I am paying attention, you say.
How can I do otherwise?
You can’t but then again, what do you actually see, hear and experience?
(Please think about this question apart from the obviousness of it, i.e. not just the immediate, at hand things but from a point of zero distance from where you are to, if you like, the farthest you can conceive in the known universe.)
The trouble is, in our dualistic world, where we’re a separate me operating alongside lots of other mes, it’s very easy — way too easy I’d say — to overlook the reality of our extant situation.
What?
If I asked you to explain your world absent your memory, what then?
That’s stupid though, isn’t it?
Who the hell would want to let go of anything?
Very few people I know; but if we want to awaken to our true nature, all that stuff has to go; to die before you die, if you like. Not to be junked and never used again (we’d be zombies) but to understand that the thing, as they say, is not the thing we believe it to be and whilst we continue to see it otherwise, it’s very unlikely that we’ll move beyond the waking sleep state to something else.
This was the point I made in yesterday’s recording/post in describing the difference between the as if world and the as is world.
Does that mean we’ve got to seek this other place?
Not at all.
You are it but have simply overlooked it by dint of layers and layers of cultural indoctrination.
I know that sounds harsh or mildly ridiculous but think about any baby or small child before they’re told who or what they are by the adults; they’re a ball of energy and not disposed to be thrown off course by anything save that is when they’re hungry or tired.
To be clear, I’m not saying anything different to what has been said a zillion times before but the reason why I believe we’re not all seeking a headless state (I’m not a fan of the word enlightenment) or to acknowledge that this is all there is and will ever be, is because, in our materialistic world, we expect results. Namely, we want to know that we’re going to get something, not lose everything. I don’t mean our identity per se or our ability to function in the world but we’ll no longer be tied up in knots by believing that we’ve got to control everything internal and external to us in order to be happy and at peace.
In a way, and this might sound odd, we’re non-seekers in that you don’t have to look any further than the simplest of questions, i.e. what am I from my direct experience?, to realise the point I’m making.
If you’re not interested in this message that’s fine. I wasn’t or didn’t appear to be for 43 years of my life. And it’s very likely that if I hadn’t had my sudden shock, which made me look in a completely different direction to the one previously, I’d still have my wagon hitched to the get better, be all you can be narrative.
I don’t say that to be smug or clever in any way. I’m simply making the point that I’m very aware that it’s unlikely you’ll want to explore your true nature unless there’s a strong or overriding desire to do so. In short, nothing I say will make a difference; I’m fine with that. Oh sure, I’d love to strike up a conversation and find out what you really think about what I’m saying but I’m under no illusion that the majority of people want a rock-solid solution to their myriad problems and telling them that they need to lose their head (and gain a new world) is hardly likely to put me in the driving seat of anything.
All I would say, though, is that it’s never too late to reexamine all you’ve been told, and to understand that sometimes a simple message can be the most profound.
Take care.
Blessings,
Julian
Photo by Eugene Golovesov on Unsplash
Paying attention