We can talk about ourselves,
what we are, in terms of two of qualities. One is our absolute nature—which
is timeless, changeless, and formless. And the other is our relative
nature—which is in time, always changing, and in form. Our
absolute nature and our relative nature are not separate—they
are one.
We will talk about
self-knowledge, and we will do so in a way that evokes a direct
realization—a direct experience. By the end of this talk you will have
more than a conceptual, intellectual, and philosophical understanding of
yourself—you will know yourself directly, and experience the benefits of
self-knowledge. We will clear up all doubts in your mind as to who and
what you are. You will know and understand yourself intellectually,
philosophically and conceptually—and you will realize and know yourself
experientially.
Now, we can begin to notice
what we mean by our absolute nature—our timeless, changeless and
formless nature. Our absolute nature can be referred to as awareness.
What does this mean in our own direct experience? Right now you can
begin to let everything slow down—and notice that you are aware. And you
can notice that you are aware of the sounds you are hearing in the
background—you are hearing the sounds in the background.
As you hear the sounds in the
background, you can notice that you are also aware of the sensations of
your body—you can feel the energy of your body, and the sensations of
your body now. And it may feel as if everything is slowing down—your
mind can slow down now. As you are sitting here, you are aware of the
sensations of your body, and you are aware of the sounds in the
background. You are aware now. We are all aware—right now.
As you feel the energy of your
body, and hear the sounds in the background, you can also notice these
words as you are reading—you can see the words, as you sense your body
sitting here—with the sounds in the background. You are aware of these
words as you are reading them—and your mind can continue to relax and
slow down.
Also, you are aware of
everything you are seeing—as you hear sounds in the background, you can
sense the energy of your body as you notice these words. You can also
notice, at the same time, you are aware of everything that is happening
in the room. You have a full field of vision, a panoramic view that you
are aware of now, as you are reading these words, hearing the sounds,
feeling the energy and sensations of your body. You are aware of all
your senses now. You are aware of these words—and as you are aware of
these words, you are also aware of any thoughts that may be arising in
you—floating through you. You are aware of those thoughts flowing
through you, as you are aware of the sensations of the body.
And maybe you notice your
stomach moving up and down as you are breathing. You may notice the
movement of your stomach as you inhale and exhale.
You
may notice a sense of spaciousness—as you hear the sounds in this space
and see these words. And you may notice thoughts floating through you,
as you feel the movement of your stomach—breathing in air and breathing
out.
It is obvious to you now that
you are aware. In a very simple way, in your own direct experience, you
can notice there is awareness here now. You are fully aware of all the
senses. You are aware of seeing and hearing. You are aware of the
tactile sensations of the body as you are sitting here—breathing in and
out. This simple presence of awareness, relaxed and at ease, may be more
obvious to you now. You are aware.
The experience of being present
and aware may be more obvious to you than it was five or ten minutes
ago. This is the direct realization, and direct experience of the
Self—yourself. This is awareness—our absolute nature—timeless,
changeless and formless.
As you look back over your
experiences today, you may recall that you have always been aware. And
as you go back farther in time—go back to last week, last month, last
year—you may even go back and recall as a child, feeling this same sense
of presence—simply being aware.
And as you consider your
experience you may realize that you have always been aware. It may
become more and more obvious to you that this presence of
awareness—being aware of seeing these words, hearing sounds in the
background, feeling the sensations of the body—as you consider your
experience, you may realize that you have always been aware. And you may
notice that this awareness—being present and aware right now—is the same
as it has always been.
Being present and aware right
now, these words are flowing through you—you are aware of these words.
Thoughts flowing through you—you are aware of those thoughts. Sounds
flowing through you—you are aware of those sounds. Sensations of the
body flowing through you—you are aware of those sensations. You are
aware of everything you are seeing, thinking, hearing, and feeling—you
are aware now.
This awareness that you are, is
timeless, changeless and formless. Now you know your absolute nature in
your own direct experience. Now you have realized your Self.
And you may notice that the
contents of awareness, the objects of awareness, are always changing.
Notice that the sights and sounds are changing, these words are
changing, the sensations are changing, the thoughts are changing—but you
are still aware now. It may be more obvious to you that this awareness
that you are right now is the same as it was five seconds ago, five
minutes ago, or five years ago. This presence of awareness here now is
timeless, changeless and formless.
When we consider our own
experience it becomes more and more obvious that this aware
presence—wide open and spacious—has always been with us. Right now and
throughout our lives, it has never changed. It is present and aware.
Present and aware—even now.
