The following article has been written to guide the reader into a meditative inquiry into the nature of Truth and Existence. While reading this article, be open and receptive to what is being said. To understand what has been written requires the rational controlling mind to be in a state of surrender. The understanding happens with the Heart not the head. I am not telling you anything you don’t already know. Let the words flow through an empty mind so they penetrate deep into the core of your Being. There is nothing to get, there is only the losing of a false sense of self, to reveal a deep ancient remembrance, full of consciousness, presence and contentment.
Anything that can ever be said about the Ultimate Truth is only ever a concept. People can agree and disagree over countless philosophical and spiritual concepts. One concept that no one can disagree on is that of Existence, that I exist, I am. In this inquiry various concepts are used to point towards “That” which you fundamentally are, this pure “I”. The concept itself is only a pointer.
In this meditative inquiry we are going to investigate the nature of Existence and Awareness itself. Generally with meditation techniques, Awareness is used to focus on some object, like the breath, an image or the repetition of a mantra. A certain amount of concentrated effort is required to sustain a technique. True meditation is beyond technique, an effortless simplicity of Being, moment to moment, with the sense of individuality lost.
Awareness is essentially and fundamentally formless, boundless, infinite and eternal. An illusion is cast by the mind that creates a perception that Awareness is finite and limited to the mind and body of the human being. A false sense of “I” is created. The belief in this false sense of “I”, which seems very real, is what creates all mental and emotional suffering. Spiritual awakening is to see through the illusory “I” to reveal the timeless and deathless presence of Being, full of Consciousness and Peace.
What is this existence? What is this “I am”? Is this “I” just the body, just the mind? Am I just my thoughts that create various belief patterns? Do I exist beyond thought and belief? In deep dreamless sleep there is no mind, no body, no thoughts or emotions, no world. Yet on waking from sleep you know you have slept and that it was very enjoyable and peaceful. The pure “I” was present in deep dreamless sleep and continues to be present in the waking state but is hidden from conscious recognition by attachment to thoughts and emotions.
When making an inquiry into the nature of Existence, the inquiry needs to be centred in the heart, not the head. The heart is the spiritual centre of the body. The mind, being the disciple, needs to surrender, to bow down before the master, the master being your own radiant Self, centred in the heart. This is true devotion. This is intelligent inquiry. Thoughts, sensations, emotions and energies arise out of Awareness, but the core of any thought, sensation, emotion or energy is Awareness itself. So a thought or a feeling cannot actually take you away from the peace and contentment of Awareness. It can appear to separate you from the peace within, but this happens only due to an illusion cast by the mind. The illusion is just the misidentification which limits Awareness to only the body and the mind. The body and mind doesn’t contain Awareness, Awareness contains the body and mind. So the starting point for revealing the ever present boundless Awareness that is within and without, is with what arises in the mind and the body in “this” very Moment- the Now. To inquire and meditate into thoughts, sensations and emotions of the body can lead one back to the source of Pure Awareness, that is full of Peace and effortless Being.
Generally Awareness itself is overlooked in favor of some object, state or phenomena. This could be the awareness of the outside world as perceived through the senses of sight, hearing, or touch. Or the awareness of one’s inner world of thoughts, emotions and feelings. The perception of an object or the experience of an inner state is due to Awareness. What is Awareness? Is there a difference between the Moment which is Now, the energy of Pure Life and Awareness? Is there a separate you apart from Awareness that is always in the Now?
You can’t see or perceive Awareness, as you essentially are Awareness itself. Awareness is the perceiver and ultimately it is also the perceiving and the perceived. This is Oneness. Another way of putting it is to say, it is not a doing or a being this or a being that, it is just Being. Being without a centre or boundaries. Being without the need to conceptualise or emotionalise your reality. Just Being. It is this continual need to conceptualise and emotionalise that creates the false sense of a little “I”. This need for continual conceptual and emotional noise needs to be surrendered so that the Peace and Silence of Being can be revealed. Always Now, only ever Now. Being. Being that is Awareness, Peace and Freedom.
And from Being, Moment to Moment, it can be clearly seen that what arises whether an emotion or thought or outside sense-perceived object, arises out of Awareness, spends some time on the screen of Awareness to sooner or later dissolve back into Awareness. Therefore all thoughts, emotions, energies and objects have no separate existence apart from Awareness. This is Oneness. This is no separation.
If emotions arise, to whom do they arise? Say you feel fear. The general response is to believe I am fearful. But who is this “I” that has the fear. This question rarely gets asked. When asking oneself “Who is this I”? Or “Who am I”?, the answer needed is not a mental reply. The answer is not of the mind. Allow the question to sink deep into your Being. Dive deep into your Being on a quest to find the “I”. If there is an emotion or sensation penetrate into the core of it as Awareness. Generally the emotion or sensation is kept at a distance and the mind comments and tells a story about it that always involves the “I” or the “me”. The sense of the small separate self is believed in without question. Question with the Heart not the head.
The suffering of the human condition is based on a deep underlying fear. The fear might not always be consciously recognized but survives as an unconscious sensation or energy deep within. This fear can only survive if it largely remains unconscious. To dissolve the fear requires the Heart of one’s Being to deeply Trust and Surrender into the unknown. What we think we are and who we think we are, is not who we truly are. Who we truly are is beyond knowing with the mind and can only be revealed from a place of deep Trust which allows one to fully Surrender into the Now and from the Now, we rest as who and what we truly are. What we think or feel who and what we are is centred in the mind and is based on the past. The Eternal Moment, the Now, is beyond the past, present and future. To be Now, to be who we truly are, is a place of great vulnerability from the perspective of the mind-generated isolated individual. Deep Trust in Truth allows one to Surrender into the ocean of Being beyond the small self, mind and body.
Spiritual Awakening is not to eliminate thoughts and emotions altogether but to rest as That which is prior to any thought or emotion. Only the patterns of thinking and emoting that veil Reality need to be released for Freedom to be. And to rest as That is to Be Here Now. It is Eternally always the Truth. Formless Infinite Awareness. Conscious Presence of Being Now. Be Now. Be.