March 16, 2018
We are looking for freedom. We are looking for peace. We are looking for authenticity. We rarely tell ourselves that these are what we are looking for when we seek validation, security, and love. However, if we really look into our motivations we will find that to a large degree this is true. At some level we want to give ourselves permission to be exactly who we are. We instinctually know that we hold all of the keys to the doors of our own prison. Yet somehow it can feel like none of the keys fit the locks much of the time. Problems get resolved, goals get met and yet we can still feel that there is that missing "something." It is that gnawing sense that somehow the events of our lives are not falling into place as we had expected they would. Or when they do fall into place as we had expected, planned, and worked for there may still be a sense of lack and disappointment.
So I'm offering a suggestion. It is a simple possibility. If it feels relevant then why not investigate? It takes very little time. It takes no effort. It doesn't require a commitment of any kind. It is a simple momentary investigation. All it takes is a certain willingness.
This investigation takes a simple willingness to see something that might have been hidden or obscured for some time. I don’t mean that it was hidden because you didn’t understand it. I don’t mean that it was hidden because something is missing or is not “right” with you or your life. I simply mean that what has been hidden, overlooked, has been so close the whole time, that you sort of forgot it was there. So my suggestion is that when I point in a certain way, perhaps you could look in that direction. Maybe you could just take a quick look and see if something doesn’t reveal itself. If it does, it will not feel like some new belief or piece of information. It will not be some new way of looking at life. In fact you don’t need to change or let go of one single belief about who you are, what your life is about or what the nature of the Universe is. I am simply going to point to an ever-present possibility that paradoxically is already in your current experience and always has been!
You might wonder how I could point out something to you that is already in your experience. You might wonder why it even matters to look there. Well that’s the funny thing, I have no idea why I can point it out or why you might have overlooked it, but I do know that if you recognize what I’m pointing to in a certain way there will be no doubt on your part that it is significant to you. Moreover you will feel into this “overlooked” area and know instinctually that you are accessing a deeper and more complete part of yourself and your life. You see none of this has anything to do with me at all. It is simply a way of directing your attention into an area of your experience that has become habitually overlooked due to certain thought patterns that are shared among humans. So why not read on? Why not give it a try and see if I can put my money where my mouth is and point to something so close to you that you’ve overlooked it.
If you’ve read this far, great, let the pointing begin! I do want to make a couple of preliminary statements. The first thing is that when I in talk the way I’m about to, I have no intention of anyone trying to grasp what I say with their conceptual mind. The mind will naturally follow along and try to interpret the words. That is perfectly OK. Just understand I’m not talking to your intellect. I am talking to a deeper place in you. So the mind may think it understands what I’m saying but that will have little to do with where I’m actually pointing. Conversely the mind may think what I’m saying makes no sense. That is OK too, the mind does not have to follow where I’m pointing for your attention to go there. The second thing I want to say is that I have no desire to convince anyone of any specific belief, way of thinking, or point of view. So if the mind protests that what you are reading doesn’t make sense or that it doesn’t agree, this is perfectly OK. The mind is not the “part” of you I am addressing. Simply let the mind offer its commentary and authentically turn to look where I’m pointing. There is really no risk because what I’m pointing to is You. Lastly if anything you read opens up some space in you or you find yourself in a very quiet, still space then just stop reading and sit with it. That is the whole point.
So as we begin take a moment to allow some attention to flow down into the feelings in the body. Notice the feeling of your feet. Whether they feel heavy, light, cool, warm or tingly, just feel effortlessly into that sensation. There is no need to put labels on the feeling. The raw sensation is enough here. Similarly notice how attention can shift to the feeling in the chest, neck or face. Is there sensation there? Any tightness, tingling, fullness? Any sensation at all no matter what the quality? Allow attention to rest there. There is no need to label or wonder if you are “feeling what you are supposed to.” Wherever attention naturally rests is already correct. We are just interested the raw sensation.
Now notice that attention can effortlessly move to the sounds in the room. The hums, clicks, exterior noises, whatever arises. You may also notice the subtle “ring” that is always present in the ears. It is pretty quiet so we rarely notice it but if you tune in you’ll hear it. Now notice you can hear all of those ambient sounds at once. There is no need to pick one sound out or name any of the sounds. Attention may rest in a dilated fashion on all sound at once or it may partially move from sound to sound without your direction. Do you see how effortless this sensing is?
