82. Life and You.

There is a peculiar relation between ‘life’ and ‘us’. A virtual relation that gets stronger and stronger by the day and only a miracle could pierce the virtuality to get a peek into reality. In fact all relations are like that. It starts with a binding like a thin hook and then gets more and more stronger like a ship’s anchor  and then makes reality of the  ‘you’ that seems to become the role played by ‘life’ as you. It gets impossible to ‘come out’ of this ‘becoming’ called ‘me’.

What is life. We know life as we are taught about it or in a context that we use it. If we take a broader context in viewing life, we can call ‘life’ as all that would be called ‘creation’ and its movement, moment by moment or simply the play of ‘life’. First the creation- like a flame and then its movement like a how the flame moves or a ‘dance’. The source of such a creation that ‘IS’ and moves is ‘life’. It is like the source of the flame. Call it ‘fire’ if you like. Fire is not only the source but also the appearance of the flame and has its own way of creating some sort of negative pressure within it, that allows out side air to be sucked in it, helping it to keep burning upwards and also to dance in its existence. However all of it is ‘fire’ and its play. All one source and appearance. Likewise, is ‘life energy’, Its also the appearance and also the movement. Nothing else need be. Appears because of its to be perceived, creates its own forces that keeps giving a change to cause its own dance that we ‘feel’ is its aliveness. THIS INCLUDES A ‘YOU’ IN ‘IT’. So in relation to life, ‘you’ are inclusive in it and are ‘of’ it.

Now we go about trying to relate to such ‘life’ from a place of this individual ‘me’, to get enlightened and to become that ‘life’ that we are told we actually are. Its easy at the level of understanding that we are not what we think we are but what ‘we are’ is life. Its difficult in the beginning, even to think so,  but when pondering or seeking day in and day out, that this ‘we’ is lived and the ‘what’, ‘this we’ must be, is life itself, we come to the end of the road or a place where we desperately want to let go the feel of an individual me and have the feel of ‘life’ as ‘me’. Then we don’t know whether we will be able to feel ‘me’ as life or feel the ‘whole life’ as me. This game goes on for a while, whilst  we are desperately trying to come out of the cocoon of ‘me’ into the butterfly as ‘life’. This  ‘trying’ to project ‘a me’ as not an individual self is also ‘life’ playing a limited ‘me’ trying to wear itself off as an individual. But the ‘trying’ itself maintains the ‘me’ while trying is happening, limiting this me as a try-er. The individual effort is what keeps the ‘scheme’ of ‘me’ alive. This mechanism of trying is what keeps the separation going on and on. Trying to reach what you desire is the name of the game of the individuality. Not trying is a also another way to keeping  the ‘trial’ alive or to do the ‘not trying’ and so has the same effect.

Life as you and you as life are both the same movement. As long as you make a personal effort, life becomes personal. As long as you feel personal, it is ‘life’ behaving as a personal you. ‘You’ cant feel impersonal, because there is a ‘you’ or a personal ‘you’ trying  ‘to do’ this feeling out of choice or free will. Letting go the ‘you’ or personality is already ‘life’ in its natural state. Once this is seen, the strength to hold on a ‘position’ as a person becomes weaker and weaker. As long there is a will to let go, the will itself becomes weaker which brings about the ‘letting go’ of the ego or the personal self or the ‘sense of me’.

All along we understand that it is ‘life’ projecting the ‘me’ in ‘itself’ as its content . Now this ‘me’ wants ‘me’ to somehow project ‘me’ as ‘life’. As if I can be something very big as life itself. So we try to be humble, broadminded, accommodating, saying ‘yes’ to ‘all that is’ etc etc, just we think ‘life’ should be. It is not possible for a ‘me’ to behave ‘life’ like. The absence of ‘me’ is ‘life’ already, including and excluding ‘a like’ to make it ‘life-like’. Its just that, one fine day, ‘you’ wont be there, feeling very light, not knowing, where  and how that part ‘you’ got out of ‘YOU’ or ‘all that there is’. It just gets left behind like a lizards tails, in total unawareness.

