We Are That Too
A million and one thoughts raced through my head yesterday- my mind was definitely like a tree full of drunken monkeys (it was one of THOSE days, if you know what I mean) and by the time 10pm came around I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. I stepped out on the back porch for one last smoke and the unusual coolness of the August night washed over me. Looking up into the night sky I was sad to see there were clouds and that no stars were out. “Just like my mind”, I thought; clouded over, stormy and impenetrable. Clear Mind was nowhere to be found.
Instantly, I chuckled at this thought, at the silliness I sensed in thinking myself apart from ever present Self. Just like the stars in the sky, hidden behind the clouds or by the brightness of the sun or moon are ever present, Clear Mind is ever present, hiding from itself for one more blissful opportunity for me to remember that “ I Am That too.”
Trev Diesel made me a gift of Ken Wilber's, “The Simple Feeling of Being” and in it Ken says something I’ve always felt and have been struggling to realize fully and with such clarity:
“This tacit recognition seems to have a beginning in time, until it occurs, whereupon it becomes clear that it has always been completely obvious. "Oh, That!" This profound realization never began because it never ended. There is the recognition "I am That," and the simultaneous recognition that I have always known this. Zen calls it the gateless gate. On this side of the gate that "separates" us from enlightenment, the gate seems to be real—until we pass through it, turn around, and see that it was never really there: thus, gateless in truth. But it is much simpler than that. You are the Self, you are the Witness, you know it now, and you have known it always.”
This morning I woke invigorated and with a much lighter heart. Why are we so tough on ourselves, far more so than we would dare be with even our worst enemy? I believe it is because we have not fully come face to face with or have forgotten our truest nature, that we haven’t yet dared to believe “We are That too!” It takes courage to admit thoughts of fear and confusion, but far more courage to accept that Clear Mind is behind all and that that which you seek…is doing the seeking.
It is from here, from this vantage point of knowing that all things will be made known.
posted by isaiah @ 11:29 AM
7 Comments:
This made me think of a saying of Lao-Tzu - "Who is it that can make muddy water clear? No one. But left to stand, it will gradually clear of itself."
I've only had a single experience of this eternal witness, this simultaneous and ever present "gateless gate" , but it was enough to change the course of my life.
So when your mind is cloudy and doesn't seem to clear...you are not alone...why don't you come to me?
Love U
Cat
My old friend. Thanks for inviting me to your blogger site today. I feel a "Part" of your life again. Maybe, I never was apart FROM your life. My eyes are often clouded over as was your day. I missed reading your thoughts in song. I am honored to be able to look at the world the way you do once again. I am often unable to see things and need guiding. I don't rely on you as guide, only as a philosopher of thoughts. I look forward to further post. "kev"
alhumduiallah...
our 'true' selves, what a sticky thing. What courage it takes to admit our completeness/incompleteness...
One moment we know what we are and what we aren't - boom! the next we don't know which is which!
"And so the first step to enlightenment is made."
I believe that knowing all your emotions (and the lack of emotion is an emotion) is very important to self discovery. Like you pointed out the stars are always there. Not waiting to shine, not wanting to be revealed to you, not wanting to inspire. The simple fact is they are just there; a part of the whole. Just like all the emotions, days (good and bad), people, weather, feelings, etc., etc. that we experience through our lives.
Remember like Guy Clark says "Where you’ve been is good and gone all you keep is the getting there."
All my love
PS I think we are all like that Oak seed waiting for the time to emerge.
Tat tvam asi -
1
"Bring me a fruit of that nyagrodha (banyan) tree."
"Here it is’ venerable Sir." "Break it."
"It is broken, venerable Sir."
"What do you see there?"
"These seeds, exceedingly small,
"Break one of these, my son."
"It is broken, venerable Sir."
"What do you see there?"
"Nothing at all, venerable Sir."
2
The father said: "That subtle essence, my dear, which you do not perceive there—from that very essence this great nyagrodha arises.
Believe me, my dear.
3
"Now, that which is the subtle essence—in it all that exists has its self. That is the True. That is the Self. That thou art, Svetaketu."
Superb pic!
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