February 24, 2018
Take a moment to reflect upon a special person in your life. It can be a child, a romantic partner, a sibling, or a parent. Or it can be a friend or even an animal friend. Just close your eyes and sit for a moment reflecting on how it feels to be around them. When we are close to someone we love there is an opening isn't there? There is something about the proximity of two people who resonate with one another that opens up a little gap. This alchemy has the ability to cause a fracture in time. In these instances we touch the timeless don't we? It is that feeling of everything standing still and beginning to take on a deeper significance. Even the objects around you seem to hum. It is almost as if everything is subtly vibrating and standing deeply still at the same time. Inside and outside are felt simultaneously and the boundary between the two is blurred or disappears altogether.
This is the simple and effortless recognition of the underlying connection of all phenomena. It is not something you have to think about or even feel, in the usual way we talk about experiencing an emotion. It is felt even before we become consciously aware of our emotions as such. It is the intuitive knowing of our source. These moments when we have the opportunity to fall inward into ourselves and simultaneously into another, are some of the richest experiences we have in life aren’t they? Do you ever get a sense that these moments, these little interactions with Eternity, aren’t something we can plan or have any control over? In fact at these times we are pulled so deeply into the present that thoughts of planning or control simply don’t arise, or if they do they are somewhere in the background.
If we can’t control or bring about these moments simply because we like the feeling of them, does that mean that we have no choice or influence on whether they will come into our life? Of course not. The important thing here is that these moments always come from a place of stillness, spontaneity, authenticity, and love instead of control, need and fear. The former are movements that come from the deepest place within us. The latter come from habituated patterns that keep us disconnected from our deepest nature, at least as far as where our conscious attention lies.
Be still and know that I Am God.
- psalm 46:10
This phenomenon is like trying to approach an unfamiliar horse standing alone in a pasture. If you shout at it trying to get it to come toward you, or move toward it aggressively, it will not likely comply. In fact it will probably move away from you. On the other hand if you stand very calmly at a distance, with no intention or agenda, it will eventually come to you out of curiosity. Now it may take a good amount of time, perhaps longer than you expect or are comfortable waiting, but it will eventually move toward you. This kind of connection I’m describing is very much the same. You cannot force life to create these instances of profound connection and expansion. Attempting to do so often has the opposite effect. However, you can learn to make yourself quiet through and through. Once enough of this quietude has been cultivated, these connections will appear in your life. They will arise spontaneously and organically, and they will often surprise you. If you take what I am saying to heart, be ready to be surprised, in a very good way. Also the connections that are already present in your life will naturally deepen.
So how do we cultivate this silence? Well that’s the funny thing, and it this the core of my message, you don’t have to. This silence is what is at the center of your Being. Don’t take my word for it, investigate. What you are in your most intimate place has never know disconnection. It couldn’t even begin to form a concept of separation. If you get a sense of what I’m talking about, then just stop. Stop trying to make anything of this moment. Stop trying to figure things out. Stop trying to figure out how to connect with yourself and others. Don’t worry about whether you are seemingly alone in this moment or seemingly with anther person. Just stop and let it all come to you. Could it really be this easy? Well stop and find out. You might be very surprised.
At first it comes in very subtle ways. It might just be a whisper in the background. However if you listen closely to that whisper it won’t be words that you hear. Or, it might feel like a faint vibration. It might feel like a little flutter in consciousness. Or it may feel like some ancient knowledge just below the surface. It does not matter how it appears to you, what matters is that it is authentic. This means that it is yours. It is familiar and very very close. Even though it is subtle at first, somewhere inside you know what this is, you know its nature. You know this because it is your nature. When you recognize it you feel the lock click and the door start to open. What is on the other side you cannot say, but you know what it is intuitively. You sense that this is something special, something very important. When you sense what I am talking about there is nothing to do. There is nothing else that needs done.
It doesn’t need to be deepened. It is as deep as it needs to be right now.
It doesn’t need to be found. It was never lost.
It doesn’t need to be understood, it is far too profound to be encompassed by a thought or concept.
It doesn’t need to be remembered. It is always there.
It doesn’t need to be grasped, it is part of you.
It doesn’t need to be contained, it is boundless.
Turn…
Look…
Stop…
…or rather be stopped!
Right in your tracks.
