wholeness: "Through dreams, you can repair the bridge to the inner self and again become a whole person." [3]
  5. The Constant Communication: "Your inner mind is constantly trying to get your outer self to be aware of what's going on within yourself until you've answered to that need. It keeps throwing balls over the fence." [3]
  6. The Mind's True Intention: "In actuality, the mind is trying to show you something so that you can heal it. If you look at what it wants to show you, you can heal." [1]
  7. The Foundation of His Wisdom: Burns' teachings were not academic but were "hard-won truths" derived from his lifelong struggle with his own mind. [1]
  8. The Ultimate Answer: When asked for the solution to life's problems, his simple answer was, "to know the Self." [1]
  9. Locking onto the Inner Self: "I learned how to lock onto my inner self at all times." [7]
  10. The Universal Search: "I maintain that everyone is searching for the truth... Everyone is curious. Some don't take the time. Some are defeated before they start by believing they're too small to find out." [8]

Key Techniques for Inner Work

Jim Burns taught three primary techniques for connecting with the inner self: [3]

  1. Free Association: "There is a free association part of the mind that is like a citizen's band scanner, constantly going up and down the channels." [3]
  2. Holding Awareness (Going to Sleep Slowly): "It's good to go to sleep slowly and to wake up slowly." [3] This practice involves maintaining awareness as you drift into sleep to observe the workings of the mind.
  3. Dream Analysis: "When I was young, I learned that dreams were the source of all necessary information." [3]
  4. The Resolving Mind: "Jim taught how to bring the unconscious into consciousness, then hold those questions and issues in what he called 'resolving mind.' If you follow this process, then when you are done what will be left is awareness." [1]
  5. Facing the Void: When trying to resolve an issue, "You have to face forward into the void, as it were, a type of tunnel vision. Ideas will come to you and eventually one will come that really hits the gong about problems you are facing." [7]
  6. The Body as an Antenna: "There is a certain intelligence in the cells. Use the body to feel your intuition because every cell is alive and intelligent." [1]
  7. Intuitive Eating as Practice: As a simple way to practice listening to the body, he advised, "Don't eat anything until you know exactly what you want to eat." [1]
  8. The Difficulty is the Point: On facing difficult feelings: "It is uncomfortable and miserable, and the only thing that is worse is that which you're trying to escape." [3]
  9. Waking State Awareness: "Realizing something in a dream isn't enough—you have to become aware of it in the waking state." [3]
  10. The Power of a Journal: While not a direct quote from Burns, his teachings align with the sentiment expressed in the community that followed him: "You're a fool if you don't keep a journal." [4][5]

On Honesty, Ego, and Self-Confrontation

  1. The Exact Truth: "The truth will set you free, but it has to be the exact truth." [1]
  2. The Cost of Inauthenticity: "I remember when all I had to do to get rid of my friends was to let my real feelings show on my face, and they were like cockroaches going for the corners." [8]
  3. The Core Fear: "The point people fail to realize is that if you are true to yourself, you're alone, and you will do anything to avoid the experience of being abandoned. That's the whole circle of life." [8]
  4. The Lie of Ego: The ego-centric position "never occurs to it that it is not anterior to everything, but itself an object." [8]
  5. The Tragedy of the Ego: We think "that when we get smart enough we'll achieve success. This is the tragedy of the ego." [7]
  6. Dropping the Poses: Through self-confrontation, "you drop a lot of the poses which you previously had, and which previously got you into trouble." [8]
  7. Facing Hatred: "We desire to be free of hatred... But if you don't answer to it face to face, you'll never escape it." [8]
  8. The Problem with "Love": "Very few people stop to analyze this thing we're talking about when we're talking about love. Mostly they want people to love them. This is the complaint; it isn't the idea of love of love, it's, 'Love me.'" [8]
  9. The Cleanliness of the Mind: "Your mind is like a closet. It is only as clean as you last left it." [1]
  10. What You Don't Face Remains: "Everything you don't come to terms with is still there, so hold it in consciousness as long as possible." [1]
  11. The Inability to Lie to Yourself: "It's a fact, you can lie to everyone around you, but you cannot lie to yourself. The only thing you can do is look away from whatever you don't want to face." [9]
  12. The Problem of Motivation: "I really can't talk to people who can only think what they can get out of it." [7]
  13. The Futility of Escape: You can't escape the past (what you've learned) or the future (some view of it). The key is the degree to which you are involved in them. [10]
  14. The Divine Insult: The "divine insult" is the realization of the vast, automatic intelligence of the body (like digestion) that operates completely outside our conscious comprehension. [10]
  15. The Relief of Honesty: "That was the first real relief I ever had after three or four years of struggle. It then dawned on me that every son of a gun that had ever went down the road, that ever saw this thing for what it was, went straight through where I just went through." [8]

