On the path, “I’m done” feels self-protective, ego-bolstering, and it can have a “closed” energy to it. Beginner’s mind can go offline.
“I’m not done” or just having no strong conclusion around this topic allows for a natural openness to play, explore, and really live freedom/inquiry. There is no end to the depth of liberation really. Life isn’t static or fixed. It’s always presenting new experiences that can show us something about ourselves that we couldn’t previously see.
The energy of inquiry is quite different than the energy of strong conclusions. Even profound spiritual insights can feel heavy, as we add the weight of that conclusory or convincing energy onto them. Liberation feels more like religion then. That’s not very liberating even if it’s comforting in some way. Let all those conclusions and pointers burn up in the fire!
When there is strong seeking energy or a strong pull towards some future outcome, that can feel rather closed too because by focusing on the future, we tend to miss the resistance happening right now.
After years of seeking, wanting to be done is a natural response. Seeking can be exhausting!!! But as we settle more into living from and as presence, something quite paradoxical can show up. We can feel as if our experience is totally complete for the most part. Yet we can become even
more open to explore because the intense pull towards future just isn’t there anymore. It’s no longer exhausting. It’s nourishing and transformative to explore and remain open!
Whether one is done at any point is not a question for the mind (in my view). It’s a question of experience! Live in direct experience!
Living this way, you will see any hidden places you’ve avoided or bypassed. The mind that comes in to say “I’m fully liberated” or “I’ve already processed all that stuff” may very well have a hidden egoic agenda behind it to keep repression, trauma, shame and other super unconscious patterns operating. These patterns are connected to a deep need for psychological and emotional safety. This IS the resistance!
Ironic that the ego can land right there on that bypass, given the ego really isn’t a thing. It’s a pattern of resistance. The resistance itself is essentially saying “there’s no resistance.” If that’s the case, you don’t have to announce that to yourself or anyone. It will be apparent by how you live. You will know this by its fruits as they say.
Rest, inquire, enjoy life!