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Question: Currently my spiritual life seems divided into times of 'presence' and times when 'presence' is absent. Intellectually I know that 'Real Presence' does not come and go, this leads me to wonder if what I define as 'presence' is not "Real Presence". For me 'presence' is present momentness or be here nowness.
Looking closely at the situation I can see that the only way that I know that 'presence' was missing is by coming back to the present moment. This 'coming back' tells me that I was 'away' or not present. Or I would say that there is a presence and clarity that is here right now that was not here before I 'came back'. Of course all I have right now is a vague memory of a prior time when presence and clarity were absent. So I guess you could say that I am confused about the presence and absence of "Presence". Answer: Presence is all there is. The word Presence, as used here, is another label for That what is beyond all labeling. We could call it Tao, God, Awareness, Consciousness, the Self, or the Absolute. It is like space, but more subtle, as space appears in it. It has no fixed qualities, but if we want to ascribe qualities to it we can call it lucid and empty. Presence cannot come or go as it is everywhere, every-when, and it is the knower of all comings and goings. The ‘me’ that seems to experience Presence is but an appearance in, to, and of this Presence; like a mirage, this 'me' appears but it has no independent or real existence. This ‘me’ object has as much power to make Presence appear or disappear as an object in space has the ability to make space come or go. What you label as presence and the absence of presence are experiences. The Presence that is, is not an experience; It is the Experiencing which cannot be experienced or the Knowing that cannot be known. This may sound esoteric, but it is as simple as the fact that sight is the seeing and not some-thing to be seen. Labeling one experience as presence and the other as the absence of presence appears in and to the Presence that is. The apparent remembering and forgetting both appear in the Presence that is. There is no independent ‘I’ that knows this intellectually; there simply is knowing without an ‘I’ doing this. Perhaps it is possible to notice that the mind/thought-stream is self arising without a ‘you’ that does the thinking. Perhaps it can be noticed that even this noticing is not done by a ‘you’. Presence is not dependent on personal presence; personal presence is one of the mirages appearing in Unmoving Ever Present Uncaused Universal Presence. Without this Presence, nothing could be; not even the doubts that arise around the concept of Presence. When seeing we do not have to remember that we are seeing, when reading we do not have to remind ourselves that we are reading. The fact of beingness does not have to be repeated as the thought ‘I am’ (present). In a similar fashion there is no need to think about Presence or to notice it conceptually, it simply is.
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author@awakeningtothedream.com Painting by: KM Withers. Title: 'Desert Presence' Visit him at: http://www.kmwithersfineart.com/ Fair Use Notice |
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Maharaj: Whatever concept you have about yourself cannot be true. The "I Amness" is the prime concept, and it has to be satisfied by letting it do its normal work in the world. The important thing is the realization of the fact that it is a concept.Q: In the world this concept is always trying to be at the top. Even to the children we say, "You must be first in the examination." Is it wrong to push your personality and individuality on others? M: What is wrong is that you consider yourself to be limited to this body and shape. What knowledge I give you is given to the knowledge "I Am" in each of you, which is the same. If you try to get that knowledge as an individual you will never get it. Q: If "I am" is a concept and it disappears, how is one to know that the concept has disappeared? M: That "I Am" is a concept is to be understood while the concept is there. Once it merges in the original state, who {or what} is there who want to know? The illusory entity has disappeared. Q: I am convinced that this "I Am" is a concept and it will end, but why should I take it that it is a false concept? M: How and when did this very thought come? Did this thought not come merely as a movement in that concept itself? If the consciousness were not here, the thought would not be there. Consciousness is a temporary condition which has come upon the total, timeless, spaceless, changeless state. It is a happening which has come and which will disappear. This psychosomatic bundle which is born will suffer or enjoy during its allotted span; so long as I know that I am not the one who experiences, but I am the knower, how am I concerned. It is perfectly clear. I merely watch the body, mind, and consciousness laugh or suffer. In suffering it may cry out, all right, cry out. If it is enjoying, it may laugh. I know it is a temporary thing, if it wants to go, let it go. While I am telling to you, imparting knowledge, at the same time I am feeling unbearable pain, if it becomes a little more unbearable I may whimper. It can do what it likes, I am not concerned. So long as you have not known what this consciousness is, you will fear death; but when you really understand what this consciousness is, then the fear leaves, the idea of dying also will go. This consciousness is time-bound, but the knower of the consciousness is eternal., the Absolute...
From: Nisargadatta's "Prior to Consciousness" The book is available here.  Found at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Realization/ |
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I searched for my Self until I grew weary, but no one, I know now, reaches the hidden knowledge by means of effort. Then, absorbed in “Thou art This,” I found the place of Wine. There all the jars are filled, but no one is left to drink.
~ Lalla ~
Kashmir 14th century From: Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women
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Who you are cannot be defined by anything that happens in the dream. Each moment in the dream-drama invites the possibility of being awake in the dream as a lucid dreamer. You are awareness in which the dream appears. It all appears in you. You are the light which lights up the world stage. Each moment, the content of awareness is a perfect divine expression, just as it is. From: Trouble in Tulum, The Divine Drama Exposed (Click Here)
Art by: Jeffrey Howard Straw Title: 'Mauna Kea Dream' Visit him at: http://www.montageart.com/gallery.html Fair Use Notice |
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Marriage made in Heaven. A young couple were driving down the road one day, happily, deliriously in love and due to be married the next day. Suddenly, a large truck swerved from the oncoming lanes into their car! BOOM! And they both died. At the Pearly Gates, the young couple confronted St. Peter. "Sir,you have to help us! We were to be married tomorrow. Is there any way we can be married in Heaven?" "Hmmm," replied St. Peter, "I don't recall there ever being a marriage in Heaven. Well, let's take it up with God and see what he says." So they approached God with their plea. God sat for a moment, pondering the request. Then he looked down and said, "Come back in five years and ask me again." Five years later, the couple approached God again, even more in love than ever and pleading that he allow their marriage. God paused for quite a while, musing over their request. Then he spoke, "Come back in five years and ask me again." And once again, five years later, the couple was again in the presence of God, more in love than ever and begging God's permission for the third time to marry. This time God smiled broadly and thundered, "Yes my children, you may marry!" Well, the wedding went off beautifully, the reception was huge, everyone thought the bride was simply breathtaking and the groom was soooo handsome, and everyone was happy! Until... Two years later, the couple was back before God, and things were not looking so good. The couple had come to the realization almost immediately that although marriages were made in heaven, they didn't last very long there! And, in spite of their struggles to come to terms with the situation, they had decided there simply was no alternative but to get a divorce. Black clouds fractured by lightening rolled across the sky, and the ground shook with explosive thunder. God glared down at the tiny couple before him, his face becoming dark and angry, and he roared, "Divorce?! Impossible!!! It took us TEN years just to find a priest in Heaven! Do you have any idea how long it will take to find a LAWYER?!!" Painting by: JoAnne Bird. Title: 'Marriage Made in Heaven' Visit her at: http://www.joannebird.com/index.php Fair Use Notice |
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