On the Nature of Reality and the Spiritual Path

  1. The Ideal State: Living in the now is the ideal state, where you are "never in conflict with yourself." [10]
  2. Why We Don't Live in the Now: "When you're not living in the moment it's because something inside of you is unsatisfied." [10]
  3. The Value of the Path: The path of self-analysis makes you a better person to live with, for yourself and for others. [8]
  4. The Two Advantages of Zen (Self-Inquiry): The first is psychological (you become a better person), and the second is spiritual realization. [8]
  5. The Necessity of Wasted Time: "I was carried along first by my family and then by social security disability. There is where I got the time. I knew one thing the whole way through: that I dare not waste one second." [3]
  6. The Oneness of Tension: "We not only desire to release our own tensions, WE ARE ALL ONE, and are of necessity required to release the tension in those around us." [8]
  7. A Merciful Lie: A quote he often shared was, "Lies can be merciful things." [1] This likely points to the compassionate understanding of the protective lies we tell ourselves and others.
  8. The Trip Within: Richard Rose, his teacher, said Jim Burns was the only living person he knew of who had "made the trip." [1][11]
  9. The Goal is Built-In: The connection to the inner self "was built into you and buried by misconception, but once you try to bring it back to life, it will have a life of its own." [3]
  10. The Still Point: "Who—and what—you really are is at all times utterly still and absolutely silent." [9]
  11. The Paradox of Seeking: "Paradoxically, your seeking to satisfy this inner need is your greatest obstacle but, simultaneously, your way home." [9]
  12. Self-Knowledge is Elimination: "Self-knowledge must consist of knowing what you are not. Eliminating self-delusion clears the way for definition to become evident." [8]
  13. The Limits of Comprehension: Our conscious mind is designed to operate within very specific limits, and we rarely notice the vastness beyond it. [10]
  14. A Life of Service: Despite his internal battles, he had a "desire to be of service" and was a "true friend to the many who met him along the way." [1]
  15. The Simplicity of His Message: His book, At Home with the Inner Self, consists simply of transcribed talks, highlighting the unadorned, direct nature of his wisdom. [1][11]

Sources and Links for Further Exploration:

Learn more:

  1. TAT Forum | a spiritual magazine of essays, poetry and humor - TAT Foundation
  2. At Home with the Inner Self by Jim Burns | Goodreads
  3. Jim Burns - The Mystic Missal
  4. Reflections on the Spiritual Path - new book - SpiritualTeachers.org
  5. Podcast: Journals of Spiritual Discovery by spiritualteachers.org
  6. Practical Methods of Meditation - The Mystic Missal
  7. At Home With The Inner Self - Jim Burns | PDF | Thought | Consciousness - Scribd
  8. TAT Forum - Spiritual Magazine | featuring Richard Rose, Jim Burns
  9. Beyond Mind, Beyond Death - TAT Foundation
  10. Meeting with Jim Burns - September 30, 1983 - SearchWithin.org
  11. Essential Books for the Spiritual Search | TAT Foundation Press