The Beauty of That Which Can Not Be Named

Union by Mario Duguay

There’s an old saying that the only thing permanent is impermanence. Our life experience is one of learning better ways to interact with this changing flow.

And yet simultaneously there is this eternal unchanging presence. It seems to be part of neither existence nor nonexistence… It is a manifestation of nothing. It is unmanifest. It is. All that can really be said is that it is. We can go within and tap into this and find that when resting in this place, it’s as if we are home, and I mean really home. In this place there is no longing for anything more, no need to get anything, and truly no sense of lack. There is no separation for there is nothing else to be separate from. All else is just appearance, and yet the appearance is not other than this. In this pure being, all is divinely perfect just as it is, including the appearance of problems and pain, and yet it doesn’t invalidate the negative aspects of Allness. To simply be is itself already completely sufficient. Nothing more is needed.

In this space there is no anxious need for a particular outcome, as if one outcome would somehow lead to more fulfillment than another. It’s interesting… when we release our attachment to the outcome, we find this place of perfect peace that is what it is, independent of outcome. It is a space beyond the mind, transcendent and yet completely grounded, particularly when the lower chakras are open and balanced. It’s as if the physical body is being used as a vessel to bring the peace of heaven down to earth. This peace is expressed through a mind/body organism.

The Experiences

No experience is permanent, nor need it be. There is a place for peace, a place for passion, and even a place for war. Granted the energy of war doesn’t exist in this spaceless space, but that energy does have a place in lower realms of time and space. In this peace there is an openness to all experience, a spaciousness that welcomes every event untouched and undistorted. There is no fear of “losing this experience” because it’s not about the clinging to any one particular experience, but the seeing of what lies beyond all experience and supports every experience, noticing every experience and allowing it all to flow.

I understand that one may think that the experience of openness to all experience is just another experience, and yes this is a valid perspective, but that to which I am pointing is a non-experience that can be experienced. It’s hard to put into words exactly. Rather than try to explain it, I’d rather just point to this previous posting about traps that can lead back to separation. Rather than saying “avoid this trap,” I am simply saying that it is helpful to be aware of it. One way or another, when the time is right it will come into awareness. Life experience is a wonderful teacher and I think it’s something that people need to experience for themselves. Falling for the trap is totally fine. It’s happened here several times. That contrast and repeated opportunity to fall for the trap yet again or see beyond it really helps with our conscious evolution. Learning by trial and error.

There is an opening and closing that is possible. When the fear arises, “I hope I don’t lose this experience,” that feeling when followed by focused attention and then concern immediately begins a closing experience, but when both the fear and the experience of opening/closing are seen to be happening within this non-thing, it’s as if the spaciousness becomes seen to an even greater extent. The attempt to force this opening also begins the closing, but the recognition of the forcing as again an experience arising within this automatically creates the experience of reopening. It’s like one must allow the experience to be present exactly as it is without getting sucked into the experience or trying to manipulate it any way in order for the experience to continue. It’s an interesting paradox. You can have it so long as you don’t grasp at it. Simply observe and enjoy, but don’t get caught up in it. In a sense, it’s almost like it has its own wisdom and for it to open, it requires us to let go of trying to control it so that it can take over on its own.

Some say that wise people learn from the mistakes of others, and this is valid to a certain extent. Taken to an extreme, however, one would simply study all day without actually experiencing life for themselves. No judgement as this is one of the infinite number of ways that All That Is has of experiencing itself, and all ways are equally valid, yet life is here to be experienced to whatever degree that we so choose. As with many things in life, to really *get it*, theory just ain’t enough.

The Doer

Surrendering happens, but there is no one to surrender. The dissolution of the surrenderer happens and it seems that only in retrospect was the surrenderer dissolved. No one did it. It just kinda dissolved on its own, but there wasn’t actually a surrenderer here in the first place, only the appearance of one and the experience in one. The nonexistence of the surrenderer, however, does not invalidate surrendering itself. Surrender continues to be, regardless of whether or not there is someone here to do the surrendering.

There is the surrenderer, the thinker, the breather, the creator, the doer, and so on and so forth… all identities that dualisically set themselves apart from the action they perform. The seeing beyond duality requires not the cessation of certain actions, but the seeing beyond the one who would do the actions. Hence the relevance of Self-inquiry.

OM

OM makes sense suddenly. I’ve seen people use this word before and wondered why. Now it feels like it is the primordial voice of God, like the first physicalized manifestation of Silence. OM is powerful and very enjoyable. Aum is fine too, but it doesn’t seem to have the same depth of being as OM, as if Aum is the feminine counterpart to OM. I am now spontaneously OM’ing, just for the sheer joy of it. I’ve never been into mantras before, but now OM is almost orgasmic to the soul. It’s like singing the name of God. The point of chanting OM isn’t to accomplish something in this case or arrive at some destination. It itself is its own reward, the way singing is about the song itself, not about getting to some destination at the end of the song. OM itself is the point. It is a sort of divine kiss. The mind is somewhat fascinated by this, but not too terribly so. There’s an overwhelming presence that far outshines any experience.

And so now I let go of this experience, enjoying it as it is, and allowing the flow of experience to continue. The allowing of the flow of experience is wonderful too, far more enjoyable than resistance to experience.

OM