This Is It
In the preceding sections, there is still a sense of striving to be connected or “in” the awareness state; perhaps a sense of frustration with getting caught up in our minds. There is a seeking to find out how to be always in the state of awareness, somehow; a moving outward from ‘now’, to a time when it will all be better.
At some point, it can be seen clearly that: “this is it”. This moment is always all there is. Looking elsewhere for awareness or oneness means not finding it. Awareness, oneness, unfolding, God, whatever you might call it, is right here – dressed up as the chair you are sitting in, the book you hold, the argument you are having with your friend, your heart beating, your mother’s hair falling out from chemotherapy, the sound of a bird, your aching knee, your feelings of guilt and shame, a breeze blowing through the trees...all of this messy life on planet earth.
At some point, there can be a shift from conceptually thinking that might be the case, to knowing and feeling the reality of it. To feeling the oneness, the love, radiating from the earth, the half-finished concrete building, the tree, the cup. To experiencing the oneness directly.
In that experiencing, we cease to be a separate being – even a separate awareness. There is a seeing that it is all one unfolding, with no centre located in me or in you. Our limited, animal-originated consciousness (evolved over time to protect us) cannot grasp this; our thoughts cannot grasp it.
What is it? Why is it here? What is its purpose?
Those are thought-questions created by the nervous, controlling mind. Beyond those, it can be felt the truth that it’s not knowable. It just is – this display of colour, sound, feeling, taste, touch, smell, thought, movement…it just is.
We are actually part of it, and that oneness can be experienced directly, when the ‘story of me’ becomes more transparent and less gripping. The way between what looks like 'a rock and a hard place' -- the concept "there's nothing to do, awakeness is right here" and the desire "I want to actually bring that into my life more often" is the gentle, persistent noticing of the story-world that overlays our natural awakeness. It's true that the awakeness is always right here, even in our stories -- but it's also true that it's possible to have a more frequent experience of the aliveness and ease that is inherent in that knowing.
At some point, it can be seen clearly that: “this is it”. This moment is always all there is. Looking elsewhere for awareness or oneness means not finding it. Awareness, oneness, unfolding, God, whatever you might call it, is right here – dressed up as the chair you are sitting in, the book you hold, the argument you are having with your friend, your heart beating, your mother’s hair falling out from chemotherapy, the sound of a bird, your aching knee, your feelings of guilt and shame, a breeze blowing through the trees...all of this messy life on planet earth.
At some point, there can be a shift from conceptually thinking that might be the case, to knowing and feeling the reality of it. To feeling the oneness, the love, radiating from the earth, the half-finished concrete building, the tree, the cup. To experiencing the oneness directly.
In that experiencing, we cease to be a separate being – even a separate awareness. There is a seeing that it is all one unfolding, with no centre located in me or in you. Our limited, animal-originated consciousness (evolved over time to protect us) cannot grasp this; our thoughts cannot grasp it.
What is it? Why is it here? What is its purpose?
Those are thought-questions created by the nervous, controlling mind. Beyond those, it can be felt the truth that it’s not knowable. It just is – this display of colour, sound, feeling, taste, touch, smell, thought, movement…it just is.
We are actually part of it, and that oneness can be experienced directly, when the ‘story of me’ becomes more transparent and less gripping. The way between what looks like 'a rock and a hard place' -- the concept "there's nothing to do, awakeness is right here" and the desire "I want to actually bring that into my life more often" is the gentle, persistent noticing of the story-world that overlays our natural awakeness. It's true that the awakeness is always right here, even in our stories -- but it's also true that it's possible to have a more frequent experience of the aliveness and ease that is inherent in that knowing.