As
this becomes more and more obvious to you, you may realize that this is
a quality of yourself that is timeless, changeless and formless. You may
recall looking out through those eyes as a child, walking to school,
riding on the bus, or riding your bicycle—as a child. You may recall
this sense of being, this sense of being present and aware. You may
realize this is the same sense of being, the same sense of being present
and aware—right now. This is our timeless nature, our unchanging nature,
our absolute nature. And you notice this in your own direct experience.
You realize this conceptually, intellectually, philosophically and
experientially. Now you know: I am present and aware. I am this presence
of awareness—here and now. This is my Self.
And you may notice that being
present and aware, being aware of the sensations and energy of your body
now, being present and aware, seeing these words, hearing sounds, simply
being aware—relaxed and at ease—you may notice a natural relaxation
response of your mind and body, being present and aware. Being aware of
being aware. Being aware of being present. This is our absolute nature.
As we are exploring our own
direct experience to know who and what we are, we can talk about this in
terms of self-knowledge. And we realize that this presence of awareness
is our absolute nature—timeless, changeless and formless. You know this
now in your own direct experience. So this realization is more than a
philosophy—it is your own direct experience. Now you know your Self.
As you continue observing your
experience, you begin to notice a quality of yourself that is always
changing. This is our relative nature. And you notice that these words
are changing, the sensations in your body are changing now. The sounds
are changing now. Sights are changing. Thoughts, emotions,
sensations—all changing.
And you may recall, as you
consider your day today, how your experience is in a constant state of
change: thoughts flow through you; emotions flow through you; sensations
flow through you; sights and sounds all flowing through you—always
changing, changing. And as you consider your experience last week, last
month, last year, and as you go back five, ten or twenty years, you can
recall how your experience was always changing. Your beliefs are
changing. Your body is changing. Your relationships are changing.
Thoughts, emotions, sensations and experiences—all changing. You begin
to notice this quality of yourself that is always changing. It is our
relative nature. Our relative nature can be referred to as mind
or consciousness.
As we complete our exploration
into who or what we are, we have realized there are two qualities of
ourselves that have become obvious—one is our absolute nature—timeless,
changeless and formless—we can call this awareness. And the other
quality is our relative nature—which is in time, always changing, and in
form—our
thoughts, emotions, sensations, and experiences—we can call this mind
or consciousness.
In your own direct experience
and in a very practical way, you may begin to notice the benefits of
having self-knowledge—knowing yourself. You may notice the benefits in
your own direct experience. When we let the mind slow down, the world
slows down. When we let thoughts and emotions slow down, the energy of
the body slows down. When we let the mind, our relative nature, slow
down, our absolute nature becomes more obvious—this present moment of
aware presence, relaxed and at ease.
And we begin to notice that
simply being present and aware, there is a natural relaxation response
of the mind and body. Being aware of awareness and letting the mind be
as it is, you begin to notice this open spaciousness—relaxed and at
ease. Being aware of being aware, being aware of sounds in the
background, being aware of the sensations of the body now, being aware
of the thoughts flowing through you, being aware of everything flowing
through—you may notice a natural relaxation response of the mind and
body.
Now you may begin to notice
that our absolute nature—timeless, changeless and formless—is
experienced as a sense of peace, a sense of love, a sense of
contentment. And as this is becoming more obvious in your own direct
experience, you deeply realize that your own presence of awareness is
peace, love and contentment. And you begin to notice a change in the way
you experience the world.
In
the past we were trying to manipulate and control our thoughts,
emotions, sensations, and relationships—our relative nature—hoping to
attain a sense of peace, love and contentment—someday. And now we
realize that peace, love and contentment are not to be found in the
world of experience—not to be found in our relative nature.
We realize that peace, love and
contentment are attributes of our natural state of awareness—our
absolute nature. And now we experience the world in a new light. Now I
realize that I am the peace, love and contentment I was seeking. Now
there is a natural relaxation response of my mind and body because I
have found what I was seeking. And I know the peace, love and
contentment as myself—my own natural state of being—right here and right
now.
And as this becomes more and
more obvious, it becomes easier and easier to let the mind relax, and
let everything be as it is. Let the thoughts be as they are. Let the
emotions be as they are. The relationships, the career and the
finances—let them all be as they are.
Letting everything be as it is,
simply being present and aware, there is a natural relaxation response
of the mind and body. And it becomes more and more obvious that the
peace, love and contentment I was seeking in my relationships, career,
finances and other experiences, is my natural state of being. It
is my absolute nature.
And you can notice this in your
own direct experience so it becomes more and more obvious to you
and is experienced more and more.
The understanding that was in
the past conceptual, intellectual and philosophical is now your own
direct experience—as your mind and body naturally relax. Now you let
everything be as it is. You let the thoughts, emotions and sensations
flow. You let everything be as it is—and you notice a natural relaxation
response of your mind and body. This is the benefit of self-knowledge
and now you experience it directly.