At the peak of seeking, with trust and faith that individual persons never really existed the way, ‘we’ normally saw and felt the personality in ourselves and others, the nature or heaviness of individuality begins to get lighter and lighter until there isn’t a ‘you’ to know that a ‘you’ that was, is now ‘not’. You wont know when it happened, because when it happens, the you that is supposed to always be in charge of all knowing that was, itself is gone missing. Its like a stick churning the burning coal wanting to know, when it will actually ‘stop’ churning. The stick already became the fire, with no separation left. So there comes a time when suddenly, there is no judgement, as if there is ‘no one’ left to judge, or judgement itself is ever happening or not. Then what is left is ‘life’ or simply the ‘play of life’ of simply ‘play’ or simply THIS.

So hang on, until there is no-one to hang on, and feel the funniness of ordinariness of how ‘life’ always was, and was ignorantly believed to be much the other way, being personal, because in its play, being personal is what kept running the show of this ‘is-ness’ becoming  ‘separate me’ and the ‘outside world’. No need to continue being part of the play from then on, because the play was always played, by not a you or anyone, but by no-one at all and will continue to play ‘you’ ‘as’ personal at times ‘just this’ other times, as the play demands from time to time, which was always what it did, but now, there is a knowing of it, from the side that ‘life’ wanted itself to ne known, and that too –‘effortlessly’, as knowing was always known to be.   

81. Time and Now.

Now seems to be an element of time. But that is a belief, because ‘Time’ as something in existence in itself is a belief.  All beliefs are valid because of a faith in the belief that is beyond being shaken up and also the ‘basis’ of individual lives or apparent persons ‘is’ simply this set of beliefs.

‘We’ as separate persons are hooked up to beliefs and this set of beliefs is passed on to generations to come, which is what keeps the fiction of ‘reality’ alive or ‘lively’.

There seems to a secret here that can be unlocked, as if it is possible to come out of beliefs and see the world for its true nature. However, the true nature of creation includes persons having beliefs and seeing the world through a veil of such beliefs. It’s more like apparent people are ‘lived’ with a common agreement of living with beliefs of time and space and names for forms etc which makes the working of creation an open secret, that can be seen for its exact nature, but can’t be known on a relative level of individual person and must be lived from a point of believing that relative reality is absolute reality.

The ever changing contents ‘is’ what is noticed in the ‘knowing’ that ‘we are’,  and the ever ‘constant’  capacity of this knowing is what doesn’t form the content to be known, and keeps getting missed out, as what can be known, being the obvious and taken for granted, as if not. This is purely due to ‘life’ living its contents in that way and will continue to be perceived as it is meant to be, in the game that life plays itself out.

 The term ‘Now’ has a very important role to play in our lives. Life ‘is’ this  ‘Now’ ‘being’ witness as a present time element and also ‘being’ the contents as what is perceived as the world, to its own knowing capacity.  There is actually only ‘knowing’ of perception and such knowing is this ‘Now’ knowing it so.

The term ‘now’ has many contexts in which it can be used and the meanings that seem to appear when used in such circumstances, makes it seem appropriate to complete the communication, as if the understanding about the context in which it was used, was very normal and appropriate to indicate reality of ‘time’. But most of the time, it is used to make a sense of ‘Isness’ as if the content ‘is present’ as of now and for real.

It is interesting that, we often use this term ‘Now’ or the ‘present’ as if somehow it is linked with all that is not now, or the so called past or future to make ‘time’ possible. In fact the absence of contents in the ‘now’, is imagined to be really ‘available’ ‘in’ the past or future, to make them exist that way. Such a method of perception is purely creating a mental existence of objects, from the past to the future. So we push all ‘physical’ or ‘Presently’ non existence contents category of  imaginary and real mental contents of the past and future, in order to give continuity to the contents of the ‘present’ in both directions of time. Therefore all continuity must be purely ‘mental.

