~That Which Illuminates~

So, there is a world.  At least, we sense something.  We see, smell, taste, touch, hear...there is a sensuous experience.  When we look to find what these sensations are, we are confronted with an emptiness, a mystery.  For substance gives way to molecules, molecules give way to atoms, atoms to electrons, electrons to quarks...at at each stage 99.9 percent of what we find is space, changing trillions of times each moment.  And what do quarks give way to?  It is truly a mysterious, ineffable emptiness, yet an emptiness that is full of reality.  So humbling this discovery!

So we are having an experience, an experience of mystery and wonder; yet, what enables this mysterious wonder to be known?  To discover this we must turn inward...not to the inside of our bodies, but to the consciousness itself.  In the west I have read all sorts of pieces putting forth just how and where consciousness is produces within the physical organism, yet none of these have been able to answer more questions than they raise.  Consciousness, even in this age, remains the greatest mystery, and also the greatest discovery.

Do not try to use the mind, for we can see that the mind lies within consciousness.  If not, how could we know the contents of our mind, or the unfolding of thought process, or even (if we are quick enough) the filtering of raw sense experience through our concepts?  No, to the mind consciousness cannot be known to satisfaction.  Consciousness itself must be utilized in order to arrive at this intimate understanding.

But how to do this?  One way that has come through for me is touching into the sense that 'everything is illuminated'.  This consciousness, this knowing, is like a light, shining through everything, making it visible (experienceable).  What is it that illuminates?  We gradually train ours minds to let go of fixation on objects, and shift attention to the ability to know the objects.  It is very subtle, and unavailable to the mind enslaved to objects.  As Nisargadatta said, 'the child plays with the toy; the wise mother pays attention to the child, not the toy.'  So we must do the same if we are to come into direct contact with this mystery...this mystery of our own true nature.

What is it that knows this right now?  What enables it to shine forth?  It feels like the raw life current itself, the source allowing all to happen, the totality, god, reality, truth.  Just relax and feel the pulse, the pull, the alarm clock gently gracing you awake.  It is all around, unavoidable, inevitable.

In presence,

eka