We recently received a wonderful offering from Michael:
What Is That I Am?
The fact that I can see objects means that I stand apart from them. I am not the objects I see.
The fact that I can see my thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and experiences means that I stand apart from them. I am not the thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and experiences I see.
The fact that I see the “I” that sees objects, thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and experiences means that I even stand apart from that “I.” I am not the “I” that I see.
And yet, I cannot say “I am not.” I cannot deny the sense that I am. The fact that I am is obvious, self-evident, and undeniable.
I must, then, be That in which all that happens, including that “I am.”
There is no word for That. Words occur in That. That is a sense, and sensation is wordless.
I am that wordless sense.
I ........................(sigh)
"Yes, that sigh holds a lot, unfortunately though, nothing of contentment. It reflects more the utter inadequacy of words and linear logic in leading one, or leading oneself to the embodiment of the truth. And, if knowing it doesn't lead to embodiment, then what? Remember Peggy Lee's song, "Is That All There Is?"
While Michael's 'poem' gives a very succinct description of the process of Self-Inquiry or Neti Neti (not this, not that), like many, he has gotten stuck on the last wrung, so to speak. You let go, let go, let go, but then you want to hang on to a 'Person' that 'gets it.' In other words, "I" want to be Enlightened, and it doesn't work that way. One must give up everything, including one's self, or idea of self, which is still a 'perceived limitation'.... "I" versus "not I".
Recently, we came across a beautiful concept in Gerald May's Dark Night of the Soul: "Freedom, however, is not an end in itself. It is not just freedom from something; it must also be freedom for something." Wakefulness can be defined, in simplest terms, as the recognition that You are Consciousness. However, that consciousness may still be perceived as limited...limited by the body, etc. But this is like the 'zero point'. It is simply the doorway. Imagine that you want to go to India and you travel thousands of miles, land in the Delhi airport terminal and go, "Wow. I made it." But after a few minutes (or hours or days) you go, "Is this it?" No, of course not. You haven't even begun to see India. You've seen the airport, which, trust me, is pretty uninspiring. The landing is only the beginning. Now you continue to expand out again, but this time, not as a limited "I", but as Infinite Consciousness itself. "You" let go of the ideas of an individualized person, surrendering entirely into the Absolute. Now there is only the Absolute, the Emptiness, the Fullness, that One, yet manifesting as some body/mind that may still happen to also arise in that infinite Consciousness that YOU now are. It is freedom FROM the limited perspective of 'me' and freedom FOR the Infinite Absolute. So see what limited views may still persist, and allow them to be released.
In a slightly different vein, we recently added to our "Count Me In" webpage, "Let us create $1,000,000 for that One Million Awake." A friend's response on seeing that was, "You might want to get rid of that ...it doesn't 'play' well." This, also, is the conception of the "I". While it's understood that for most people (nearly ALL people) money defines them...how much they have, how much they don't have, how much they want, how much they can spend to fortify, validate, and comfort that separate sense of "I", for those who are Awake, money is just another energy arising in Infinite Consciousness, which is itself Infinite Potentiality! While it's dreadfully obvious that many religious, spiritual, and even ecological and other 'helpful' groups have utilized money for selfish profit motives - the idea of giving is a very powerful one. In our culture, we hide our money, it deeply defines who we are (or rather who we think we are). When we recognize that we are not our body/mind (or at least not limited to that), money is just one more thing (or non-thing) in Consciousness. So many of these methods which have traditionally been utilized to loosen the bonds of "Me-ness" (surrender, prayer, donating, working for others, etc.) are now perceived in this "I" centered narcissistic world as a way to get something FROM Me. Yes, they are.....Your ILLUSIONS! The whole paradigm needs to shift....from freedom from to freedom for. What would you be willing to give to see One Million Awake? What would you be willing to give to see an absolutely new humanity? What would you be willing to give to see an Enlightened planet? I would give my life. You could say I HAVE given my life. Dr. Martin Luther King said, "If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." So, be willing to die FROM the individual sense of self FOR Truth. And as many have said before, "What is the cost of Truth??? EVERYTHING!"
With Infinite Love & Gratitude,
Aja
No comments:
Post a Comment