What is the real issue here?. Can ‘now’ or physical reality ( as may call it) be really clubbed to make a continuum  with past and future that is more on a mental level? However, the world seems to work well this way, as we all play this game in a trance. How real is physical reality?. How real is mental reality? How real is this imagined reality anyway?. These are unanswered questions due to paradoxical answers that seem to make sense in both ways, when argued in that sense.

Whatever is ‘featured’ in creation is seen or known in the ‘now’.  In fact, it is ‘now’ that is the actual cognisor of featured creation, that we feel as ‘present now’. What is absent, is not there. It is either ‘was there’ or will be there. Meaning, we make it present at some other point in time and such point in time is only revisted via the mind, or mentally, to make time real or bring time into existence. Even when we talk, we must bring time in words that depict time, which itself is the basis to create time, as there isn’t one to go back or forward as past or future. I will go there ‘tomorrow’ is an example.

Suppose I take a set of cards and show it to child. Now suppose I take away some of them and keep it behind my back and tell the child that it has disappeared, it is very much impressed. In fact it is wonderstruck. It doesn’t make a difference to the child, if the cards actually went out of existence, because its has believed this to be true. Now if we tell the child, that all the cards were behind the back, then all the wonder is gone away. Similarly, all contents of ‘Now’ ‘that’ disappear, are mentally allowed to continue, so as to assimilate with a new set of contents are featured ‘in the now’.  Once the apparent reality is embedded in memory or imagination, the mind has the speed and capacity to revisit this apparent reality, and make logical a story of all the is present and absent, but mentally present. The contents of yesterday and day before and all the past for millions of apparent years, is actually memory, lying behind the back of ‘now’, now. Physical presence of perception, mental presence of the perceived and imagined presence of would be perceived are all happening ‘now’ to make sense in a story form, giving reality to apparent existence.  The ‘now’ features apparent reality using direct perception and also perception vide thoughts ( which are indirect but feels direct).  All of perception is happening only in the ‘now’, as if there isn’t any knowing out of now. Now is not long or short as all there is –is now. Etrnal, meaning without a relation to ‘time’. For every event, its all past and future is revisited mentally in a flash and meanings made. This happens each time for every event subject thought of. If a thought of wife or child or place comes up, its whole story in time is revisited in a flash and then understood.  Its like having to pass a flashback clip, everytime a movie clip has to show some idea of the past. Its all happening ‘now’ with no realtion to time, and time is depicted as an element in the featuring of now. This is the magic of creation. Complicated and featured simply.

 Now’ is actually eternal. It doesn’t mean that it has a every very long duration. It only means that ‘time’ is not applicable ‘to’ ‘now’. Since ‘now’ is all there is, and at the same time it is still ‘now’. The ‘focus’ or split mind dwells in contents of the ‘now’ whether present or absent ( as if kept in front of you and behind you) and converts it to a story of world of objects and ways of individual lives. All contents of what ‘is’ featured or ‘was’ featured or ‘will be’ featured is only a mechanism of ‘focus’ trying to dip into the contents of ‘now’ which are all ‘here’ in the now as direct or mental perception and mentally presents it as an event in time. The narration by thought of the featuring of presence and absence of objects makes a feel of time. Time by itself is not a ‘something’ that could be seen or heard or felt or tasted or cognised as such. It doesn’t exist. It is only made to feel that way, in a mental format or conceptual format or a magical way.  The magic of ‘life’ is its display of what ‘is’ and what ‘is not’ and make feel an event in time space, as if all of it was real and graspable.

Life moves on and on in this fashion, with no-one to claim otherwise because life is the only player, converting knowing of visual, audible, and such other knowing to make feel objects to itself, pretending to behave as individual bodies, which is not the case. But its very creative and effective. Living life from the point of view of ‘life’ is more fun, falling into the flow of nature, ever unpredictable and always spontaneous, embodying apparent objects of its contents and feeling its own self as its game of filling in time ( that is not). Now is all there is.