Now you might notice that in the same way that attention can move between sounds in the room effortlessly and spontaneously, it can move between the feelings in the body such as the hands or feet and any sound in the room. It has that ability to move freely among the various senses. It does this without holding on or making preferences. Attention simply moves here and then there. It doesn’t pick and choose.
As you notice attention move from here to there effortlessly and spontaneously you might notice a spacious quality to attention. Almost as if attention is moving through some invisible weightless fluid. This spaciousness is not something you can see or feel or hear but it is still there. Do you sense it? The experience will be immediate, it is not something you have to think about. Thoughts may arise and attention may move to thoughts but it moves as effortlessly as it moved among sensory stimuli. So even as attention moves to a thought and back to a feeling or a sound you may notice that this spacious quality of attention remains. It feels light, free and fluid. There is almost a joyful quality to how freely it accommodates all of the sounds, sights, thoughts and feelings. Do you sense this space? It may feel very subtle at first compared to the senses but that is perfectly OK. You just need a taste of it, a glimpse of it. If you feel that you are definitely not sensing this spaciousness at all, then just start the exercise at “So as we begin…” a few paragraphs back. It may take a few attempts to begin to feel into this colorless, weightless space in which attention and all sensory stimuli move.
Once you have recognized this spaciousness, then just tune in to it a bit. Do not try to hold it as it is not graspable or solid. Do not try to see it as it is not visible. Simply recognize that somewhere in your experience it has become conscious. As you allow some attention to rest in this spaciousness, the actual source of the attention, you will find that it remains even as sounds or feelings arise. This actually happens not by trying to make it happen or grasping but simply by noticing that as the sounds in the room are recognized, attention flows to them naturally and this space in which all of that is happening remains. It remains silent, weightless and free. As attention moves again into the sensation in the feet, the chest or neck, you might notice that the spaciousness is also present.
So as you read on, notice that attention will continue to move from sound to sensation, to thought. It does this freely and effortlessly. While you read I want you to simply allow it to be. Wherever attention moves that is exactly where it is supposed to go. As you read on we will direct some of your attention to the nature of this spaciousness, but this will be an effortless movement. Simply read the words and notice how they point to this space.
Notice the quality of the space. Notice how it is not inside the body and not outside the body. Notice it doesn’t occupy any specific space and yet it never loses its spacious quality. Notice it can easily accommodate any sound but it is not altered by any particular sound. Notice that you cannot put your finger on exactly what it is or label it with the mind and yet it feels very familiar, very close, very intimate with your experience. Notice that as you tune into the nature of this space it seems to move toward you although you cannot locate it in the room. Notice how even though you experience sounds, feelings and thoughts, this space remains prominent in your experience. Notice how peaceful it is. Notice how it desires nothing. Notice how it needs nothing. Notice how it resists nothing.
Do things feel a bit lighter? Does everything seem a bit quieter? Is the space still there? Of course it is. It doesn’t have to be anything specific does it? It is not altered in the least by anything it touches is it? Have you noticed how familiar this space is? Almost like it has always been here? Like it has never left you? It’s almost seems like this space is what attention is actually made out of. Like this space can be simultaneously pure, free, colorless, weightless space and it can become anything that it touches. It can arise as any sound, any color, any shape, any sensation.
Now, notice how this space is already in the feeling in the hands. Notice how this space is already in the feeling in the chest, neck and face. Notice how this space is already in every color and shape arising. Notice how this space is already in every arising thought. And while it is already a part of all of these experiences, it also stands untouched, undisturbed, still and free.
You carry this space around with you at all times. It has actually never left you. It can seemingly be overlooked but now that you realize you can intentionally return attention to it, you can do this at any time. You never have to force this. It will feel spontaneous, natural and simple. If at any moment throughout your day you feel moved to do so, just return some attention to this free, timeless, ever-present space. If you forget how, then simply reread this post. After a time you will find it gets easier and more spontaneous, and that it starts to come to you more often. It might come to you out of the blue in various situations. It may come when you are alone or with people. It may come when you are active or at rest. It may come when there are a lot of thoughts or it may come when your mind is relaxed. Whenever and wherever this space arises it is the right time and right place. As this spaciousness becomes more prominent in your life you will start to see it literally everywhere. At some point you will be in unbroken contact with it. You will find yourself in in ongoing, unbroken peace.
Enjoy!
